Cue Trumpet

So, I read a blog post providing information about a new Quick Start program from The Clutter Diet the other day and this combined with the current state of the house plus reading a blogpost about someone's shining sink made me think maybe I should try it again.  So I took the leap and signed back up. 

First question you might ask is why did I sign up for The Clutter Diet based partially on a post about the Fly Lady?  Basically, I am completely intimidated by the clutter and apparent disorganization of the Fly Lady website.  The Clutter Diet is incredibly easy to manuever and understand, so I figure it's the way to go.

Despite being a repeat offender, I'm going to try the seven day quick start thing.  I just now got access due to a snafu in reenrollers, so am watching the day one video.  One concept that was clear from it is making a commitment helps to achieve a goal.  So, I'm going to try recording some information here.  It's not pretty, but it's real.

So, status of the house.  We have very good maids who come every other week, so it is relatively clean, but there is stuff EVERYWHERE.  Clutter, junk, heirlooms, treasures, trash, duplicates, donations and more all mixed to make it insane.  Trajan has aged three years since I have done this last and his OCD tendencies have made it clear that he does not like living that way.  He does not want to have stuff everywhere.  Honestly, he doesn't like having too many things.  My mess equals some amount of psychological stress for him.  Also, we've added another boy to our life, Chiron.  The path to him was a little complicated including hospitalizations, stress and grief (short version is we lost his twin sister Aurelia) and so while things are not as bad as they were when I started the Clutter Diet the first time, they are not good.

I'm supposed to make commitments.  I guess first is to take baseline pictures. 

Question 1 of the quickstart is "what is bothering you the most".  The stuff on every surface is the broad answer.  Having things that are not necessary and just having probably three times the volume of "stuff" that we need.  In a more narrow category, the bar between the kitchen and the living area.

Question 2 is what will make the biggest impact on my daily life if I can change it.  This is probably the master bathroom.

Oh and a second thing that I think the payoff to work ratio would be really high is the alcove that we have off of our entryway. 

I like that this first six-minute video has already led me to identifying three areas that I can work on rather than just seeing the greater clutter.

And the final commitment: I will go watch the day two video tomorrow.