I’ve got this crazy notion that comes partly from living in a space that is basically one big giant room (a loft). The house has been a little messy lately, and no matter what we do, it’s just not coming back to a state of “organized” lately. So I’ve got this thought. Bear with me. I think it could be useful to anyone’s house if you’re feeling that you can’t seem to reset, and that clutter is dominating your time.
Prework: buy some totes like Rubbermaid 18 Gallon or similar, and some housecleaning products, big trash bags, and some beer and pizza.
Move Out, Move In
- Clear One Room Out Totally- You heard me. Move everything out of one room, down to the walls and the floor. Unplug everything. Remove it all. Pretend a bomb blasted that room, worker elves came, and now here’s what you have left.
- Clean the Room – Clearly, you can never get to all the dust and grime that sneaks in around things. Give it a good scrubbaroo while there’s nothing to get in your way. Pretend this is your first “real” place after college. Make it sparkle.
- Replace Things Sparingly- Going with the bomb blast idea, what do you think you might be able to live without? Try storing that in the Rubbermaid totes and sticking that in your attic / garage / storage space with a big fat HUGE label that details the contents of the box and the “shelf life” of the things you put in there (the date you started determining if you could do without them).
- Arrange Your House for Living and Function- As time goes on, we put things in places because that’s where they’ve always been. How might you redesign your spaces to be more social, more work-functional? Maybe this is the right time to swap out that pressboard computer desk monstrosity for a wall-attached bar-style top where you can do work, the kids can do homework, and the cat can perch and knock things off. BONUS TIP: stop designing your house around guests. Unless you have LOTS of guests, design it for you, and have a plan for guests.
- Donate / Yardsale / Ebay / Remove- Be merciless with what you toss. Remember moving out of an apartment (maybe after college, or fairly recently)? It’s amazing how much stuff we jettison at that moment. The things we own end up owning us: our time, our effort, our consideration. Whatever you can clear, do it. Move it out. Give it to people who can use it.
I think this covers enough for you to get the premise. Try moving out of your house, one room at a time. Pretend a bomb has decimated the place and this is your chance to rebuild the living arrangements. Clean thoroughly while you have the chance. Design your spaces to work for you. And let us know how this works out.
– Chris Brogan is tempted to take vacation time to try this hack out on his own place. He develops creative content in the least cluttered of the corners for Grasshopper Factory. Please let us know what you think of the podcast. We’re anxious to hear your opinions. Send email to tips at lifehack dot org, or leave a comment on the site. Finally, please consider subscribing to the RSS feed, so we can gauge the audience better. And if you’ve got some tips and tricks, try out Leon’s newly added WIKI. It’s easy to edit, and makes a great reference for the best of these tips and ideas.
Wow! Great post! I just recently did this in the limbo time between graduation and finding a job, and it really does make you realize how much you can do without.
Keep it coming peeps.
Ah, you’ve been watching HGTV (or home improvement channel equivalent)!
That’s pretty much what they do on all of the “design on a dime” variety shows. Perhaps you are destined for a TV show?
[...] Defrag – Similar to my post on moving back into your house, reboots can be more and more difficult if we leave our “bits” all over the place. How organized are you? How cluttered is your workspace? (I know Adam’s answer, which will be another post). Besides my basic starting point of “reducing clutter and not bringing new clutter into your life is best,” it’s also important to manage where everything is kept. I don’t believe that whole “super creative people are messy by nature” thing (though a snapshot of my house right now might disagree). Instead, I believe that we often lack the proper supplies to collect and organize things better. Well, IKEA sells stuff cheaply. So do several other department stores. These things permit organization on gross levels for the first pass, and then you can work to reduce some of the “mess” in your life. Hack: set up monthly “can’t avoid” times to reset your house, your work space(s), your bags and backpacks – everything that holds parts of YOU. [...]
[...] So my vacations are almost over but before they end I’ve decided to put in practice this article from lifehacker titled move back into your house, since I only have one room I’ll be moving back into it, concept is very straightfoward. [...]
[...] The brown belt says “My den is really important to my productivity, creativity and happiness. I need to completely rethink my approach here.” Drawing on his lifehack-fu he recalls blog posts on moving back in. He creates an entire GTD project, complete with objectives, preparations and tasks. When he’s finished the project, not only has his workspace been cleaned, but he has new controls and habits for every kind of thing that enters his workspace. Holding areas for temporary items ensure clutter cannot overflow into working areas. Decorative items are only added after due deliberation. A monthly recurring task continually challenges him to re-assess and proactively manage his workspace. [...]
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Donating and selling the unwanted stuff is such a good idea. Instead of throwing them away you can
Sometimes it’s hard to give things away, but I just tell myself that I’ve had my time with the item, if I’m not going to use it any more I may as well pass it on to someone who will. Just keep in mind that charity shops aren’t dumping grounds.
Moving out then in the same house might seem strange for some because it does but there are acceptable reasons behind this activity. Be it de-cluttering or starting all over again, it actually makes sense. In general, moving can be challenging but being prepared for the situation helps greatly.
Clutter might be one reason for home owners to move out then in their home. Cleaning the place to get rid of unused or unwanted things is something acceptable and even practical. However, there are certain things that people can’t let go of even if these are not used anymore. In this case, storage units can be of great convenience for home owners.