If you knew me in real life, you’d know that I have a lot of clutter in my home.  I have 7 children and I’m not a good decision maker when it comes to if we should keep things or not.  I’ve also got a bit of a soft heart.  If the 5 year old cries because she wants to keep it so badly, by golly she’s going to keep it.  But, I know that’s not the best way to be.  My kids are tripping in their rooms and they are overwhelmed when it’s time to clean it up.  Our house gets messy way to easy because we have too many things without a permanent home.  We LOVE going on vacation to condos where there is no clutter.  It makes cleaning up so much easier!

But how do we decide what we’re going to keep and what we’re going to get rid of, so we’re not tripping on all of this stuff?  I believe that every person has their own unique way that they have to be OK with.  For me, it’s asking myself a few questions.

1. When did I last use this?
2. Will I miss this if I get rid of it?
3. Does it have a place that it belongs in my home?
4. Am I OK with having this in my house and picking it up if it gets left out (again)?

Is it really that cut and dry?  No, absolutely not.  Sometimes, I think crazy thoughts like, “But what if I do miss this, maybe I should keep it just in case?”  OR “I should save this, just in case I need it again, even though I’ve not used it in 7 years”.  Um…logically, that makes no sense, but for some reason when I’m trying to get rid of things and cut through my house clutter, these are the thoughts that I have.

I’m a procrastinator by nature, so I tend to put off these big decluttering and organizing jobs until later.  I usually have good excuses, too.

• I need to clean up the house first.
• I don’t have time.
• I’m a homeschool mom, need I say more?
• Yeah, as soon as the baby quits nursing (if the baby EVER quits nursing)
• Um…you get the picture.

So…now, instead of procrastinating on it any more, I’m going to do something every week for 52 weeks.  I’m actually a little afraid to commit to this in front of you.  But…. here I go, I’m going to do it.  Now, what I want to know is, will you join me?  Please do, I’ll need your help!!

How it Works

1. We will focus on one area of our lives each week.  Mostly it’s in the house, but I’ll throw in some other areas as well.
2. You can start a notebook for this if you like.  I’ll provide some free printables as we go along to help you work through that space.  In fact, the first printable is this week and will share what we’re doing each week for the 52 weeks.
3. I would love it if you share your ideas on how you organize each area by emailing them to me.  In fact, I’ll remind you the week before as to what area we’ll be working on the next week, so you can submit your pictures.  I’ll use reader submitted photos to share different ideas on how we can organize our spaces.
4. I’ll be sharing tools I use to get this space organized and I’ll share other people’s ideas on how they get their space organized as well.
5. Join in on Facebook for a daily challenge and to continue discussing the 52 week challenge as well

When Does This Start?

I know it’s probably strange not to start during the first week of January.  But no, my house is disorganized right now, so I’m not waiting until then.  In fact, with school just having gotten started, this is the perfect time for me to get going.  I hope you agree with me and will join me!

Officially, next week, September 15th, we’ll start.  We’ll have a new jurisdiction every Monday.  If you show up late, just jump in right where you are.  If you skip a week, that’s OK, too.  You don’t have to do all 52 weeks to be in this thing.  Any progress is better than no progress!

And you know where we’re going to start at?  One of my biggest problem areas (right now anyway).

SOCKS

You don’t even want to know how many mismatched socks I have in my house.  Nope, you sure don’t.  If you have an awesome way to keep track of and/or organize your socks, please email me, send me pictures and tell me  your awesome ideas.  By doing this, you agree to let me publish your ideas and pictures.

While you’re waiting for next week to happen, you can always print out this list of areas we will be tackling.

52 Weeks to an Organized Home

This same list will also be posted on my Organized Home page.  After each week has passed, I’ll link that week’s blog post to the list.  That way those who start late, can still read the content and get the printables.

So…who’s in?  Will you join me?  If so, leave me a comment or send me an email and tell me that you’re in!  I can’t wait to get more organized with you!