Can you imagine the freedom you would feel living a clutter-free life? Of course, you can! The problem of clutter leaves us feeling anxious, helpless, and overwhelmed. But where do you get started in eliminating the clutter? Our best advice is to start with one area at a time and finish de-cluttering that area before moving on to another. This will give you a sense of accomplishment as you see your successes little by little. Making progress towards a clutter-free life doesn’t have to consume your entire day. Check out the list of decluttering tasks below that you can complete in 30 minutes or less.
Choose one a day and watch how quickly the clutter disappears. Arm yourself with a trash bag and a donate box/bag for each task. When your donation box/bag is full, take it to your car and then donate immediately – out of sight, out of mind.
- Tackle the dressers in your home one drawer at a time. Take everything out of the drawer, evaluate, and only put back your favorites. The rest can be donated or recycled. Set a thirty-minute timer and see how many drawers you can complete.
- Purge your beauty products. Gathering all your makeup and beauty products into one area will show how much you have. We are all guilty of trying out products, not loving them, but not wanting to get rid of them because it feels wasteful. Be thorough and toss anything you aren’t using. As a bonus, this will make getting ready so much easier because you only have exactly what you need on hand.
- Take on the task of decluttering your freezer the day before trash day so that if you do have to throw out mystery items or items past their prime, it does not have to sit in the trash for too long. Label everything you place back in your freezer with the contents and the date to make future freezer purgings easier.
- Challenge yourself to declutter your pantry in 30 minutes or less. Start by removing everything from the pantry, checking expiration dates, and wiping down the shelves. Take special note of the expiration dates in your spice rack. Spices don’t get used up as quickly, but they can lose potency over time and may need replacing. If you have an excess of some items, consider reaching out to elderly family members and neighbors or donating what you don’t need.
- Declutter the catchall area under your kitchen sink. When was the last time you even looked in there? Pull everything out and give the cupboard itself a cleaning. Next, replace only the items you use and are in good condition.
- Clear your desktop. Your productivity and effectiveness can be lowered when you work in a cluttered environment. Sort and file papers, then put all other items in their respective spaces.
There are no right or wrong ways to declutter, and there is no single set of rules that you must follow. Just do what works best for you. If you own items that you don’t have room for but want to keep, a mobile storage unit may be exactly what you need. Pack your extra items in a Zippy Shell and send them off to a secure, climate-controlled storage center. Then sit back and breathe a sigh of relief in your clutter-free sanctuary of a home!