The Purge
9:49 PM
Do you do New Year resolutions? I don’t. I can’t. I’m not organized enough to make a plan and have everything ready by January 1st. My brain is too crazy after Christmas to actually commit to improving myself.
But I do make the best of that last week before the new year.
I purge. My house, I mean.
1. Remove everything from a room and place it in another room. This forces me to finish the project. I might be messy but baby, I can't live with a pile like that in the middle of my living room.
2. Get trash bags, recyclable boxes, and some big totes--one for each room or level of your house.
3. Start at the one end of the heap of chaos and pick up one item at a time. Ask yourself these three questions: Do I love it? Do I need it? Could someone else use it?
4. If you love it and you need it, keep it. Put it in one of the canvas bags. If you don't love it or need it, but someone else could use it, put it in a pile to donate. If the answer to all three questions is "Absolutely not!" then trash it and move on to the next item.
5. Don't think about the items too long. These are quick, gut-reaction answers. Go go go! If you're really, really indecisive, put it aside in a special space. At the end of the purge, go back to those questionable items and make a decision already. Oh, and if you find you have more than 5 items in the indecision pile, you're failing. Stop being sentimental and just trash it already.
6. If you decide to keep something, put it away. Like, really away, not shoved back in the corner of the room from whence it came. Everything needs a purpose and everything needs a place to live.
This all came out of our spare bedroom. Oh, help.
I'm sorry the picture is a little blurry, but I was trying to hurry up and get that crap out of my living room.
I try to do a purge at least twice a year: at the beginning of summer and over Christmas break. Two weeks away from work is one of the perks of public school teaching.
I try to do a purge at least twice a year: at the beginning of summer and over Christmas break. Two weeks away from work is one of the perks of public school teaching.
Despite the picture, there is a method to the madness. And that method is called Keep, Donate, or Trash. The process is this:
2. Get trash bags, recyclable boxes, and some big totes--one for each room or level of your house.
3. Start at the one end of the heap of chaos and pick up one item at a time. Ask yourself these three questions: Do I love it? Do I need it? Could someone else use it?
4. If you love it and you need it, keep it. Put it in one of the canvas bags. If you don't love it or need it, but someone else could use it, put it in a pile to donate. If the answer to all three questions is "Absolutely not!" then trash it and move on to the next item.
5. Don't think about the items too long. These are quick, gut-reaction answers. Go go go! If you're really, really indecisive, put it aside in a special space. At the end of the purge, go back to those questionable items and make a decision already. Oh, and if you find you have more than 5 items in the indecision pile, you're failing. Stop being sentimental and just trash it already.
6. If you decide to keep something, put it away. Like, really away, not shoved back in the corner of the room from whence it came. Everything needs a purpose and everything needs a place to live.
Here's the living room after our purge:
Approximately 5 minutes after this was taken, Hurricane Atticus came to town and destroyed everything again. Le sigh.
Please be cautious. A purge is kind of like a juice detox--it sucks while you're doing it, and it's likely to make you yell, cry, throw something at someone, or pass out, but when you're done you'll feel clear-headed, peaceful, and up to eight pounds lighter.
Let me know how it goes in the comments!
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