Do you have too much stuff? I know I do. Most of the time I keep my stuff under control by putting things back where they belong, recycling or giving away what is not useful to me any more, and throwing away what is not useful to me or anyone else! But occasionally all that stuff starts getting in the way and stressing me out. Here is a plan that I follow for a decluttered and organized space.
First, what are the benefits of decluttering and organizing in the first place?
- When the space around me is clear, my mind is more clear. When I have stuff everywhere and I am trying to focus on something I need to do, I get distracted by all the other things and tend to jump from task to task. Anyone else do that?
- I often find things that I had forgotten I had and that might be useful in some way. This especially happens with the clothes and accessories in my closet. It’s a great mood boost to find a necklace or sweater or scarf that I had forgotten I had! It’s (almost) as good as buying something new.
- A decluttered and organized space makes me feel more in control, even with a crazy busy schedule. When I am feeling busy and frazzled and then I open a closet door or drawer or see a table space that is decluttered and organized, I always feel like at least one area of my life is under control!
- Decluttered and organized spaces give me focus and momentum for completing other tasks that are important.
The #1 suggestion would be to declutter an area right before you use it. For example, if there is “stuff” on my kitchen counters and dishes in the sink, I take care of all of that before I start cooking. If there are “organized piles” on my desk or work area, I sort and file or return them before I sit down to work on a task. Get the idea?
But — what if you feel like your whole house or living space or classroom is a mess? Here’s my plan for getting organized for massive space decluttering!
1 – Here’s what you need: a pad of paper and a pen. I like to use those two column steno pads you can buy anywhere.
2 – Set a timer for 15 minutes. (Of course you can do this for longer if you want to and you have the time. But sometimes getting started on an overwhelming task is, well, overwhelming. Setting that timer lets you know that you have “permission” to stop when the timer goes off, which helps you get started in the first place. You can do anything for just 15 minutes!)
3 – Start at your front door. Whether you have a foyer or entryway or whether your front door opens into a living space, start by moving clockwise around that space.
4 – Label your paper with “living area” or whatever you call your space. Now as you walk around the space or look around the space, make a list of what you like or what is working for you in the left column. This is the part that will make you feel like at least some areas of your world are in good shape!
5 – Make a list of what needs your attention in the right column. This can be anything — the paint color you want to change, the drawers you want to declutter, the deep cleaning you want to do, the furniture or pillows or accessories you want to replace or buy some day.
6 – When you finish in some room or one area, move clockwise into the next area and repeat the process.
7 – When the timer goes off, you are done for today. Depending on the size of your space and depending on the number of items you put on your list, you may not be done. That’s okay. Repeat again tomorrow and the next days until you done.
8 – Now what to do with these lists? Reread the things you like or that are working well in your spaces. That gives you positive momentum to attack the things you want to change!
9 – With the lists of changes to make, you might want to code them with color, letters, or abbreviations. Cleaning tasks can be organized together with one code or color, decluttering tasks with another code or color, and decorating tasks with still another code or color.
10 – Put a big star beside the areas that are giving you the most stress. Those are the areas you will want to attack first! Even if you have several of these areas on your list, don’t get discouraged. Just go after the first one on your list or the one that is most stressful of all the stressful areas!
11 – Schedule a time to begin today or tomorrow. If it’s an especially busy time for you, or if you have young children that limit how much you can do in one day, just schedule 5 – 10 minutes. If you have a longer block of time for this, great, but don’t be discouraged if you only have a few minutes. A few minutes’ work every day is better than nothing!
12 – Now get going. I love Mel Robbins’ book The 5 Second Rule and her video about 5-4-3-2-1-GO. Just get started. Take baby steps if you need to. Work in small blocks of time. Before you know it, the areas that are causing the most stress will get decluttered (and maybe even cleaned or re-decorated!), and you will feel so much more in control of your life and your work.
Let me know how this works for you!