Jump Start January: My Week 2 decluttering plan
This week is devoted to reducing clutter and making life run more smoothly. The idea of decluttering a whole house or even a whole messy room is admittedly completely daunting, but don’t let that put you off because I’m only going to concentrate on small, speedy declutters that have a big impact on everyday living.
Decluttering is not necessarily about getting rid of everything that you love, or living in a zen-like empty shell of a home or doing without, so try to keep an open mind. It’s about making your home and your possessions work more effectively around the life you have, and maybe making some space for the life you want too. Be aware that you may need to buy a few small additional items if you decide something important is missing.
Each declutter has the same set pattern to follow:
1. Empty the chosen space and clean it
2. Sort the clutter into ‘keep here’/’keep but move to another specific place’/’get rid’ piles
3. Add storage or organisational items etc as needed
4. Put the cleaned ‘keep here’ items back; put the ‘keep but move’ items away in their new/correct home; and take the ‘get rid’ rubbish items outside to the dustbin or recycling bin (which must all be done on the same day)
5. Place any ‘get rid’ saleable items into a labelled container for eBaying, Freegle/Freecycle donations or taking to a charity shop (ideally you should make this journey or create your listings within the week)
If you don’t complete the five steps quickly, the clutter tends to creep back in or simply moves to another location and starts growing there, so it’s best to tackle only one small, manageable task at a time and finish it entirely if you want true progress.
Here’s my personal decluttering plan for the week:
- Empty, clean and re-stock work bag
- Tackle the ‘crash zone’ (where you drop everything when you arrive home)
- Organise the bathroom cabinet
- Sort out bed linen and towels store
- Clear out and clean the fridge
- Organise the kitchen junk drawer
- Tidy and re-stock t-shirt drawer
These are all fairly speedy things to do, and most of all they will be useful to me on a daily basis. I’ll be able to get out of the house faster in the morning, and the place should generally look less messy too.
Are you having a decluttering week? What will you be tackling?
Clothes, wardrobes and bathroom cabinets. That’s my decluttering plan for this week. I did the under-stairs cupboard yesterday as part of the making money week 1 challenge and i don’t hoard junk so it should be a good week for me
Hi LofRede, that’s a lot to do in one week! However, if you aren’t one of life’s hoarders it will be so much quicker and easier.
I’m going to sell some old clothes next month, but won’t have time to do the wardrobe in the next few days. One small step at a time…
I’m having a huge clearout right now, there’s boxes I’ve been lugging from house to house for years now. Literally years. It’s going well, although i think it’s going to be a hardcore few weeks! I must have spent a total of about 15hrs non stop on it this weekend…
Hi Tamsin, well done so far! Just keep chipping away at it.