Decluttering and Snow Removal

The Rocky Mountain Front has seen lots of snow this winter. Nearly 20 feet so far this season. My poor car has been buried for six weeks. The thought of digging it out is overwhelming.

Eventually warmer weather will melt the snow away but I may need my car before that happens. And so I must do the work…

Digging out after a Snowstorm

Digging out after a snowstorm is similar to decluttering your home or cleaning out your inbox. Looking at the entirety of the project is daunting. There’s so much to do and you don’t know where to begin. It seems an impossible job. So you just don’t do anything – much like what I’m doing about my car!

The Key

Here’s what I know about decluttering and snow removal… you just have to begin. Start small. Do a little at a time. Take a break and start again. When you take on a little bit at a time, it’s not so overwhelming. You’re making progress, you can see it, and it feels good.

Taking the First Steps

When it comes to snow removal, my first step is the path from gate to street, which also happens to run along one side of the car. I don’t clean off that side of the car. I’m just making the path at this point so I can get in and out of the house. That’s important!

Next up is the area in front of the car, then access to the driver’s side door, followed by front and back windows. At this point, I can move the car out of the way. Once the car is moved, it’s easier to clean the snow off the car itself, as well as clean the other sides of the parking area.

I don’t do these steps all at once. The job is too big. So I take it one piece at a time. The problem with that approach is that it may snow again before I’m ready to tackle the next phase. So I’ve got to redo what I’ve already worked on before moving on to the next phase. That’s okay because that bit is easier and faster to work through the second time, and then I can move forward.

Decluttering the house or purging your inbox is similar. In fact, any task you are facing that seems overwhelming can be done if you take it one step at a time.

Take it One by One

So your project is to declutter your house? That’s a big project, and the immensity of it has led to inaction in the past. Let’s break it down into smaller chunks. What if you work on it one room at a time? Is that too much? Okay, how about just the closet in that room? Still too much? How about one shelf in the closet? Or one drawer in a dresser?

Break it down into doable chunks. And keep at it. Ten minutes today, ten minutes tomorrow, the next day, and so forth. Every step you take adds up. Maybe it seems like slow progress – but it is progress nonetheless. And you’ll feel good for having started.

Before you know it, you’ll have successfully decluttered the house and cleaned out your inbox, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll have found my car again!