What's a mission? It's a mission statement. It makes you
start at the very beginning by clarifying who you are and what you value.
Believe it or not, you can't even begin to declutter until you figure this
out. You make THINK you know. But if you're facing a house
full of junk, that's evidence to suggest you don't.
I like to run my home the way I've seen successful businesses run.
Why? Because it occurred to me that there's really not much
difference between a home and a company. Since good businesses have
got it down, I decided to save some time, energy and agony and copy them.
All successful companies start with a mission statement. Mission
statements are used to define a company, their values, what they're in
business to do and how they're going to go about doing it.
The mission statement as tailored to the home environment is really
about defining your lifestyle. That's what will dictate all the other
decisions you make. You must ask yourself questions like:
- Are you formal or informal?
- Are you a homebody or someone who is rarely home?
- Do you enjoy entertaining?
- Do you enjoy cooking?
- Do you enjoy cleaning?
- Do you enjoy gardening?
- Do you value a spotless home?
- Do you value family heirlooms?
- Are you someone who is constantly on the move or do you need
"downtime"?
- Are you a "wash and wear" kind of a person or a wash and iron kind
of a person?
- Do you enjoy the simple or the complex?
For example, my mother loves to entertain and when she does she brings
out all the good china, silver and crystal. Nothing brings her joy like a
beautifully adorned dining room table. In her home, guests sit together to
enjoy a full meal topped off with coffee and dessert.
I don't love to entertain as much as my mother does. And when I do, I
do not enjoy bringing out all the good china, silver and crystal. I like a
more informal affair with finger foods and paper plates.
So for me have a lot of china, crystal and silver would be ridiculous.
It would rarely get used and it would take up valuable real estate in the
process. Like everyone else, I received my fair share of it for wedding
gifts but unlike everyone else, I donated it when it became apparent that
I would rarely, if ever, use it.
My friend, Cathy, loves to be on the move. She's in motion from the
time she gets up in the morning until she falls back into bed in the
evening. She simply cannot sit down and enjoy a book or a movie. It's just
not in her. Her house is filled with children, pets, plants and
knickknacks. To ask her to get rid of any of them (the pets, plants or
knickknacks--not the children) in order to simplify her life would
actually decrease the quality of it because she would no longer have as
much to care for.
Sarah's house is always a mess. "Stuff" is everywhere. On the rare
occasion that it is clean, it is less than an hour before stuff is strewn
all over the place again. She is not home that often and she simply does
not want a clean and organized environment. To ask her to put things away
when she is done with them would be like asking her not to sleep. It just
wouldn't happen.
Julie hates to cook. She prepares meals for her family but they are
always quick and easy. She has basic pots and pans and knives and spatulas
but for her to keep much else in the kitchen would not make sense. On the
other hand, she loves clothes and shoes. So although her kitchen is bare
her closets are full.
The point is that each one of us is different with different values and
lifestyles. To suggest a one size fits all solution to organizing or
decluttering just would not work. That's why you cannot begin to tailor a
program to you until you figure out who you are, what you think is
important, how much time you're willing to spend on upkeep and how you
live. It's kind of like getting a new hairstyle.
So take the first step to decluttering forever and determine your
mission statement.
