Alright, so everyone’s been talking about this Sharron Simmons lately, or at least her ideas. My buddy, Dave, he wouldn’t shut up about her “Streamlined Life System” or whatever fancy name she cooked up for it. Said it changed his life, made him super productive. Me, I’m always a bit skeptical of these gurus, you know? But my workshop, man, it was a disaster zone. Tools everywhere, projects half-finished, a real monument to chaos. So, I figured, what the heck, let’s give this Sharron Simmons approach a shot. Couldn’t make it worse, right?
What I Thought I Was Getting Into
So, I looked up some of her stuff. It all sounded pretty straightforward, very clean, very… organized. Lots of talk about “designated zones,” “minimalist principles,” and “workflow optimization.” You get the picture. She had these neat little diagrams and checklists. Looked like if I just followed her steps, my workshop would magically transform into one of those super tidy, Instagram-worthy spaces where you can actually find a screwdriver when you need one.
Her main thing, as far as I could tell, was this “touch it once” rule and a pretty aggressive decluttering phase. Sounded brutal, but maybe that’s what I needed. I was kind of pumped, actually. Thought to myself, “This weekend, I’m going full Sharron Simmons on this mess.”
The Actual Grind: Getting My Hands Dirty
So, Saturday morning, coffee in hand, I started. Step one: Empty Everything. Okay, easier said than done. Dragging out fifteen years of accumulated “useful stuff” – old paint cans, bent nails I swore I’d straighten, three generations of broken lawnmowers – took half the day. My driveway looked like a junkyard. The neighbors were definitely giving me the side-eye.
Then came the “ruthless decluttering” part. Sharron says, “If you haven’t used it in a year, toss it.” Man, that’s tough. Every rusty bolt, every strip of leftover wood whispered tales of future projects. I tried, I really did. Filled up a bunch of trash bags. But I also started a “maybe” pile, which, let’s be honest, was pretty big.
Then, the “designated zones.” I bought some shelves, some clear plastic bins like she recommended. Spent hours trying to figure out where the “drilling zone” should be versus the “sanding station.” My back was killing me. The workshop was still a chaotic mess, just a different kind of chaotic mess – an organized chaotic mess, if that makes sense.
Where It All Went Sideways (or My Way)
By Sunday afternoon, I was beat. The Sharron Simmons dream of a pristine workshop was, well, still a dream. Her system, it felt too rigid for a real-life, messy workshop like mine. “Touch it once”? What about when you’re in the middle of a project and need five different tools in quick succession? You can’t be putting each one back perfectly every single time. It just doesn’t work like that when you’ve got sawdust flying and you’re trying to hold three things at once.
And her minimalist thing? I get it for a living room, maybe. But a workshop? You need stuff. You need those weird-sized washers because one day, you absolutely will. My “maybe” pile? Yeah, a good chunk of that went back in, but more organized, I’ll give myself that.
So, What’s the Verdict?
Look, I’m not saying Sharron Simmons is a complete fraud. I did end up with a more organized workshop. I can actually walk through it now without tripping over something. I found tools I forgot I even owned. That’s a win.
But did I achieve that zen-like, perfectly cataloged space she shows in her videos? Not a chance. My workshop is still a workshop. It’s got character. It’s got my character. I took some of her ideas, like the clear bins – those are genuinely useful. And I did get rid of a lot of actual junk.
- I learned that you gotta adapt these “systems” to your own life, your own way of doing things.
- A super-strict approach just leads to frustration, for me anyway.
- It’s more about making steady progress than achieving some impossible ideal.
So yeah, I tackled the Sharron Simmons challenge. Didn’t quite nail it her way, but I made it my own. And honestly, I can find my hammer now, and that’s good enough for me. Maybe that’s the real “Streamlined Life System” – figuring out what actually works for you, not just what someone else says should.
