Penny and her Cluttered Room

'Why can't I do this myself?' was Penny's first question to Clare when she called up seeking affordable help.

I 'should' be able to do this on my own, but I just don't know where to start. I can't even face looking at it all.

The first thing Clare told Penny was that when working with her, the word 'should' is banned because it generates instant feelings of guilt, failure and inadequacy.

'You're simply missing a skill' was Clare's response 'and you haven't yet found a good enough reason for clearing the clutter. You know you don't want the clutter -but what will clearing it do for YOU? Other than making you feel better and the room look nicer?'

That was a tough question for Penny. She had thought, until then, that wanting a nice looking room was what everyone wanted, she didn't realise that it wasn't enough of a reason.

Thankfully, after the 1 hour telephone consulation that Penny had with Clare before her first Assisted Clutter Clearing Session Penny was much clearer about the benefits that de-cluttering would have for her.

'I'm loving my worksheet 7' said Penny when they had their first call at 10am on her first Assisted Clutter Clearing Sessiom.

In fact, it's given me a reason to go through all those magazines that I keep because I wanted my home to look like that one day, and cut out pictures of all the things I can realistically do in that room.

A page isn't enough - I've set up a folder with separate sections for each room in the house so I can create detailed plans for each room.

I've even shared them with my husband and he's had some good ideas.

I think, now he realises that I'm being realistic and can see how I'm dealing with this, rather than living in a dream world he's much more supportive of doing the decorating once the clutter is cleared.

I'm no longer battling against him but instead we're creating our dream home together'.

As with all Assisted Clutter Clearing Sessions, Clare and Penny worked together throughout the day, doing one step at a time, dealing with the challenges, questions and issues that came up at each stage, and never being more than 30 minutes away from touching base with one-another.

As with all with all Success Club clients, Penny was amazed at how much she achieved in just 30 minutes and how, over the course of the day, she - and her husband - could see and feel major changes in the room.

'I know it's only been one day' said Penny, 'but I'm already feeling clearer about why I'm doing this, where I'm heading with it, and even more supported by my cynical husband because he can see that

I'm no longer doing my usual 'weeding' of clutter.

He can see, with his logical, methodical mind that what I'm doing has a structure and purpose, and he likes it a lot.

In fact, I think he'll be asking me about it tonight and implementing it himself in his office because he can see how quickly and easily you can get the results you need to get you motivated to continue.

I would even go so far as to say that I think I only need one or two more days to build up the confidence to do the whole process on my own, without the need for Clare. Imagine that - de-cluttering quickly and easily all on my own and not wasting time!