Tamecia Eason

Declutter Project

BUS517 - Project Management

Dr. Berina Yerkic-Husejnovic

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 The goal of the decluttering project, beginning in the early months of 2024, was to reduce

the quantity of household belongings to make the home easier to clean and to navigate, and to

introduce a more pleasing aesthetic and a greater degree of functional furnishings and storage.

The size, methods, and duration of decluttering were intentionally left undefined in order to

develop a process and assess its subsequent impact within the constraints and realities of their

daily lives. These factors were ultimately determined by the amount of time and effort required

to achieve a noticeably satisfactory result in each area of the house. In addition to making the

home a more pleasant and efficient place to live, it was hoped that the successful reduction of

clutter and findings from the project would provide insight and stimulate thought on the issues of

material accumulation and management of household belongings.

When I purchased my 3-bedroom, 2-bath home in 2020, I thought would never fill it, but

I was wrong. Over the years, my need for additional furniture and storage space had quite

literally filled every room in the house and the garage, with the overflow spilling into the

backyard. I made the decision to try to lighten their lives of this clutter and the decluttering

project was born.

I plan to spend about 2-3 hours per day making decisions and sorting. From previous

experience, this is about as much as we can do before getting brain fatigue and is more than

enough to start with. We always used to make very quick, impulsive, and drastic decisions to

declutter, which we would regret later; one of the main reasons for failing in past attempts. This

time we want to do it slowly and carefully over a short period to prevent relapse. Decision

making is the most important part of the early stages, and we want to have made decisions on

virtually all items by the end of the first week.

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 I am thinking about a time scale of 12 months from the beginning of the project to the

finish. This is very optimistic, but we feel it is necessary to put ourselves under this pressure to

prevent the upheaval lasting for weeks/months on end.

There are many resources that my declutter project might need, and many that are

optional. Access to people is required for any larger project. For this decluttering project, at least

one person (myself) will be required, however access to other individuals is also useful. Family

and friends all have access to our possessions and have helped to amass the clutter, so involving

them in the project, or at least seeking their opinions on items, would be invaluable. Professional

organizers will also have useful knowledge and skills to offer. A vast array of local government

and non-profit services are available to assist with projects like this one, although such

availability is highly dependent on location. Finally, any support and encouragement like this

one will be useful in maintaining motivation and momentum throughout the project.

The materials required for such a project are very simple and we almost all have them

already. They are trash bags, sticky labels, and marker pens. These tools are essential throughout

the whole decluttering process. Labels will be used to mark what is inside boxes and bags and

stick on the edge of shelves and storage areas to show what should be kept there. A good set of

labels can be a very handy tool. The marker pens are simply for writing what is on the labels.

This sounds very basic; however, it is vitally important for when things start getting moved

around and you wonder where things have gone. This way, everything will still have a place and

things will not get muddled up. It will help to keep the storage system well organized. Trash bags

are needed as many of the unwanted things can be thrown away and we do not want to mix them

up with our good items. We need to have a clear system for knowing what rubbish is and getting

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it out of the house. Colored bags can be used to differentiate different types of trash and/or

charity donations. This can also help to prevent accidental throwing away of something which is

wanted. Nothing should leave the house in a black bag! This will help to avoid any mishaps.

The duration of the project will range from approximately 12 to 13 months, depending on

various factors such as time availability and the number of breaks taken during the cleaning

process. During this period of time, weekly consultations with personal assistants will be

performed. The consulting process with various personal assistants will greatly aid in the

maintenance of focused efforts and task efficiency during the decluttering process at an average

cost of $20 per hour. A total of 10 hours will be spent consulting with personal assistants

throughout the duration of the project.

With any project, one must take into consideration the associated financial costs incurred

in order to complete the desired task. On the outset of the decluttering project, an initial

investment of $250 will be needed in order to purchase supplies and other needed items to carry

out the desired task in a thorough and complete manner. 50 heavy-duty black garbage bags will

be purchased for a price of $15, as well as 10 larger plastic storage containers for a price of $75.

The garbage bags will be used for trash and other disposed items, and the plastic storage

containers will be used to store personal items of significance such as books, CDs, DVDs, old

photographs, etc. that will be taken off-site. Finally, a selection of different storage options will

be purchased to effectively distribute different items into their own separate and easily

identifiable categories. Storage options will be priced at $40. It is important to note that these

items will prove to be a good investment, as an organized home will make it easy to locate stored

items in the future. The total cost of supplies sums to $250.

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 As for the labor/material costs, it was assumed that it would be the same as the following

(the prices are approximate). Two workers, $10 per hour, and 8 hours a day. This was estimated

from the market economy and the fact that finding a professional will cost much more and may

not be reliable with the quality of the work. An additional $20 were added in for the fuel

expenses around working days and potential disposal fees. This is a total of $400. Now dividing

the terminal $200 into the 4 days, $80 were allocated to the first two days and $20 to the final 2

days. We can see that the amount is quickly being spent back down to the $40 with the money

left at the last two months being saved for potential mistakes and emergency expenses. This can

also be applied for the installation or material costs subsequent to the storage duration.

The total cost for this project is estimated at $5,000.

REFERENCES

www.guardianstorage.com/how-to-create-a-plan-for-decluttering/

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