The following is designed to help you get up to speed (don't worry, as the pace is in fact fairly slow) and join in with the main group, and follow the Weekly Plan.  The Plan is normally issued every Monday morning, and you will be able to pick up the Plan with the main group as soon as you have completed Week One, and also the following, which you can start immediately if you feel motivated.

These ideas are designed to take you up to Monday morning (when you should follow the Plan for Week One):

The key to basic clutter clearance is to create edges to the clutter so that you can bear looking at it while you are sorting it out. When it's all spread out and appears to be stacked in a precarious fashion, it is somewhat intimidating. So, the first thing we must do is go to the areas that look awful and try to make them look neater. Think in terms of rectangles and rectangular prisms, and try to get your clutter to match.

• Fold washing into a neat stack.
• Stack books, dirty dishes, papers; anything at all that can be stacked, stack!
• Anything that can't be stacked easily, e.g. shoes, toys, etc., put them in a box and stack the boxes if necessary.

In your living areas, make sure you have one area free from clutter. It might be a square foot of work surface, the middle of the room, or three steps on the stairs. Just make a little bit of space for yourself. Even if the rest of the house gets worse (because we're going to make a bit more mess before we're through), promise yourself that if you ever go to bed while there is clutter in those important places, you will set your alarm clock to wake you up early to put it right.

Start a new diary and begin to record your thoughts about de-cluttering. You might write a tome each evening, or you may simply write something like: "sorted today's post in one day; felt good". The idea is that you write something so you can look back in bad times and see how much you've achieved; it will also help you to see what's causing the problem, and perhaps how to deal with it; and also, your promises will be in writing! If you already keep a journal, start to run this one alongside it for the time being.

For the rest of the week, all you have to do is practice keeping those little areas tidy, and also dealing with new clutter as it arrives at your home:

• Sit down and sort the post in one go - bills first, then other letters, then 'junk mail', catalogues, etc. If you must have your catalogues, put them next to the toilet when you are next there for a few minutes (enough said, methinks). Never keep two seasons of the same catalogue (i.e. throw out the Spring catalogue when the Summer one arrives).
  
• Do the dishes as soon as the meal is finished and try to get the family involved if they like to sit and watch you do it!
  
• If, like me, you make a horrendous mess when you're preparing a meal, be ready to tidy up afterwards. Leave the vacuum cleaner somewhere easily accessible for the day, even if it means plonking it in the middle of the room. Next time you are at the supermarket, buy a load of dishcloths that you can wash and reuse - get into the habit of swapping them over every night, then you won't shrink from using the smelly one on the draining board!
  
• Look for something grimy and clean it. The usual ones are the cooker, the toaster, the microwave, the kettle (does it need de-scaling?). Only pick one item, but clean it until it sparkles. If you don't have the right cleaning equipment, make a note of what you need for when you're next at the shops, and then always make sure you have it in stock.

When you achieve something listed here (or anything else that makes you feel good about de-cluttering), tell all of us, so the ones who can't get started can understand how great it feels to get it done. If you are having problems with motivation, let us know and we'll rally round. Also, keep those "here is my clutter problem" e-mails coming to the list as they help me to formulate an individual solution for you.

If you are reading this and thinking that you already have a clean house but you really wanted some help with time management and the 'life' side of de-cluttering, please bear with me as this will be starting on Monday.

Good luck, and DO try this at home!