Start year off right — get rid of clutter

Here we are in a brand new year with all the hope that a new year brings.

Clutter has a way of making us feel bad about ourselves and our homes. This year we are striving to feel alive in 2005. Our clutter keeps us from living up to all that we can be. So let's put our homes on a diet for this new year.

Here are some of my favorite tools to help you eliminate clutter from your home. On our Web site, www.FlyLady.net, we are doing a Super Fling Boogie. Join us and post the pounds that you have flung!

Taking 15 minutes each day to de-clutter an area, using the 27-Fling Boogie and clearing your hot spots are among some of the most powerful tools you can use to create a more peaceful home. Remember: You cannot organize clutter — you can only get rid of it!

I've included my tips on how to de-clutter. Put your home on a diet.

1. When to de-clutter: Decide how often you are going to de-clutter a zone. Do a little every day — use a timer. But be warned — this can become compulsive! Once you get started you will want to clean like a banshee! Don't burn yourself out! Only do a small amount at a time. The house did not get dirty overnight, and it will not get clean overnight.

When you set the timer you can only do two sessions at a time. This goal may seem unattainable right now, but you can do it in little pieces. In a couple of months, the whole house will be de-cluttered.

2. De-cluttering equipment: You will need garbage bags, boxes, magic markers and a feather duster. Label the boxes "Give Away," "Throw Away" and "Put Away." Line the "Throw Away" box with a plastic garbage bag.

3. Set your timer: for one hour (or 30, 15 or 10 minutes — it doesn't matter how long). Just do the job as fast as you can, and do not pull out more stuff than you can put away in that length of time. This means just one drawer, one closet — or even one shelf in one closet, one magazine rack, or digging under just the furniture in the zone. Don't do all of them at once!

4. Start at the entrance to the room, then work your way around the room clockwise. Do not skip a spot. Whatever happens to be next, just do it.

5. De-clutter away! With boxes at your feet and feather duster in hand, start off by cleaning out and getting rid of the things that do not belong in this room. Put garbage in the "Throw Away" box, donations in the "Give Away" box and stuff that goes somewhere else in the "Put Away" box. Don't worry that you do not have a place for everything right now. By the time you finish, you will. That's a promise from FlyLady!