The first box is open! and look I'm not scared... yet. Before I open another one and create a complete mess there needs to be some order to going about unpacking. My favorite system was found in a book written by Jeff Bredenberg, How to Cheat at Organizing. His method is called The S4 Technique.
*Strip*Scrap*Sort*Store*
Lets start with Strip and Scrap, here is my summarized synopsis of what he means.
Strip- Strip down your stuff to only the things that you,
A) Can't live without
B) Have used recently (meaning in the last 6 months to a year)
C) Actually remember you owned
Scrap- Scrap anything that doesn't fall into the above categories. These items either need to go into the trash or a box for thrift store donations.
This is the part that everyone (myself included) has problems with. It seems like the second those items go into the big black bag of death we all of a sudden develop the same emotional attachment we have to children. Seriously though, if you didn't know you had it then you will not miss it. If this is hard for you, then having someone stand by and watch you keep the stuff you don't need might be motivation enough to toss it.
Please tell me I am not alone in my "mild" hoarder like tendencies. How do you deal with pairing down? Is there another system you like? Do share!
Tomorrow, I will break down the next two steps, Sort and Store. To make sure you don't miss out subscribe via email.
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