A messy home is a messy mind. If you’ve let your space go, so to speak, decluttering and organizing your entire crib can be overwhelming and frustrating. Take a few steps back, see the elephant, then get your details hashed out. I’ll give you a few quick tips to chunk your tasks.
Make a master sorting list
I love a good list, y’all. This is how I approach the elephants in each room. Get the big picture of what needs to be done by putting it down on paper. Make a list that includes each room and what tasks need to be done. Have columns for what needs to be cleaned, organized, thrown away, and tools you should buy to organize that space. And that’s heavy on the ‘thrown away’ for those you who like to hold onto ridiculous stuff. I don’t know who needs to hear this but you don’t need that Middle school mascot t-shirt or those pannies with the holes in them. They’ve lived a full life. Here’s your permission to let them go on to glory.
Ease yourself into the start.
Decluttering is already taking up valuable mental space. Don’t try anything too hasty like tackling multiple rooms or the largest project on the list. Choose the room you can tackle in a day. After you choose the space, choose the time you want to start cleaning and decluttering. Are you an early riser or night owl? Either way, pick a time where you’ll feel the most energized and motivated to get cleaning done.
Now, deep sort
Hold up, wait a minute. Y’all thought I was finished? Time to deep sort! The master list is just the preliminary sort you need to really get an idea of the decluttering mania. Now that you have the list, you can create piles or designated bags with what needs to go or stay. Hopefully, more is leaving than staying. Most of us are living with much more than we need. But, go through everything in your starter room and sort through your bins, clothes, and everything you could possibly live without. You need to know these 4 things: what needs to be thrown away (like I said above), what needs to be sold or donated, things that should remain in the room, and things you want to keep but should be relocated to another room. Every room needs this deep sorting principle.
Lighten the load
Okay, bag lady, this is the best part. All that junk that you didn’t need is going to the dumpster or the donation box. Just removing what you don’t need is the hardest part but also the most needed and rewarding part. Keep your shredder nearby for old paperwork with personal information. Or just tear it up the old fashioned way. Find a storage space for the donation or items for sale. Designate containers for the items that belong elsewhere in your home. If you just put them into another room, you’ll have to sort them again. With your designated boxes or containers, you transfer them to the right room without having to organize or sort again later. Anything leftover can be cleaned and organized as needed. You’ll have nothing to worry about except what needs to be there.
Keep yourself up
Now, maintaining your newly decluttered space should be a little bit easier. If you take a few minutes each day to put things back in their place, you’ll have smaller declutter sessions in the future. Unless stress gets to it first… like it does for me.
What gets your through your declutter sessions?