What if I told you that I had a system that could help you clear the clutter from your home in 10 minutes a day? Would you believe me – do I even believe me? Are you now looking around your space thinking it could really use a good clean out? Make sure you scroll to the end for a HUGE giveaway!
WHAT A DOOZY
To say that 2020 has been a doozy, would be the understatement of the year. It seems like at every turn there has been something that has thrown all of our lives into a bit of a tailspin. First the pandemic, then economic shut-down and quarantine followed. Shortly there after, came the murder of George Floyd and the resulting protests, periods of demonstration, and unrest that followed. It is enough to cause even the most stable person a bout of anxiety.
I know that I for sure have been feeling it. During this time of uncertainty, I think we all have felt the need to have a sanctuary to retreat to and for many of that has been our home. In the spirit of full transparency though, my home has felt far from a tranquil retreat during quarantine.
I mean it is hard for anything to feel like a retreat with a 2-year-old and 4-year-old living in it, but having all four of us at home has created a sense of disorder and clutter that has my anxiety skyrocketing to 100. Now more than ever, I need my home to be a place of calm and refuge, and it can not be that if I am constantly overwhelmed by the amount of stuff everywhere.
NOT TODAY, CLUTTER
So, starting today I am taking control, and I want you to come along on the journey with you. Maybe your house feels like an out-of-control mess after everyone has been stuck there for three months or maybe you just want to feel better about yourself after you see the level of crazy I deal with on a daily basis. Whatever the reason, I am inviting all of you to join me in a journey to #kickcluttertothecurb.
HOW DOES IT WORK
I am going to be sharing daily tasks that you can do in 10 minutes to gain control of the clutter in your house. I have done a ton of research to develop a system that will be efficient, yet effective. I will share some tips and tricks that I hope will guarantee success. By sharing this journey with you, I hope that it will help motivate us and keep us accountable. Please join me as we make an effort to take back our homes from all the clutter that has taken over. I will share my progress each week on Instagram and the blog- including all the VERY SCARY before photos of my house (no judgement zone). If you decide to tackle these projects with me I would love for you to share your progress on Instagram, tag me, and use the hashtag #kickcluttertothecurb. Let’s create a community around this where we can all support each other and hold each other accountable.
MY TIPS AND TRICKS
As I mentioned, I have read quite a few articles and found several checklists to develop some “best-practices” that I hope will make our clear the clutter journey a huge success. Rather than make you read everything available on decluttering, I am going to provide the cliff notes version of everything that I learned, so you can use this as a one-stop spot for all the information you need to get started on this process. Are you ready!?!
- Decluttering is not the same as organizing. Decluttering is the step that has to take place before you even begin to organize. You must get rid of all the crap you don’t need and put all the things that have been floating around in the wrong place back in their home before you can even begin to develop systems that will work for creating an organized home. Don’t try to bite off more than you can chew by trying to declutter and organize all at the same time.
- Don’t rush out and buy everything you THINK you are going to need to get your stuff under control. This goes hand-in-hand with step number 1. If you go out and buy a bunch of bins, baskets, and organizational paraphernalia before you even know what you are going to need, all it is going to do is invite more stuff and clutter into your home. Declutter first, THEN see what you need to keep things organized. I will share all purchases that I make that I think are helpful with you guys as I go along.
- Set up a donation pick up time when you start the decluttering process. Go ahead and schedule a pick-up time with your favorite local charitable organization for a month after you start your war against clutter. This will provide you with a hard deadline for when you have to be finished by and will give you a tremendous source of motivation knowing that there is a finish line that you have to reach by a certain day.
- Pick a space. This one goes without saying, but there are two separate schools of thought on this. The first is to pick the spot that is the most clutter filled and tackle it first when your motivation is high and you aren’t fatigued by the process. The second philosophy is to pick the easiest space first, so that you can accomplish a win immediately as a motivator. As for me, I have decided to go with my most annoying, most clutter-filled space: THE LAUNDRY ROOM. Yall, it is so bad. Stay tuned.
- Break it up. Once you have the space picked that you are going to declutter, break it up into several small and manageable tasks within the room. Remember the key to this system is that it can be accomplished in 10 minutes a day. You certainly can’t tackle your entire kitchen in 10 minutes, but you could tackle your spice rack, your tupperware drawer, or your kitchen gadets. Don’t try to eat the whole elephant in one day, just evaluate the space and determine the microtask and areas within the big space that need to be tackled. Then, create a list of those spaces and get to it.
- Get a kickstart. If you feel like you need a jumpstart to really get you going, you can do a decluttering burst. Set a timer for a designated period of time and clear as much clutter from the whole house as you can. Set a goal of finding 100 things in one hour to throw away or donate or if you have a larger area, like kids toys that will take more than 10 minutes, give yourself 30 minutes to go through all the kid’s toys in the playroom and living areas of your house. Something that will give you a huge amount of progress right out of the gates.
MY FIRST SPACE
To initiate the declutter challenge in my home, I am tackling the LAUNDRY ROOM. Our main issue is that the whole thing needs to be redesigned. However, that’s not what this is about. We are simply trying to declutter the space, so then we can start the organization (or remodeling) process.
The cabinets are a nightmare. They have sort of become a catch all that includes random toys, batteries, tools, light bulbs, whatever. Honestly, what is all that shit on the top shelf. I have never used a single one of those things (including the iron). I need to just clean. it. out. Then, I can get some cute organizers and be on my way. Wish me luck. Send wine. And please don’t judge.
WHAT ELSE?
Corners seem to be my arch nemesis. I can keep things decently organized…as long as there is a corner to hold everything (insert palm to face). In my bedroom, I need to declutter the corner you see above, as well as the workspace. This desk would be an excellent area to work; however, it is too messy to stay focused.
Ok, my closet. I know. This is a nightmare scenario. However, it is not that bad. If I would simply spend 10 minutes a week on it, it would stay clear. Operation declutter starts now!
Lastly, who else has “that table” in their house? You know the one I am talking about. The table that is the catch all of everything. This drives my husband crazy, so I am really going to focus on keeping this clutter-free.
GIVEAWAY
And to get our minds right to clear the clutter, I am hosting an AMAZING Amazon giveaway. You can use this money to help get organized after we declutter. Yes, you read that correctly. Organization 2K20 doesn’t stop with declutter. We will be moving forward with organizing, labeling, and making things look pretty. Here is how to enter to win a $750 gift card to Amazon!
We are excited to kick off this declutter challenge!
I’ve teamed up with an amazing group of bloggers
to give YOU a chance to win:
a $750 Amazon Gift Card just in time to treat yourself!
Simply enter below by completing the rafflecopter. You’ll receive one entry per completion.
This giveaway is open to the U.S. and Canada only and runs until 7/6.
Winner will be announced here. Good Luck!
Void where prohibited. By entering the giveaway you acknowledge that you are agreeing to complete each task, which involves following, liking and subscribing to newsletter’s.
