January 1st, 2015 we’ll be starting the “30 Days Of Small Steps Declutter Challenge”. The name is a little complicated, but the process is simple. Here’s how you participate:
- Join the Facebook group. The Cluttered To Clean Facebook group is the discussion group for this blog and decluttering-related topics, and being part of the group will help keep you accountable.
- Check in each day. The Facebook group will have a new post each day that notes what day we’re on, gives a suggestion for an area of your house to work on that day, and maybe includes some tips or pointers for that area. If your house doesn’t have that area (like a basement), work somewhere else.
- Work on that area for 15 minutes. More on this below.
- Report back. Post to the Facebook group with your progress. If you’re getting rid of things, let us know your progress! If you’re stuck, post about what’s got you stuck! We’re here to help.
This should take you 15-20 minutes per day, max. And we’re not measuring the amount of stuff that you get rid of – the sole goal here is to get you into a regular habit / rhythm of looking at, considering, and making choices about your stuff.
So What Do I Do In That 15 Minutes?
Glad you asked! In your 15 minutes, you’re going to work through the area you’ve chosen in a systematic way. Here are the things to do, in order of priority:
Get rid of the junk. Some areas have stuff that’s obviously junk. If there are empty pizza boxes in your kitchen, soda cans on your desk, or coupons that expired 3 months ago on your bulletin board, those can all get pitched.
Remove stuff that belongs elsewhere. Don’t get bogged down here, but if you have dishes on your computer desk, get those out to the kitchen. If there’s a 24-pack of toilet paper on your kitchen counter, put it away in the bathroom.
Collect stuff to be processed later. If you have a goal of scanning all of your paperwork into your computer, that’s not going to happen in 15 minutes – but you can at least get all the papers together into a box or pile. Or if your sewing area has a hundred spools of thread scattered all over, you can gather those into a box to go through later.
Process each item that’s left. Processing an item means that you:
- Pick it up. Holding it in your hand is different from looking at it sitting on your desk.
- Think about the item. There are so many questions you could ask here, but here are a few. Don’t spend more than a minute or two on each item. Why do you own it? What function does it serve? Do you like it? How much would it cost to replace it? If you didn’t own it, would you pay that cost to have it? What would be the consequences of you getting rid of it?
- Make a decision. You’re either going to keep this thing or you’re going to get rid of it. If you’re getting rid of it, put it in the trash, the recycling, or a donation box. If you’re going to keep it, ideally it would get put in a place designated for it (like how dishes go in a certain cupboard, etc.). But if it doesn’t have a place designated for it, feel free to put it back down and move on to the next item!
One Last Step
Take a few minutes to make some notes. How’s it going? Are there things you feel you should be getting rid of, but aren’t? Are you feeling happy? Sad? Guilty?
If you’re comfortable doing so, this would be a good time to post to the Facebook group and let the group know how you’re doing. And if you’re not doing so well, let us know that too – we’ll try to help you out!
And if you have any questions for me personally, feel free to send me an email.
