Whether you want to sell up or settle into your home, these simple steps will help your clear your living or work space. And once you’ve put proven systems into place, an ordered and welcoming home will be easy to maintain:

WHAT’S YOUR MOTIVATION?

Having a clear reason for all your efforts will help you stick with the process when you want to give up. Keep this motivation in mind as you sort through each room.

Whatever your reason, build up a vivid picture or feeling of how this will be. Imagine yourself welcoming friends into your now sparkling home. How does it all look? How do you feel (about your home and yourself)? The more detail you can put into your picture, the easier it will be to make it a reality.

HOW MUCH TIME CAN YOU SPARE?

Think about a realistic amount of time and energy you can commit to clearing clutter. Even if it’s only half an hour each day, your efforts will mount up. Steady progress may feel slow but you will get there.

Having decided on the time, put it into your diary (as you would when starting a new exercise plan). And remember that each step will bring you closer to a home that you and your loved ones can enjoy.

GIVE YOURSELF A DEADLINE

There’s an old saying that "If you fail to plan you plan to fail". Giving yourself a timeframe is an important element of this planning even if you have to extend the date. It reinforces your commitment to having a clear space by a giving it a specific time and place in your schedule.

THINK ABOUT GETTING A GOOD FRIEND TO SUPPORT YOU

Clearing clutter is very emotional as you are literally trawling through your past. If you have someone to support you (not to hassle you but to challenge you when you stray), you may find the whole process much easier.

STEP FIVE - SET UP A STORAGE SYSTEM

Before you start unearthing your clutter and spreading it out more, think about where you’ll put it all. Don’t try to skip this step as it will double your work. Lots of people find that they regularly move one pile of clutter from its usual area to another only to move it back. This is physically tiring, pointless and depressing.

Once you have a place for things, you will be amazed by how much easier your life becomes.

DON’T OVERWHELM YOURSELF

It’s worth repeating that no one expects you to clear months’ or years’ worth of clutter in a day. It’s important that you do a small area at a time. Don’t sink into a hopeless heap in the corner of your study. Decide on a manageable starting point. This could be the desk or even one drawer.

Before you start, think about the things that you already know will make you feel better. How can you incorporate several of these treats into your clutter clearing schedule?

USE A SYSTEM TO DECIDE WHAT GOES WHERE

Devise a system for sorting that works for you. You might want to try:

1) rubbish 2) recycle (charity shops, friends, boot sale, Ebay etc.) 3) keep where it is (e.g. in the study) 4) keep, but find a proper home for it (shouldn’t that whisk be in the kitchen?)

THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE MAKING SPACE FOR

It’s a well known fact that we block new blessings by holding on to the past. Clearing away the clutter will also clear your energy. This will allow all sorts of wonderful things (new jobs, relationships, friendships and other opportunities) to flow into your life.

Think about what you are making room for as you clear and it will raise your energy and motivation levels even more.

© Eve Menezes Cunningham 2005. All rights reserved.

Eve Menezes Cunningham is an accredited life coach who helps people create environments (at home and work) that support them using a range of life coaching and NLP techniques. You can choose from a variety of packages to suit your needs and budget. For more information about clutter clearing coaching and how you can bring order from your chaos, visit, http://www.clutterclearingcoaching.co.uk or call Eve on 01277 632085.