By Mary Lynne Murray
Reprinted from Contra Costa Times, January 1, 2005
Two of the most common New Year’s
Resolutions are to get organized and lose weight. Curiously enough,
the two conditions—a heavily cluttered home and being overweight--often
go together like New Year’s Eve and champagne.
How does excess weight—on our body or in our home, add up?
You’ve probably heard that the average weight gain over
the holidays is 5 to 7 pounds. Now researchers are reporting that
it’s actually much lower—just one pound. The problem
is that the same pound is still with us the next holiday season,
and the next. As the years roll by, one pound morphs into 10,
15, or more; in fact 55% of Americans are overweight.
It’s the same with the “weight” cluttering your
home. It sneaks in the door gradually, slipping in while you were
celebrating the holidays. Some clutter is foisted upon us by others,
but largely it comes in under our own power. It happens so gradually
that you don’t notice until, one day, you feel like trapped
in your home. In some cases, folks begin to feel suffocated by
their clutter. Whether you’ve lived in the same home for
one year or thirty, clutter can grow like a wild vine, entangling
your very soul.
Both fat and clutter provide insulation. Sure, we need a healthy
level of body fat to keep warm, and certain amenities in our homes
make us comfortable. But too often, in our need for comfort, we
build dangerous layers of fat or clutter to cushion ourselves
from the bumpy roads of life. It’s the emotional eating
or consuming--eating when we are not hungry or buying things we
don’t need--that cause problems.
Putting your home on a diet is probably easier than dieting the
body. Yet, a really good thing tends to happen when people begin
to let go of their junk: they begin to let go of their excess
weight also. Perhaps it’s partly due to increased activity
associated with the work of organizing, but I think that as they
take better care of their home environment, they are apt to take
better care of themselves.
Where should I start?
The bedroom? Office? Kitchen? Garage? I suggest starting in the
area causing the most pain—the organizer’s approach
to “stop the bleeding”. On the other hand, you can’t
go wrong by choosing any one space and diving in with the enthusiasm
of a duck to water. The most important thing is to start. The
details will follow as you maintain your focus. Be aware of your
progress by taking a before photo, so that you can give yourself
regular progress reports. Compare what the room used to look like
to what it is becoming. This provides encouragement to keep going,
to stay the course until the project is complete. Finishing gives
a wonderful sense of satisfaction that you deserve to experience.
If you have a dual-resolution to get organized and to lose weight,
I recommend that you spend some time reorganizing your kitchen.
One helpful strategy is to eliminate “sabotaging”
foods, such as candy, chips, ice cream, soda, etc. from your home—all
those holiday goodies must go. This requires sorting and purging
of your refrigerator, pantry, and every cupboard in your kitchen.
If you buy food in bulk, this is a good time to containerize.
By storing in serving size portions, you build awareness of how
much is being eaten, and you’ll usually store more compactly.
Get rid of stale or expired products, and keep a grocery list
handy as supplies run low. A magnetized pad on the refrigerator
works well.
Make a plan, stick to it
You must be committed to doing something each day toward your
resolution to get organized. In a few cases, a weekend or two
will whip things into shape. But for most, getting organized to
a functional level will involve 6 months or more of consistent
work. What will you do to maintain your hard earned order? Retrain
your brain to do something every day toward getting and staying
organized. As “An apple a day keeps the doctor away,”
so maintenance will keep clutter away. Adopt the mindset of a
clutter vigilante, declaring “Clutter is my enemy and I
will not be its victim!”
Get support
Exercise buddies are known to be effective in weight loss. How
about an organizing buddy? Through frequent phone check-ins, or
actual hands-on help with an organizing project, your buddy can
provide the accountability you need to stick to your plan. You
can also get online clutter coaching from Flylady.net. Click on
FLYing Lessons to sign up for daily emails to help you stay on
track. Another option is to get a personal trainer (a.k.a. professional
organizer) to guide you through shedding excess pounds of clutter
at www.napo-sfba.org.
Get real
The experts at Weight Watchers say that a pound a week is a sensible
weight loss goal. This may sound insignificant, but “a pound
a week” is a good mantra. Likewise, make your clutter reduction
goal realistic. You want a goal that requires you to sweat a bit,
yet won’t kill you in the process.
Every day is a new start
That’s one of the beautiful things about going to sleep
at night. Whatever happened today is now behind you; you can start
fresh tomorrow. Don’t give up. An organized life can be
yours in 2005.
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