After awakening to clutter blindness, it's time to take action on the lists and tasks you made and eliminate the clutter in the home. Here is the link if you missed it: awaken to your clutter blindness in your home. In this post, we will discuss resources you can use to eliminate the clutter.
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When is the best time to start decluttering?
The best time to start your to-do tasks is during the spring. Many recycling and donation events and yard sales are happening during this time to help you get motivated to get rid of things.
Where can I donate and recycle the purged things?
I have lots of resources to help you donate and recycle unwanted items. Below are the title of the post and the link. Feel free to visit each post below when you have a pile of things needing removal.
- CHARITABLE LOCATIONS TO DONATE STUFF
- WHAT TO DO WITH OLD YEARBOOKS
- THIS YEAR'S RECYCLING LOCATIONS AND SHREDDER EVENTS
- 15 CHARITABLE LOCATIONS WITH A CAUSE
- PLACES TO DONATE JEWELRY YOU DO NOT WANT
- HOW TO GET RID OF HOUSEHOLD ELECTRONICS
- ITEMS TO SELL FOR CASH TODAY
You may even want to sell the item. If so, keep this in mind. Create a Plan B solution for the item. Say, you want to sell something on Craig's List; give it a deadline of 30 days. If you do not sell it within the 30-day period, you will donate it to your Plan B with no regret. Trying to sell something that no one ones can be difficult and can stop you from moving forward in your decluttering process.
Clearing the Clutter Strategies
Below are some strategies to help you clear the things you awakened to. Feel free to use whichever applies to you.
Uncompleted actions strategies:
Add items that must be dropped off to your schedule and place them in your car or handbag. Then, add a reminder to your phone to alert you when necessary. This way, you will have the item and don't need to remember to take it with you.
Home office decluttering strategy:
Pick a project that will take about 1 hour. Divide that project into 15-minute increments each day. Work on the project at the beginning or end of each workday. By the end of the week, you will have completed the project.
A room in your home strategy:
Pick a 1-4 hour project you can do when you have free time between activities. Before starting the decluttering and sorting, ensure you have all the tools (Affiliate Link) you need to complete the project. Ask for help if you need it. Have the helpers be available at your designated time.
Here are some tips on the sorting process:
- Clear an area of your room.
- Write the following on each 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper in different colors. One per page.
- Trash
- Donate
- Give away
- Sell
- Keep — will be discussed in part 3 in detail.
- Add any additional customized category to your situation, like “Give to Jim.”
- Tape each labeled paper to the wall in the cleared area.
Now, it's time to sort.
Start sorting until you complete sorting all the items in the room.
Do this for each room and take any donated items to your favorite charity.
Try this? The faster you take care of these items, the more room you will have for sorting your kept items. Try speed sorting. This is where you use a timer. Set the timer for 30 minutes. Start the timer and then go as fast as you can and sort the cluttered area. Get the kids involved and make it a game. Who is the fastest at sorting the clutter?
The decluttering of the clutter in the home process will not happen overnight. However, putting your mind and actions into eliminating the incompletions in your home will result in a calmer space and a happier you overall!
Do you have any questions for me? Please leave a question below, and I will do my best to help you solve your issue.
If you need help to be more accountable during this process, check out my Virtual Organizing Services.
Visit these pages for the rest of this awaken to your clutter blindness series:
How to Awaken from Clutter Blindness – Part 1
How to Sort Kept Items – Part 3
Visit our recent posts!
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon (Affiliate Link), and at no additional cost, I will earn affiliate fees if you decide to make a purchase.
Daria says
Great advice! I recently purchased a scanner because I really want to go paperless. But I haven't started yet. (Disclaimer-very busy with a senior graduating high school.) But perhaps some of the reason I haven't started is that it is admittedly going to be a long process. Think I'll plan on doing one folder each day. Thanks for the inspiration!
Linda Samuels says
There's a lot of clarity in the process. I agree with Seana that breaking the process down into small, management parts IS the key. Overwhelm can so easily sabotage our moving forward efforts, so anything we can do to counteract that is great.
Seana Turner says
Breaking it down into smaller tasks is a good idea. Some may have a home where they can't do it all in one week, but maybe they can break one "scary" room down and work through just this one space. Just keep moving forward!
Sarah Soboleski says
I love that you highlight the importance of scheduling time to tackle your clutter. It reminds me of the saying: a to-do not tied to a to-when rarely gets done!
Hilda Rodgers says
This is a great series Sabrina! I like how you suggest breaking up a project into smaller, manageable chunks.
Autumn Leopold says
Wow! Epic post Sabrina! I love that you mention "to keep seeing the clutter" because so many times we get used to it and it keeps accumulating. As well as scheduling time to clear the clutter I schedule a time to just put things back in the room they belong in! So much of my clutter is just stuff that's left out an not put back where it goes! Thanks for the motivation!
Sabrina says
Thanks, Autumn! It's a three-part series, check out next Thursday for the last post of this series. =) Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Susan cooper says
This is so motivating for me. Makes me want to jump right in and tackle some organizing jobs I've been putting off.
Sabrina says
I'm glad it helped, Susan. =)