Samantha’s Success Story

At the beginning of September, Samantha completed her Clutter Clearing Journey.  This means she’s cleared all her clutter and created the habits she needs to stay Clutter Free Forever.

Success Summary:

• 10 rooms and areas completely clutter cleared after 17 years:
  • Hallway, stairs, landing
  • Kitchen
  • Front room
  • Dining room
  • 3 bedrooms
  • Attic
  • Double garage
  • 1 Storage Unit the size of a single garage
• E-mail inbox now below 100 read and unread e-mails 
• 71% of all the clutter she categorised and sorted came OFF the Clutter Conveyor Belt
• Over 50 black sacks of donations to her local charity shop
• 25 trees planted in her name with the Paperwork Reward Challenge because she shredded over 125 black sacks of paperwork clutter         
• Her home is now on the market as she plans to downsize now the children have their own home and families and use the equity to travel  
• With the weekly Shopping Challenge Samantha started saving over £80 / $95 a week by the end of Step 1  which   covered   the  cost   of   her   Private Journey Membership
• As a direct result of doing her weekly Paperwork Clutter Clearing Sessions, by the end of Step 2 Samantha had cancelled 3 monthly payments and 2 annual payments on her bank account that she didn’t know were being taken and which saved a further £200 / $240 a month:
  • 1 insurance for a pet who passed away 3 years ago
  • 1 professional subscription that she’d been paying for every year on automatic renewal, even though she’s been retired for 8 years!
  • 1 gym membership she’d never used
  • 1 mobile / cell phone app subscription she didn’t use (or remembered downloading)
  • Netflix subscription which she’d signed up to at the beginning of the pandemic and used only a handful of time before starting her Clutter Clearing Journey!
• By the end of her Journey Samantha had saved enough money to get her boiler fixed, new windows and her attic insulated ready to go on the market
• Samantha took nearly 6 months to complete Step 1 of her Journey and just over 3 months to complete Step 7 – a total of 2 ½ years – proving that getting into a routine of ‘Doing the Doing’, breaking your giving up habit and learning about WHY you have your clutter challenge in Step 1 is HARDER than the physical clearing you start in Step 2.

Samantha started her Private Journey at the beginning of the Pandemic.

As Samantha explains:

Like many I panicked at the start of the pandemic when the lockdowns came in. Being stuck at home with my clutter was my idea of a nightmare, and only being able to go out for one hour a day of exercise made me realise just how much time, energy and effort I had put into avoiding my clutter and procrastinating at dealing with it. 

Why didn’t I put that into clearing it instead?! If only I knew then what I now know!

Just before the pandemic I was diagnosed as having adult ADHD and the specialists implied that my hoarding was a symptom of that, and I’d just have to learn to live with it. I’ll admit I was pleased to begin with because it felt like I was being excused from taking responsibility for it. Then a friend told me she’d seen a video come up on YouTube when she was browsing one day. It was some woman called Clutter Clearing Clare, and she sent me the link.

It was about the Conveyor Belt Concept. I watched some more videos which got me thinking hang on – that’s logical and it makes sense with my ADHD that I accumulate impulsively, struggle to focus and finish things, struggle to relax. Then I saw the invite to the Free Social Gathering and I haven’t looked back.

I joined one of the Free Social Gatherings Clare did at the beginning of the pandemic, and signed up for the Pandemic Getting Started Course, which made me realise just how much help I really needed. This time I didn’t get overwhelmed. I finally accepted that I couldn’t deal with it on my own and I could either keep making excuses or finally accept Clare’s help to break my procrastination and giving up habit.

What’s so frustrating with the Journey isn’t so much the time it takes, although like everyone I wish I could have done it quicker. What I found really frustrating  was  learning  and  understanding  things that made so much sense, that made me understand why I’ve struggled for so long. Once I understood my WHY and started to see it in my LIFE Timeline (which is such a powerful tool), that’s when I felt like I’d turned a corner.

I didn’t feel so stupid, useless or hopeless, and I decided to stop making excuses and start making regular time to get the help I needed to create the life I wanted.

When I started my Journey I only managed to focus on watching my videos for about 30 minutes a day before feeling overwhelmed. Thank goodness I had the weekly private sessions with Clare so I didn’t give up like I would have done on my own. 

Step 1 took me nearly 6 months to finish, but eventually I was able to do 2 separate 1 hour sessions a day.

It’s funny that I’m impulsive because of my ADHD, and you could say I was impulsive by starting my Journey almost immediately. I knew with my ADHD I’d need Clare’s undivided attention and to do my Clutter Clearing Journey in my morning time (I live in the UK).

I almost can’t believe I’ve cleared all my clutter myself, without Clare ever coming to my home. My doctor can’t believe it either – it’s definitely made him re-think his assumption that ‘once a hoarder always a hoarder’!

Now I’m able to sell my home for its full market value so I can finally start living my best life and start travelling. To anyone who’s struggling or scared, I’m here to tell you don’t be – just do it. Start your Journey, you won’t regret it.

To start YOUR Journey to a Clutter Free Life visit: https://www.clutterclearing.net/7-step-journey/