Clutter Clearing Choices Book Giveaway Closed

I finally finished reading Clutter Clearing Choices, written by Barbara Tako. As I said in a previous post, this book was sent to me to review and keep. I really enjoyed reading this book. I found it to be extremely inspiring. That is why it took me longer to read this book than most books.

I would read a chapter or two and put it down to go tackle a job around the house. Barbara offers practical advice and suggestions in how to not only clear away clutter in your home, but also to clear away clutter in your life. She does this without being preachy or telling you what you have to do to take care of clutter.

The one bit of advice that inspired me the most is to take on small projects. By taking on small projects, I was able to accomplish a lot in a short period of time. Each small task has added up. I organized my closet, dresser, kitchen table, and my kitchen counter.

In the past, I have done this repeatedly. Each time, the clutter would come back. After reading this book, I realized that clearing away the clutter wasn’t enough. I had to have a system in place to prevent it from coming back.

For my kitchen counter, I set up a small organizer for mail, coupons, receipts, and doctor information. I also instructed my husband that junk mail goes in the trash, not on the counter, and not in the organizer. In my bedroom, I took out the laundry basket that I was using to hold my clean clothes next to my dresser. I had plenty of room in my dresser to hold my clean clothes, but it was easier to just place them in the laundry basket.

This of course would lead to me not being able to find a clothing item that I needed several times a week. Now, with the basket out of my room, I take my clean clothes into my bedroom and actually put them away. My kitchen table becomes home to toys, crayons, school papers and other things that I am not sure where to put. Now, I take time every day to clear off the clutter from the table. This is usually done after the kids are asleep, in order to prevent my daughter from seeing what I am throwing away and protesting.

I also make a point of insisting that my daughter take care of any toys or craft projects when she is done with them. I was inspired to do all of these things by reading Clutter Clearing Choices. You can also have the opportunity to be inspired by entering this giveaway to win a copy of Clutter Clearing Choices.

This giveaway is for 1 copy of the book Clutter Clearing Choices, written by Barbara Tako.. You must live in the US to enter. This giveaway begins February 20, 2010 and ends March 6, 2010.

Main Entry: Leave a comment telling me who you would give this to and why. (If this rule isn’t followed, no additional entries will count).

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Getting Rid of Clutter and Organizing Your Home

I am reading the book “Clutter Clearing Choices,” written by Barbara Tako. This book was sent to me to review and keep, and to also do a giveaway. I am having a little trouble with reading this book. Usually, I can read a book quickly. This time, it is taking me a longer.

Why? Because I keep getting inspired to get up and attack clutter in my house. I am a pack rat. I admit it. I hate to throw anything away. This has lead to an accumulation of stuff everywhere. On the kitchen counter, my kitchen table, the living room, bedrooms and, of course, my closets. My biggest problem is that I don’t have a system in place to take care of clutter.

I am always picking up after everyone in my family, and I am tired of it. This has lead to me giving up and letting things just pile up. The first time I sat down to read this book, I read two chapters (the chapters are short, 2 - 4 pages long) and had to put the book down. Off I would go to take some advice given in the book. Here is one of my favorites:

“Start small: Do one drawer or shelf at a time.”

That’s the one that got me motivated to tackle my clutter problem. In the past, I would handle my clutter by tackling a whole room at one time. This was very exhausting. I hated doing it. Afterwards, I would feel good, until a few days would go by and the clutter would start stacking up again. I had no system in place to organize things. It’s great to have my counter cleared off, but it didn’t solve the problem of keeping it that way.

My first clutter and organize task I assigned myself was my kitchen counter. It’s a small space that collects receipts, mail, and other miscellaneous stuff. It took me about 5 minutes to get it cleared off. It wasn’t until the next day that I was able to solve my problem with having an organized way to keep it cleared off.

After reading a few more chapters, I was ready to tackle a problem area in my bedroom. My dresser and the floor in front of my dresser. It was during this task that I found an organizer gathering dust on the floor. I also found an empty container that would be perfect on my counter. The organizer is a small mail/paper/messenger separator, the kind you use in an office. I placed it on the counter to sort appointment cards, important mail, coupons and receipts. I placed the large container on the counter to hold big items, like batteries, that I wanted to keep out where I could get to easily.

The next thing I did was to tell my husband that, for now on, junk mail goes in the trash, not on the counter. Hopefully, this will help. Two days later, and my counter still looks good. I will be doing a full review and a giveaway for this book on February 14. Hopefully, I will be able to complete the book by then. In the meantime, if you have any questions about how to tackle clutter in your home or how to organize a problem area, leave the question in a comment. I will get with the author of the book for answers.