21 Mar 2016

Last summer actress Anna Kendrick tackled the mess that was her closet and live tweeted during the process using #OrganizingDay.  Because she’s a celebrity it attracted a following and was covered afterwards by the media.

That was summer.  Now, it is officially time for Spring Cleaning.

Anna didn’t actually tweet very much about her process, but from her tweets we can see what she was doing.  The same things can help you, too.

First, working with a friend like Anna did, can be a big help or a big distraction.  Pick the right friend or do it yourself.

Next, select one area at a time (closet).  If you try to do too much at once you will just feel overwhelmed, depressed and unmotivated.  Instead, choose one area that you can do, and allocate enough time to do it.  You don’t have to do it all in an hour, or even all in one day, just set a reasonable goal.

Now the work begins.  Gather like items and sort through them.  Sometimes we discover that we have more of an item (bras) than we need.  Sometimes we discover that things (bobby pins) migrate when the lights are out.  Figure out which things you want to keep and what things you can remove from your life (blue pixie-cut wig).

Finally, figure out where things go.  This could be someplace that cleans and repairs those items, their final destination in your home, the trash or a gift/donation.  Charitable organizations are always looking for gently used items and by removing the clutter you’re freeing up your home to be more accessible and look better.

Anna was able to put the whole thing in perspective for a lot of people. Buying more than you need leads to clutter and unnecessary spending. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Most importantly, donating to help those who are less fortunate is a great idea. You can avoid some of her stress by staying focused on the Spring Cleaning, and waiting to tweet about things later ,or maybe not at all.

Lastly, celebrate your accomplishment. Decluttering and reorganizing can be physically and emotionally draining. Anna chose to sit in the bottom of her closet and drink a bottle of wine with her best friend. We’re not recommending that to everyone, but blowing off a little steam is good.

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About the Author


works mostly behind the scenes at Conquer the Clutter, supporting Maria's efforts to make the world a neater place to live.

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