Start Decluttering With These Small Tasks
If you’ve been procrastinating on a home decluttering project, chances are the reason behind your hesitation is feeling overwhelmed or just not knowing where to start. Those things can trip anyone up on the road to organization.
When you find yourself stuck in a pattern of avoidance, the best method to change that pattern is to start with small tasks. Even doing just one little thing is progress. To help you along your way, consider one of these dozen tiny decluttering steps you can take today.
#1. Clear Just One Surface
Clear your kitchen table. If that’s too overwhelming, choose a segment of your countertop. Make it a surface you see daily, and be sure to keep it spotless.
#2. Empty a Shelf
Now that you have a surface cleared that you will see every day to provide you motivation, you can move on to another small task. Empty just one shelf. Remember to continue to keep it neat.
#3. Designate a Paper Zone
Nothing accumulates and gets out of control like papers. Designate an area as a catchall for your paperwork, and always place new papers in that ray or box.
#4. Find Homes for 5 Things
We all have a few items that never seem to get put away. Carefully choose your five most commonly left-out items, and find special places to store them.
#5. Donate Three Pieces of Clothing
Clothes are often the worst to declutter. Choose just three pieces to give away each day while getting ready. Soon you’ll have a bag full.
#6. Dump One Drawer
Pick just one drawer in your home to declutter. Then dump it out. This lets you see everything at a glance and makes the sorting process easier.
#7. Organize Your Medicines
Medicine, bandages and other health supplies should be kept together. Tackle just your medicine cabinet, creating a neat and tidy place to keep the up-to-date items you use most regularly.
#8. Create a Simple File System
Remember that paper zone? Soon it will overflow. Designate just a few file folders to hold your most common categories of paperwork. Then sort through the documents in your tray to file them quickly in their place.
#9. Take That Bin to the Car
Once you have a few tiny tasks underway, you’ll likely end up with a sizeable amount of stuff to donate. Take the bag or box out to your car to deliver to the thrift shop. See how easy it is to get rid of stuff?
#10. Picture Your Finished Room
These small decluttering tasks are adding up. Take a look around and picture how your room might look when completely pared down and organized. Visualization is a powerful motivator.
Taking small decluttering steps is easy. Soon you’ll be on your way to big life changes.
