Miss S from Chiswick had broken her back during the pandemic, which affected her life in many ways. Not only could she no longer hike or play tennis. Bending her back became out of the question, unless she was ready to spend 30 minutes trying to get back to standing upright. This lack of mobility had led Miss S to accumulate piles of magazines, mail, leaflets or even food packaging on the floor in her living room. With time, islets of papers became islands, islands became continents, and, eventually, a supercontinent of clutter swallowed all the floor space in between.

One Sunday morning, Sevan and Kash, the movers and shakers of decluttering, visited Miss S to introduce some continental drift into the lady's living room. The ultimate goal was to regain access to the back garden to have it cleared, with green waste removed through the house.

In 90 minutes allocated to the task, the GoodGymers separated the tectonic plates of clutter into:

• General waste - those seamlessly drifted into the black bin
• Recyclables - as above, but with a blue wheelie bin as the destination
• Paperwork - a bag of unopened mail formed a dreadful island that Miss S will have to go through at some point
• Unopened bottles of Sanpellegrino water - they formed a delightful peninsula full of alpine mineral springs
• Unopened orange juice bottles at varying stages of decay - deported in a bag to a quarantine island, to be disposed of later
• Cash in coins and notes - where else could those have landed if not on a small treasure island?
• Books - primarily about bridge, but not exclusively, formed a volcanic island with two peaks towering over other land that emerged in the process
• Useful stuff - kitchen gloves, bin bags, a towel, a bottle of wine and other things that may come in handy in the future formed their own continent in an unassuming M&S tote bag

One bag of forgotten baby Jersey potatoes deserves a special mention for literally turning into liquid, producing terrifying sulfur compounds that could be smelled without even opening the bag! That volcanic island drifted straight into the outside bin before a potential eruption of dreadful consequences.

Eventually, a sea of clear floor formed in the middle of the living room. It seemed as if a meteor impact had formed a crater as impressive as the Gulf of Mexico, pushing the remaining unsorted clutter towards the walls. Was Sevan's and Kash's help like a meteor that came to Miss S's life from outer space? We are not sure - but there certainly has been a big impact!