Sharon’s Success

Clutter clearing journey diagram

On 1st February Sharon reached the halfway mark of her Journey – the peak of Step 4 Mountain known as Mount Everest.

This means she has completely clutter cleared her first room – whoop whoop!

Sharon now has a completely clutter free lounge and can now sit on her couch without seeing a pile of paperwork and feeling like she ‘should’ be doing some Clutter Clearing.

She can see through her lounge / dining room and out the patio doors into her garden.

Well done Sharon. I knew you could do it!

As Sharon has shared:

When I started my Journey in November 2019 I never imagined I’d be able to get to Step 4, Mount Everest, much less climb it!

I finally have a clear, calm room in my home.

I know I still have a lot to do, but I never believed I could do this.

In fact, I struggled so much with Step 1 that when the pandemic hit I asked Clare if I could ‘pause’ my Journey after Step 2. I felt exhausted and as if I was falling behind. I really struggled to focus.

Clare reassured me that I’m never falling behind if I’m making some time – even if it’s not a full 2 hours a day – for 5 days a week to ‘do the doing’ by watching my Journey videos.

She suggested I mark off the days I did ‘do the doing’ on a calendar and I was surprised how motivating that was, to see more and more days get crossed off. So I decided to keep going because I was home so much and I didn’t want to have to start at the beginning again if I paused.

I’ve felt like giving up so many times because you don’t SEE much progress with the paperwork clutter in Steps 2 and 3, and definitely not with the e-mail and computer clutter, although I do love working out how many e-mails I’ve got off my conveyor belt every week!

But let’s be honest – paperwork is so slow and boring! And it’s endless – there’s so much of it.

Accepting that there is no quick fix, magic wand or alternative but to just keep ‘doing the doing’ is  hard. Every Clutter Clearing Session reminds me that I’m having to do this because of what I’ve done, or more importantly put off doing.

It’s because I haven’t been ‘doing the doing’, instead constantly pausing in the past that I got in this mess with my clutter in the first place, but now I know that once I’ve finished my Journey I’ll be like Clare – just doing a weekly paperwork and e-mail Clutter Clearing Session, and a monthly computer Clutter Clearing Session.

To help me focus on the future and how letting go of paperwork clutter benefits others and the environment (rather than obsessing over the piles of paperwork that never seemed to go down), I took part in the Paperwork Reward Challenge where Clare plants a tree in your name for every 5 black sacks of paperwork clutter you get off your conveyor belt with your weekly paperwork Clutter Clearing Sessions.

I found it really helped me focus and stay motivated. Every time I looked at paperwork in my Not Sure category I asked myself whether I REALLY needed to keep it, or whether it was better being recycled and reused.

Clare’s now planted 4 trees in my name which feels good!

When I got to Step 3 I was really struggling. The monotony of doing my Clutter Clearing Sessions on the same day every week felt too much, especially as it was October 2020, it looked like here in England we were going to go back into another Lockdown, and I’d already done one step of the monotony.

I couldn’t face another step on my own! Plus, I didn’t want to join the Social Gatherings or weekly Q&A. I’m sure 1 hour privately with Clare each week is more focused and productive than having to ‘share’ her with others! I know myself – I’d make excuses for not having achieved my weekly goal.

So I rewarded myself by booking a term of Accountability Calls with Clare to help me stay focused in the run-up to Christmas.

It was great because on your Journey you watch a lot of videos where Clare’s teaching on her whiteboard.

In my weekly calls with her, if there was something she needed to explain, she could just show me on her board. It was like having my own private class and tutor which was great!

In fact the weekly calls worked so well and I saved so much money on Step 2 & 3 by doing the weekly shopping challenge (and the lockdown), that I decided to have another term of them in the New Year, just to make sure I continued my routine and reached the peak of Step 4 – and I have!

I can definitely feel the routines and habits starting to become automatic. I actually look forward to my e-mail and paperwork Clutter Clearing Sessions each week now, because I love it when Clare tells me how many and what percentage of e-mails I’ve reduced my inbox by.

and feel more of a difference after your weekly Backlog Clutter Clearing Sessions.  

It took me 5 months to complete Step 1. The start of the pandemic in the middle didn’t help.

But now – now I have a clutter free room and I KNOW it’s not going to get full of clutter again.

I’ve climbed Step 4 Mount Everest in 6 weeks (plus 2 weeks off at Christmas). That’s amazing! Bring on the other rooms!

In the past I gave up when I got bored or stuck with my clutter. I never gave myself choices, and I certainly didn’t give myself permission to be ‘not sure’.

Having Clare as my private guide is the reason I haven’t given up. When I look at my beautiful clutter free lounge / dining room I finally believe, after all this time, that I WILL clear all my clutter.

It’s taken over a year to get to the point where I’ve cleared my first room. I’ve still got 4 more rooms to clear.

But when people ask me in the future what I did during the pandemic of 2020 – 202?, I’ll know I finally started clearing my clutter that has held me back for 15 years.

Some people will have used the pandemic as an excuse NOT to start their Journey. I’ve used it as an excuse to turbo charge my Journey.

The irony is that by the time I finish my Journey the pandemic will (hopefully) be over and I’ll be able to invite friends, family, neighbours into my beautiful, clutter free lounge as if it was never cluttered. And they’ll be so shocked! I can’t wait!

And the best thing is, I KNOW I’ve broken old habits and created new ones, so I’m confident the clutter will NEVER grow back.

When Clare asks me at the end of every step what advice I’d give myself in the past, before I started my Journey, I always say:

‘Stop making excuses. Stop trying to convince yourself that everything and everyone else is more important. Start to put yourself first, make just 2 hours a day to work on yourself and your dreams. Don’t be afraid of ‘what if I fail’. Be afraid of ‘if I don’t try…’

Sharon

Find out more about the Clutter Clearing Journey that Sharon is on here: https://www.clutterclearing.net/7-step-journey/

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