Christine’s Success Story
Christine’s Success Story
Christine started her Private Clutter Clearing Journey in September 2020 and completed it in March 2023. This means she’s cleared all her clutter and created the habits she needs to stay Clutter Free Forever.
Success Summary:
- 11 rooms and areas completely clutter cleared after 27 years:
- Hallway
- Kitchen
- Lounge room
- Dining room
- Study
- 4 bedrooms
- Attic
- Garage
- E-mail inbox now below 100 read and unread e-mails
- 79% of all the clutter she categorised and sorted came OFF the Clutter Conveyor Belt
- Over 56 black sacks of donations to her local charity shop
- 15 trees planted in her name with the Paperwork Reward Challenge because she shredded over 75 black sacks of paperwork clutter
- Christine has rediscovered her hobby of watercolour painting, and now she has the space to do it she has turned her conservatory into a painting studio.
- With the weekly Shopping Challenge Christine started saving over £80 / $95 a week by the end of Step 1 which covered the cost of her monthly Private Journey Membership.
- As a direct result of doing her weekly Paperwork Clutter Clearing Sesisons, by the end of Step 2 Christine had cancelled 4 monthly payments and 1 annual payment on her bank account that she didn’t know were being taken and which saved a further £425 / $510 a month:
- 1 club membership
- 5 magazine subscriptions
- 1 pet insurance for a pet that was put down but that she never cancelled
- 1 health insurance covered by another health insurance.
- Christine has set up savings accounts for each of her grandchildren.
- Christine took longer to complete Step 1 of her Journey than she took to complete Step 7.
- By the end of her Journey Christine had saved enough money with the weekly shopping challenge and paperwork sessions to have her house redecorated and a new boiler so she could put it on the market to downsize.
- Christine was able to invite her son and grandchildren to come and stay for Easter as a result of clearing all her clutter and having bedrooms that they could stay in.
- Christine is now selling her home so she can move closer to her son and grandchildren. She can now sell her house for the full market value, and can financially help her son buy a bigger property.
Christine started her Private Journey in October 2020.
As Christine explains:
I decided to start my Journey when it became clear that the pandemic wasn’t over and there were going to be more lockdowns.
The first lockdown had been miserable for me, stuck in my house with the clutter. I saw families on the TV who were struggling to cope in small flats, and I felt guilty that I had a large four-bedroom house all to myself and was struggling. I would have happily swapped with some of the families I saw on the TV who needed a house the size of mine to live more comfortably during the lockdowns, yet I was struggling to live comfortably on my own.
So I decided to do something about it.
I’d followed Clare for over 10 years but never stuck at anything. I’d done various Clutter Clearing programmes which had made a difference, but I didn’t get into a routine of ‘Doing the Doing’, and because I didn’t have the accountability to ‘Do the Doing’, as soon as the programme finished, I gave up.
I admit that I procrastinated at trying again because I felt like a failure, but when I saw the 7 Step Journey I realised that it would give me the ongoing help, support and accountability I needed to make sure I got into a routine of ‘Doing the Doing’.
I’m terrible for saying I’ll do something, and even when I know it works, left to my own devices I don’t make the time. My inner child is so rebellious and attention seeking! I’m 74 and I was still letting my inner child get it’s way!
It was very annoying when I realised the secret of my success was simply having the accountability to ‘Do the Doing’. I couldn’t – and wouldn’t – have done this if I didn’t have my weekly sessions with Clare. She calls it the ‘Teacher’ effect, and it’s so true. If I didn’t have my weekly goals to work towards, I wouldn’t make the time.
As much as my inner child tries to sabotage me, I suppose my inner child is also afraid of having to tell Clare that I haven’t succeeded with my goals. Maybe my inner child isn’t all bad!
I think the time I finally believed that I would clear all my clutter Forever was when I started clearing my second room – my lounge – because by that point I’d cleared my hallway and kitchen, and they were staying clear of clutter. It wasn’t growing back. In the past, I’d never actually cleared a whole room. I’d done a bit here, a bit there. I got bored and impatient so flitted instead of focusing and finishing anything, so this was a major breakthrough.
I realise now that a lot of my impatience was because succeeding is actually extremely uncomfortable when you don’t believe you’ll be able to keep areas clutter free, and when you’re actually scared of having space. Of course, you learn how to deal with those things when you’re on your Journey, and it’s why it’s so important to do it at a pace that’s comfortable for you.
Clearing my study was the most emotional room to clear because it had all my late husband’s papers and notes and things. I imagined him there with me as I went through silly things he’d scribbled. It felt like he was there, cheering me on, telling me it was OK to let go.
I’m so glad I’ve done this – I just wish I’d done it sooner!
If you’d like to do what Christine did and clear all your clutter without the need for an expensive home visit, find out more about the 7 Step Journey that enabled her to succeed: https://www.clutterclearing.net/7-step-journey/