Sunday, July 23, 2023

14 Days to Opening Your Front Door to Guests

When I first found decluttering videos on YouTube I was so attracted to Dawn (see my Aug 2022 post The Minimal Mom) but now that I am actually in the process of decluttering -- as opposed to deciding that it would be a really good idea -- I am watching a lot of Dana K White's videos. So I wanted to share the ones I like best. And here are the links to her books!


Dana has a very simple 5 step process for any location you want to tackle (obvious trash, taking things that already have an established spot in your home to that spot right away, donation items, etc.) and the best thing about it is that she believes in "Progress and ONLY Progress" and you can declutter using her method for 2 minutes or 2 hours and still be able to stop at ANY time and you will NOT have made any area of your home worse in any way.

This was a revolutionary concept to me because I was always the kind of person who emptied out a shelf, drawer, or entire room and then put it all back one piece at a time (see my Aug 2016 post Emptying a Child's Room).

The problem with this? When you have a family, job, etc. that kind of project can easily get derailed and then you are left with an exploded diagram of a space that, while it wasn't tidy, at least everything was jammed into it compactly so it sortof fit. Now things are much worse than they were before!

Repeat that for 7 or 8 years and you have a real situation on your hands. (And here I want to give a shout-out to Cass from Clutterbug for her absolutely hysterical video about how NOT to deep clean your home.)


I really like Dana's "One Hour Better" series where she visits real people, chooses one problem space, and walks them through her method with the timer set for one hour -- it is amazing to see how much better it is at the end of that hour -- and her "14 Days to Opening Your Front Door to Guests" where she creates a plan for when people are going to come and visit you!


UPDATE: August 9, 2023

Lastly...

I want to share that I think that Marissa from A to Zen Life is the BEST person to binge watch and/or have on in the background while you're decluttering. I find her soooo inspiring, and she's a recovering emotional hoarder so she really can talk honestly about the pain that can come up when you are choosing to let things go. Both of her parents died while she was still young and her childhood home burned down, so she spent many years holding onto everything that was left. Now she lives in the most minimal home I've ever seen and she is extremely happy and has a lovely husband and two adorable boys.

Get inspired with Dawn, figure out your Clutterbug type with Cass, get serious with Dana, and then body double with Marissa while you get it done!!


This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

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