This
morning I took 15 minutes to do a little walkabout around
the house...
First,
a little background...
For
the month of January I've been working on building a good habit,
spending 10-15 minutes a day decluttering a shelf or a drawer or a
cupboard. Each little declutter session was spent in a different
room or area.
These
Small Victories have had a very positive effect in our little
household. Although I could have probably completed all of my
declutter sessions in one, glorious, All Day Saturday Clean-up, I feel
my decluttering was more thoughtfully accomplished by taking it in
slow, easy steps. Also,
small chunks of time decluttering and cleaning have allowed BIG
chunks of time for the Important Things in Life. That's
a good thing as Martha Stewart would say!
My
walkabout was a good review of
what I've accomplished. Yeah!...pat on the back and increased
enthusiasm to keep decluttering. It also identified some problems.
Example?
Stinky ski clothes. : (
Husband's
solution? Dry things out by draping clothing all around our bedroom.
Really?!?
I don't think so.
So,
I took a leaf out of my own book...A.P.E. - a simplified
problem-solving
method I used with my students.
What
exactly is the problem? Who “owns”
the problem? Who else is affected? What's causing the problem? How
important is it to solve the problem? Does the problem need a
temporary or permanent solution?
Brainstorm
different ways to solve the problem. Ask others for ideas. Do a
little research. Decide on a plan and
put it into action.
E...Evaluate.
Decide
how long you'll give the new plan a chance to work. Follow through
by evaluating! Most important? If the plan didn't work, start
analyzing again and come up with a new plan.
What
about the stinky ski clothes, you ask?
I
think I've come up with an acceptable plan (a repurposed clothes
drying rack in a space room close to our bedroom, plus a boot tray at
a back door we don't use in winter). We'll see! We'll evaluate at the end
of the month. : )
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