Help, I'm knee-deep in clutter!

52 PICKUP for AUGUST 2008

• Daily Anticlutter Routine: When you bring in the mail, also park your keys in one special spot (1 minute).
• Pickup Project: Clothes check (30 minutes).
  If you have school age children, check their wardrobes. Pull out items they've outgrown and start a shopping list for new underwear, shoes, jeans, etc. If you don't have kids around, make a wish list to update your fall wardrobe.
• Quickie Cleanup in the Basement: Mystery box (15 minutes).
  I bet you probably have a few mystery boxes lying around. Grab one and investigate. Dump what you can, organize what's left, then label the box before you return it to a shelf.

• Daily Anticlutter Routine: When you bring in the mail, also park your keys in one special spot (1 minute).
• Pickup Project: Prepare a shopping list for school supplies (30 minutes).
  Look through your stack of school supplies and list things the kids will need for school and in their desks at home. Again, if this doesn't apply to you, make a list of business supplies you need including stamps, business envelopes, computer paper, ink cartridges, pens, and sticky notes.
• Quickie Cleanup in the Garage: Clean sweep (15 minutes).
  You probably don't have time to take on the whole garage, so just start at the front, shift a few things out of the way and sweep a path around your vehicle.

• Daily Anticlutter Routine: When you bring in the mail, also park your keys in one special spot (1 minute).
• Pickup Project: Corralling cobwebs (30 minutes).
  Right about this time I start noticing little threads of dust and cobwebs dangling from the windows, on the stairway, and draped from ceiling lights. Grab a long-handled duster and go get 'em.
• Quickie Cleanup Outside: Front yard patrol (15 minutes).
  Tidy the front yard. Pull out weeds, deadhead flowers, and scoop up branches and twigs.

• Daily Anticlutter Routine: When you bring in the mail, also park your keys in one special spot (1 minute).
• Pickup Project: Wild card - no project this week
  Just relax in your home or on the deck and enjoy the last week of August.
• Quickie Cleanup in the Kitchen: Pots and pans (15 minutes).
  Do you have to move two or three things every time you reach for a pot? Pull out rarely used items, then rearrange the pots and pans for easy access.

Help, I’m knee-deep in clutter! by Joyce I. Anderson