Brace yourselves for a shock, organizers....
Are you sitting down?
Mid-August will find Focus cleaners and declutterers starting Round 4 - our final round before maintenance up to the... ... yes, I'm going to say it... ...
holidays.
As August unfolds, those of us who intend to incorporate parts of holiday plans - crafting, cooking for the freezer, making advance purchases for projects, working on the "gift closet" - will find it's an excellent time to get started thinking.
This is the time for some quiet decision-making. What holiday plan you would like to follow? How "big" a celebration will you choose for each holiday, and how much entertaining do you want to do compared to emphasis on craft time, or kitchen time? Do you want to create a notebook or mini-card-file this year just for holidays? You might want to glance at last year's holiday thread in The Creative Home forum, to remind yourself of your hopes and dreams.
But remain calm - we're not implementing it all yet! If there's a cardinal rule for a happy, welcoming holiday season it may well be this: Don't abandon your ongoing efforts against clutter!
There is no merriment in having lots of creativity if we find it's oozing out of an already too-cluttered home! "All dressed up with a dirty neck!" (as P and P said) is not the way to have fun!
Stick with us, and PREPARE your lovely home for creativity and hospitality. Continue to try for the equivalent of 15 minutes of decluttering time per day, and insure that holiday feeling!
********************************************************
Some of us are following the Focus cleaning schedule in the Organization and Simplification Tools forum, and it might be helpful to declutter those rooms one week ahead. Focus cleaning is adaptable, of course, so even those following it drift in and out of different rooms as needed.
Here's a reference if you hope to find some friends decluttering in the same room "with" you each week.
Week of.........you'll find some of us
7/29/2013 - Decluttering the living room as we Focus Clean the kitchen
8/5/2013 - Decluttering the dining room as we Focus Clean the living room
8/12/2013 - Decluttering the porch/entry as we Focus Clean the dining room
We begin Round Four of 2013
8/19/2013 - Decluttering the bedrooms as we Focus Clean the porch/entry
8/26/2013 - Decluttering the bathrooms as we Focus Clean the bedrooms