I absolutely love hearing how you apply my five step No Mess Decluttering Process to all sorts of situations! Since I’m smack dab in the midst of yardwork overwhelm right now, these two emails I’ve recently received were a delight! I got permission to share them with you.
I spent about five hours pruning shrubs this afternoon, and I’m happy to report that the “Dana principles” apply to yardwork as well as housework!— Removed the trash first (AKA raked up the trimmings from the last pruning that never made it to the side of the road for town pickup)— Did the easy stuff (duh donations) next — this meant trimming the branches that blocked the path to the next shrub in the row— Took it there now, also known as dragging the branches immediately to the side of the road instead of making an intermediate pile closer to the houseIf I’d run out of energy and stopped at any point, things still would have looked better than when I’d started. A wheelbarrow substituted for the trash bag, of course!Your decluttering steps work better for me, with inside AND outside messes, than any other tactics I’ve tried (and there have been many!). I really appreciate your work and just wanted to let you know. Thanks.
And this detailed report from Kit:
We’ve started following Dana’s 5-step process in our yard, too.Trash = weeds, brambles & pruning.Easy stuff = trash bins, chairs, tools, etc.Decluttering = removing plants & hardscape we don’t want anymore.Take it there now = transplanting, moving bricks/rocks to where we do want them now, unpackaging & placing items we’ve purchased.Embracing the space/making it fit = mapping & planning new plantings with their adult sizes in mind, and not overcrowding the yard with furniture & decor.Clutter threshold = making changes in the direction of simpler design and workflows, less maintenance. It sometimes also means asking for help to do a larger task like pruning a tree from the roof or clearing a stand of blackberries.Our most effective concept has been: Better is good. I decided that 20 minutes matters; so if I have a 20-minute block + clothes-changing and hand-washing time and if the weather is tolerable, I go work in the yard.During daylight savings time, this can be both before and after work. During late fall and early spring, it might be only immediately after work and on weekends. Whenever I can fit it around work and household tasks.I also found myself overwhelmed with all the different issues I saw in the yards, so I created a rotation: brambles, weeds, pruning, projects, creek banks. Each yard work session – no matter how long or short – focuses on one type of task in turn.Workdays: Day 1, I clear brambles: blackberries, thistles, any prickly bushes – only until my available time is up. Day 2, I clear weeds in the rockbeds, dandelions and prickly lettuce in the lawn. Day 3, I prune trees and bushes. Day 4, I work a bit on whatever project we have going on – currently transforming our front lawn to xeriscape.Weekends: I work around 2 hours a day on creek banks. I trim grass, dig out blackberries, prune trees and bushes, pull debris from the stream.Within each category, I work on things in visibility order. So I generally focus on brambles, weeds, and pruning in the front yard before the back yard. I work on the blackberry patch in the back yard before the thistles in the lawn. And so on. We’ve also decided to focus this year on the front yard xeriscape project instead of balancing our time between that and the back yard project.We’re years away from being to our maintenance phase and under our clutter threshold, but each year we have seen loads of improvement!~ Kit~
If you want to dive into the No Mess Decluttering Process to better understand the five steps, these resources will help :
Decluttering at the Speed of Life: my book that teaches everything you need to know about the process.
If you would like to wrap your brain around my decluttering process and learn how to apply it to your unique home and unique situation, check out my book, Decluttering at the Speed of Life.
These are brilliant! The process definitely works inside and out.i love it
Fabulous application of Dana’s process! This is a paradigm shift for me. I’m also thankful to read about the 20-minute block concept. For me it’s too hot most of the year to be outside for hours at a time, and then I’m too wiped out to do anything else that day. Thanks, ladies!
For those hot months, another tactic we sometimes use is to set up a beach canopy for shade.
Also, because our xeriscape project includes creating a base map, I’m taking some yard work time slots during intolerable weather to enter measurements and draw our map on the computer.
I continue taking small blocks of time whenever and wherever I can to move the whole yard forward.