I Tried the 'GFD' Trick, and Now I'll Use It All Year to Keep My Home Clutter-Free
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One of the best ways to get something done — no matter what it is — is to have a time constraint attached to it. Whether it's doing a Power 10 with my family or using the 'Race the Clock' method to whip my entire house into shape, having a 'deadline' keeps me from procrastinating and makes me efficient. There's just something about having the end in sight that lights a fire under me. That's why when I came across this trick for having a 'Guests for Dinner Bin' by Holly Blakey of @breathing.room.home, I loved it instantly.
The 'Guests for Dinner' (or 'GFD,' as Blakey calls it) Bin trick involves grabbing a bin or box (any similarly sized container, really) and clearing off the clutter on surfaces in the common areas the guests will see. Once the surfaces are cleared, the filled basket can be stashed in an out-of-sight spot and you and your guests can enjoy time together in your picked-up home. There's an important caveat, though: You have to put the contents of the basket away within 24 hours or you'll end up with a basket of clutter and items you can't find!
I love this method for actually getting the house ready for guests. I've found out for myself that if having people over involves too much overwhelming preparation, I hesitate to invite them. I generally don't like having guests over to a messy house; it's not comfortable for me and I feel like it doesn't honor them. The GFD trick makes it super fast to get the house into an acceptable condition before people arrive, which eliminates the overwhelm that can come when you're expecting company. Moreover, the method is perfectly suited to last-minute guests or, really, to any situation where you're pressed for time to get the house in order.
In fact, this method is so effective that I've started pretending I'm having guests over. I know how I'd want my house to look if people were coming, and, frankly, I want to enjoy that freshly ordered feel myself sometimes! So I'll grab a plastic laundry basket and sweep off the common area surfaces into the basket. When I have a few minutes later on, like when I'm on a phone call to catch up with a friend or I want to listen to my audiobook, I'll go around and put everything where it belongs.
My family and I recently had a busy weekend that involved soccer games in two different cities as well as the usual activities required for gearing up for the next week. The house was in disarray, and I was starting to feel anxious from the messy surroundings. But I didn't have time to do a complete, typical cleanup. The GFD trick came to the rescue.
I acted like guests were arriving any minute and I tore through the house with my laundry basket and got all the out-of-place items off of surfaces. I found, to my surprise, that the method itself kept me efficient because I wasn't getting distracted putting items away as I picked them up. Instead, by focusing on the end result, I got there so much faster. The basket sat in the bonus room for several hours, but my mood was lifted instantly in my newly calmed space (and the items got put away eventually, again without me going back and forth between clearing off and putting away).
The impact cleared-off surfaces have on the look and feel of the entire home is impressive. The GFD trick is so effective at getting surfaces clean that I've adopted it for any time I need a quick refresh at home.
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