Step #31: Create a Vision
As with most things, it’s hard to accomplish a goal without a clear plan or vision. Decluttering your home is no different. Many of us set off to “declutter” or “purge” without knowing what that really means to us or our home.
To get to the heart of this project, begin by asking yourself a few questions. Why are you decluttering? What do you hope to get out of this process? What are your goals? Do you hope to rid your home of things you no longer use or need? Or, are you getting rid of excess things in order to be able to manage your home more efficiently? Do you want to turn your clutter into extra cash by having a garage sale? Grab your notebook and write down what you hope to accomplish by participating in this phase. When you get in touch with your motivations for jumping on the decluttering bandwagon, you’ll energize the process.
Next, visualize the space you’d like to create. Go through each room in your house and imagine the perfect version of how you would like it to appear. As you visualize, also think about how you’d like the room to function. What will you be doing in it? What will you NOT be doing in it? How would you like to feel when you’re in it? What will you need to remove or add to the space to facilitate those activities and feelings? How would the furniture be arranged? What would the shelves, closets and drawers look like? Then, while the vision is still clear in your mind, write down a clear description of that vision.
Don’t rush this step. Take a long time sitting in each room and reflecting on how you’d like it to be. It’s helpful to get your spouse involved with this and talk about what you hope to accomplish together. Often spouses have completely different agendas when it comes to how rooms should function – he wants the TV front and center, you want a relaxing sanctuary in which to read, etc. If your ideas differ, try to figure out a plan so that you can each accomplish your goals.
Assignment: Before you begin the actual work of decluttering, get in touch with your motivations for purging and visualize what you’d like the end result to be. Write down your goals in your FTJ notebook and clearly describe what you’d like each room to look like and how it should function. If you want, share some of your thoughts with other MS members.
Optional Assignment: Take “before” photos of each room so that you will be able to see your progress later on. Post them in our
Photo Gallery
NEW! First PURGE Step! Step #31: Create a Vision
Quote:
Linear Mode
