Where do I start???

When people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them that I am a "personal assistant".  That is just another name for housekeeper, house cleaner, clutter buster, so fourth and so on.  Then they most always say with a sigh, "That is what I need, someone to just get my house clean and then I can keep it that way!"  

Well, here I am to tell you my secrets!  Not all of them mind you, I mean really, I don't want to be unemployed!  But I will give you some basics today to get you off and running.  Then when you realize that it is a doable thing, you'll maybe come back and tell me how you did!  

First things first.....

1.  Choose your fire.  By that I mean choose the room that bugs you the most.  The one room that you always walk into and say "Ugh, what a mess!"  

2.  Gather your materials.  This is a two fold one.  I always go into a room and take a photograph of the entire room.  Put the photo on my computer so I can see it in large print and really look at it.  Notice all the things that I might not see as I'm standing in the room because it tends to overwhelm me.  What do you see?   I get a notebook and make a note of all that I want to do in that room.  Grab three plastic bags (my favorite is the 13 gal size trash bag that ties.)    

First!  I must have music!!  I like the 60's Music Channel on our cable system.  I want it peppy!  OR I put on my "Cleaning Music" play list on my Ipod.

Then........We're Off!

Being sort of OCD about the way I approach things I have a habit of going into the room I'm working on and starting in the farthest corner from the door.  I grab one of my trash bags and go all the way around the room doing a "Fling Boogie" .  This is a process I learned from www.Flylady.com and it works great!  Anything that I determine to be trash is into the bag and gone!  I am usually very good about not looking in the bag after I am finished and I recommend that you don't either.  Don't touch it again.

Then I go back to the starting corner and begin to gather and sort.  Into bag #2 goes donate, into bag #3 goes relocate.  Relocate means things that "live" somewhere else in our home.  

This process usually doesn't take more than 1 hour and when finished I like to take another photo of the room, repeating the process of putting it on my computer for the "big picture" and at that time my trusty notebook comes back into play.  

I make a note of ideas for rearranging the furniture to a more comfortable  position, or redecorating ideas.  I list any repairs that I might find that need to go onto my "Honey do" list.  Then if it is needed the room gets a deep cleaning.  But that is another subject for another day.  Today we are "decluttering".  

Now, you might ask yourself, "She cleans houses for a living, does her house really ever need cleaning or decluttering?"  HA!  I know you've heard the old adage, "The shoe makers daughter never has shoes." It is true for cleaning ladies homes too!  There have actually been times in the past where I've had someone cleaning my house so I can go clean a clients house!  

This might not be a great system for you, take what you will and make it your own to help you with blessing your families home.

Now go out and make this day yours for His Glory!

Blessings ~ Kat