FLYing Lesson: Declutter 15 Minutes a Day

Your home is filled with clutter of all shapes and sizes. This is why you are unable to keep it clean — you have too much stuff! All we ask is that you set a timer and spend 15 minutes a day decluttering. That’s it. Anyone can do anything for only 15 minutes, even if you have to break it down into five-minute segments. These are the five tools we give you to help you declutter and also make it fun for you! When you get the e-mail reminders/checklists from FlyLady, try them yourself. What do you have to lose (besides clutter, of course!)?

The 27-Fling Boogie

We do this assignment as fast as we can. Take a garbage bag and walk through your home and throw away 27 items. Do not stop until you have collected all 27 items. Then close the garbage bag and pitch it. DO NOT LOOK IN IT! Just do it.

Next, take an empty box and go through your home, collecting 27 items to give away. Suze Orman teaches this in her book, The Courage to be Rich. This will change the energy in your home and bring about good feelings. Every time I do this I feel better and my home is becoming decluttered in the process. As soon as you finish filling the box, take it to the car. You are less tempted to rescue the items.

Rule of thumb: if you have two of any item and you only need one, get rid of the least desirable.

I also sing a wonderful song as I am doing this fun job: “Please Release Me, Let Me Go,” as sung from the stuff’s point of view!

Hot Spot Fire Drill

Here is a problem that we all have and continue to struggle with: hot spots. What is a hot spot?

A hot spot is an area, when left unattended, that will gradually take over. My favorite analogy is of a hot spot in a forest fire; if left alone, it will eventually get out of hand and burn up the whole forest. This is what happens in our homes. If left unattended, the hot spot will grow and take over the whole room, eventually making the house look awful. When you walk into a room, this is the first thing you see.

Remember, clutter attracts clutter! Do you have areas like this that continue to grow if left alone? Does the rest of the family see this as a place to put things when they do not want to put them where they belong? It is our job to nip this in the bud! Get rid of that pile, find the surface underneath, and stop this hot spot from becoming a raging clutter inferno! Watch for the Hot Spot Fire Drill reminder, then try it — it works!

Five-Minute Room Rescue

This is a reminder to spend just five minutes clearing a path in your worst room. You know this area of your home: the place you would never allow anyone to see. Just five minutes a day for the next 27 days, and you will have a place that you can be proud to take anyone!

Daily Mission

Each day (or almost each day), we will e-mail a five-minute mission for you to do. It will be in the area of the home that we are focusing on for that week (the zone). These missions will take you to places you may have never been before! Have fun with this! We will also be posting Zone missions for the week on our Launch Pad.

Work in your Zones

Each week, FlyLady will tell you what zone we are working in. After a full month, you will have worked your way around the majority of the living areas of your home. Do not worry if you have not gotten to every room in your house the first month; as one area gets cleaned, it will become easier to do, and you will have more time to face those areas that don’t seem to fit in any zone. See the Launch Pad for more information. Remember: FlyLady wants you to take BabySteps. Don’t worry about zones until you have conquered the basics!

Not sure what zones are? Read the FLYing Lesson on zones. Wondering what the current zone is? Visit the Current Zone page!

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