The Grand Cleanout - May

It is hard to get motivated to reduce the ‘stuff’ in the house without some forcing function. Moving - downsizing into a house that fits the change in our needs (down to two people) - would be the ultimate forcing function but we are not quite to that point. It’s clear that it would take a lot of work because we have been expanding to the available space in this house for almost 20 years. So - I am going to create my own forcing function my starting a monthly ‘grand cleanout’ post. This is a strategy that worked very well in my work life: establish a goal, create a plan to accomplish it, and then monitor progress.

The goal in this case is:

To be ‘move ready’ by June 2015 (i.e. a year from now).

By the time the grand cleanout post for June comes, I’ll:

• Develop some month by month objectives
• Donate the ‘stuff’ I’ve already got piled in the unused dining room (what a mess!) - clearing the area so that I can stage new items that will exit the house in similar fashion. 

And now I've created my own 'forcing function' for the Grand Cleanout!