No, this post entitled “Crap Clean Out” isn’t about a detox or colon cleanse. This is simply about cleaning out the crap in your house and your life. Decluttering is the new black…or something like that. There is an increasing amount of new books/blogs/ideas out there with different strategies for approaching the same goal: get rid of things that don’t serve you.

I am not an expert declutter-er. I am not the tidiest person in the whole world. And I am not pretending to be. But, I thoroughly love getting rid of things. In this blog series, I am going to take you through my strategy of decluttering my physical belongings in hopes that you take something away (pun intended) or even join along in the fun.

First of all, why should you declutter? Well, studies show that when we organize and clean up our physical space, in turn it helps organize and clean up our mental space. Extra “stuff” in our life, takes up room for the abundance of growth and success we have potential for. Not physically, but energetically. It also helps with overall wellness (my main objective for people). When you live in a tidy environment, you feel happier, more productive and healthier.

So now, how to clean out the crap…

I personally LOVE to clean. I love the immediate gratification. I love the sense of accomplishment. I love the smell. I love the visual stimulation of my space being spick and span. Now, I realize that clean doesn’t constitute as clutter-free, but it’s a start. In fact, I think it’s THE start. When you clean, you typically put things back where they “belong”. When you put things back where they belong, you know where the things are. When you know where things are, you know where to find them (and thus it’s easier to get rid of them).

So, for step one of decluttering your life. I encourage you this week to clean your house from top to bottom. You may choose to do a room or two a day or you may be like me and dedicate a whole day to cleaning up shop. Doesn’t matter how, just clean up. Maybe even ask your family to help?!?!

Below is a list of things to do… take or leave it… just THOROUGHLY clean your house!

• Pick up all loose/stray items and put them where they belong. (if they don’t have a designated place, put them in a box labeled “homeless items”… you will go through this later)
• Go through all mail/paper work on counters, desks, etc. Complete things that need to be done, file things that need to be filed and trash things that are trash. No more paper work laying around.
• Consolidate products. Anything that you have double of in partially used containers, consolidate into one. (soap, cleansers, shampoo, etc.)
• Clean bathrooms (sinks, counters, tubs/showers, toilet, mirrors, floors)
• Vaccuum carpets/floors/rugs
• Dust entire house (yep even that small Buddha statue in the corner of the bookshelf)
• Clean kitchen (sinks, counters, floors, appliances, etc.)
• Clean laundry room (sinks, counters, soap dispenser in washer, dryer lent collector, etc)
• Wash dishes and put away.
• Wash laundry and put away.
• Wash sheets and make beds.
• Clean car. We don’t need 3 extra outfits, 5 travel mugs, and the last month of protein bar wrappers stored in our back seat. Clean out all unnecessary items in your car and then do a thorough cleaning inside and out.
• Any other rooms/places/objects your house/life has.

Before you clean, consider what you’re cleaning with. I am not telling you to do this, but do encourage you to consider it. I have gotten rid of all chemical cleansers (except for my toilet bowl cleaner… can’t quite let that one go yet for some reason). I have made a multi-purpose cleaner with 1:1 water and distilled vinegar and then add in about 1/30th of the mixture in Thieves cleaner. If you don’t have Thieves, you can add 8 drops of lemon and 4 drops of clove essential oil. You literally can use this on everything. (Warning: it makes windows/sliding glass doors almost dangerous because they are so clean you could walk into them.)

Alright, now that you’ve read this, pick time in your schedule this week to do it. Write it in your planner and get after it. Room by room or one full day of cleaning. However you decide, clean out the crap! Becoming a cleaning ninja!

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