First, let me talk about the why of de-cluttering - SAVING $$$, time, and sanity.
- $$$ - you won't be purchasing more of an item when you realize how many you actually have
- time - you won't spend a lot of time searching because you know you bought it, but where is it?
- sanity - see the first two!
Tomorrow, I will post a bit more about where we'll be working and in what zones. But for today, I just want to lay out some rules. Oh, no! Rules?! Yep, a few rules so it will be fun and not make life crazier (or is it more crazy?).
Rule#1: We want this to be FUN! And in order for that to happen, see Rule#2.
Rule #2: Set a timer and stick to it. We don't want to end up having all of our regular things forgotten. For me, this would be easy. "Feed my family? Clean my table? Do my dishes? Laundry? Who needs to do that? I'm de-cluttering!"
Rule #3: Do not take everything out of the area you are working in! Your timer will go off and you will be left with a bigger mess.
Materials you will need:
- a trashcan or trash bag for trash
- a box for donating
- a laundry basket for items that don't belong in that area
Now you need to decide if you'll do a garage sale or just donate the items. I have participated in a garage sale once. I don't really have the space to keep a lot of stuff because of all the construction zones in my house. So I donate as I go.
If you're donating, you'll have to decide where to keep it until you can make a trip to a donation place. We have a few in town here and I have one place where I like to donate our things. I have a to-do list organizer on my phone and on Wednesdays, it says Donate clothing. Piano lessons and errands are that day, so that gets included in, if necessary.
Now for the plan:
First, gather your trashcan and box. Go to the area we are working on set your timer. I am going to say 15 minutes. You'll be surprised at how much will get down with just that little bit of time.
For example sake we'll say we are working on drawers. Open just the one drawer. Do NOT empty it all at once.
Take an item out of the drawer. Ask the questions. "Do I use it? Do I need it?" If the answer is yes to either of those questions, then you can decide if it belongs back in that drawer. If it does, place it on the counter top nearby or some clean surface and start again.
If the item is useful, but doesn't belong there place it in the laundry basket to return to a different room at a later time.
If the answer is no to both questions, you may ask "Is it sentimental?" or "Is it beautiful?" These two questions can really help you keep a lot of stuff that you maybe shouldn't. I think we should allow for them, though, because in my mind there are items that fall into that category.
This really doesn't have to take a long time to process each thing. It can be done fairly quickly and should be or you'll get discouraged and never do this again. :) If you have no idea why you bought that thing-a-ma-jig and can't figure out how it is even used, decide between the trash bag and the donate box. Someone may consider it a find, if it's in good shape.
When your timer goes off, you may take your trash bag, donate box and laundry basket out of the area. Put the trash bag and the donate box in a closet for tomorrow. During the rest of the day, you can put all the things in your laundry basket away. Time for another 15 minute timer? Make it a game with your kids.
There is no rule that says you cannot do this more than once in a day. BUT... don't let your other chores (those ones that never seem to get done or always need to be done again) get lost in the shuffle. Make sure that you just take baby steps and don't expect giant leaps. This is a 8-week trip and we don't want to use up all our energy on the first day.
Tomorrow is project day around here because my man will be home and we're still putting up fence and working on projects for neighbors. So I'll do a quick post about where we'll work and Monday we'll get started.
Thank you for joining me!
Keep pressing on,
Steph
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