Tanya’s Charlotte’s Success Story

Tanya started her Private Clutter Clearing Journey in May 2020 and completed it in November 2023. This means she has cleared all her clutter and created the habits she needs to stay Clutter Free Forever.

Success Summary:

• 12 rooms and areas completely clutter cleared after 36 years:
  • Hallway
  • Landing
  • Kitchen
  • Laundry Room
  • Study
  • Lounge room
  • Dining room
  • 3 bedrooms
  • Garage
  • Attic
• 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
• 3 separate car-loads of donations to her local food bank during the stock take exericse on Step 1
• 1 car-load of pet food donations to her local animal sancturay during the stock take exericse on Step 1
• Multiple car-loads of donations to her local charity shop
• Tanya initially decided to start her Journey after the first lockdown of the pandemic to give herself a way to donate to local charities that were in desparate need. 
• Tanya didn’t tell her friends or family that she was doing the Journey while she was on Step 1 for fear of judgement, and because she knew she wouldn’t be working on the physical clutter and didn’t want negative comments from them about not seeing a difference fast enough.
• Tanya had 2 dogs and 3 cats who she decided to clear her clutter for, so they could have more places to sleep and play in her home.
• With the weekly Shopping Challenge Tanya started saving over £80 / $95 a week by the end of Step 2 which covered the monthly cost of her Private Journey Membership.
• As a direct result of doing her weekly Paperwork Clutter Clearing Sessions, by the end of Step 2 Tanya had cancelled 2 monthly subscriptions on her bank account that she didn’t realise she had, and instead divert that money towards supporting charities during the pandemic.
• Since completing her Journey, Tanya has been able to adopt another rescue dog (don’t worry, she’s not getting any more!) , which has made a real difference to her local rescue centre which has been inundated with animals as a result of the cost of living crisis.

Tanya started her Private Journey in May 2020.

As Tanya explains:

During the first lockdown of the pandemic, I realised that because I spent a lot of time outside my home to avoid the clutter, I had developed what Clare calls ‘Clutter Blindness’. I didn’t even notice my clutter, even though it was very visible in every room.

Being forced to stay at home for long periods of time during the lockdowns, I started to notice the effect my clutter was having on my pets. My dogs didn’t have a space they could call their own, and they had to struggle over piles of clutter to get from one place to another. I noticed they all wanted to be close to me and snuggle up next to me on the sofa, but they couldn’t because of the clutter.

I know it sounds silly, but my vision of my clutter free lounge was one where I had my open fire lit (I couldn’t even see it because of the boxes of clutter piled up in front of it), the dogs curled up in their own dog beds, twitching as they had lovely doggy dreams, and the cats curled up next to me on the sofa as I relaxed, watched TV, did some knitting or read a book.

I may have been able to adapt to living with clutter, but it wasn’t fair on my pets.

I didn’t tell any of my friends or family that I had started my Journey. I knew they wouldn’t understand, and I didn’t need their comments or the pressure of their expectations. Like most people who don’t struggle with clutter, they wouldn’t understand why I couldn’t just blitz it and be done with it. They certainly wouldn’t have understood how Clare was able to help me without even coming to my home!  I didn’t need their disapproving comments. I had to do this on my own, for myself.

What surprised me most was that I started my Journey grateful that I wasn’t starting to work on the physical clutter first, because that terrified me. Step 4: Mount Everest is well named. I should have trusted Clare when she said it wouldn’t be as scary as I thought it would be by the time I got there, but I expect like many people who struggle with clutter, I’ve had so many failed attempts and terrible experiences when it comes to my clutter that I struggled to trust Clare at the start.

Yet I cleared my first area in next to no time. You don’t realise just how many seeds you are sewing in your mind on Steps 1 to 3, and just like Clare says, just trust that they will all germinate and grow, ready when you need them most, when you get to Step 4. When I worked out how many hours I had spent clearing my first area for each year I had been trying to clear it, it was the equivalent of half an hour per year – crazy! And to think, in the past, I’ve spent hours and hours, years and years stuck in my trying and giving up cycle.

There have been four significant successes for me as a result of finally clearing my clutter. First – I’m able to visit friends, have holidays and have a pet-sitter stay in my home – all because of all the money I’ve saved and continue to save as a result of controlling the accumulation of clutter, even though my income hasn’t changed. Second – that vision I had of my pets in front of the fire has finally come true. I think they love our home as much as I do! Third – the look on my friends and family when I had my Clutter Free Reveal party. I had never invited anyone into my home before. They didn’t believe how cluttered it was until I showed them my before photos from Step 1.

And finally, I now know – really know – that I have created the habits I need to stay clutter free Forever.

You can clear your clutter fast, or you can clear your clutter forever, but you can’t clear your clutter forever, fast.

To find out how Clare can help you clear your clutter Forever, without the need for an expensive home visit, click here now: https://www.clutterclearing.net/clares-help-centre/