Get Organized Mission #1: Fill a Hu-u-uge Trash Bag

Get Organized Mission #1Welcome to the first of our 52 Organizing Missions.

In some ways this is a challenging one – but you’ll feel so wonderful, liberated and light when it’s done I think it’s worth diving in the deep end right away.

And remember – it is only 30 minutes.

Ready?

Get Organized Mission #1: Fill a Hu-u-uge Trash Bag

Step 1

Get a giant trash bag. (If you don’t have one find 20 small ones, or ask a neighbor, or go to the shops, or use boxes, or pile things up on a rug until you get to the shops tomorrow. There are no excuses!)

Step 2

Set a kitchen timer (or your clock radio or iPhone alarm, etc) for 30 minutes.

Step 3

Start filling the bag and continue doing so as you move through your house, until either the timer goes off or your bag is full.

Throw into the bag anything you don’t use, don’t like, that has negative associations, is broken or tatty, or is no longer your style. See below for room-by-room examples.

Step 4

Take it straight out to the trash or even the tip if you’re so motivated. Just be sure to remove the temptation to look in the bag or to rescue released items.

Dos & Don’ts

  • Don’t try to organize rooms, cupboards or drawers at this stage.
    This mission is about getting rid of stuff so do keep an out-it-goes mindset.
  • We’ll have another organizing mission for charity items, so don’t get bogged down with that now. I don’t suggest giving lame stuff to charity – decent, usable stuff: yes; crapola: no.
    So do feel fine about ditching all the dross.
  • I want you to move fast – so don’t overthink it.
    If your gut feel is to release something from your life, then do toss it into the bag.

Examples of Items For Your Bag:

Living Room

  • Old magazines
  • Tatty rugs and cushions
  • Old/no-longer-used videotapes, DVDs, CDs
  • Unloved ornaments, gifts, vases, etc
  • Dead plants

Study

  • School/college notes and texts (unless you just graduated they’re probably out of date)
  • Old paperwork, bills, mail (keep if needed for taxes or reference; shred if sensitive or confidential)
  • Excess stationery you won’t use this decade
  • Knickknacks that provide no meaning, beauty or inspiration
  • Reading piles you know you’ll never get to

Bedroom

  • Tatty dressing gowns, slippers, and anything you’d be embarrassed to answer the door in
  • Tatty bed linen
  • Ancient pillows harboring various non-human life forms
  • Anything on bedside tables that detract from a comforting bedtime sanctuary
  • Anything in your closet you hate (we’ll tackle closets in detail in another organizing mission)

Kitchen/Dining

  • Chipped or stained crockery
  • Rusty or mismatched cutlery
  • Expired food and condiments in the pantry or fridge
  • Cookware, plungers, teapots, gadgets, utensils or sundry infomercial purchases not used in the past 12 months
  • Cookbooks and recipes not used in the past 12 months

Bathroom

  • Tatty towels, bathmats, etc
  • Expired or old toiletries, hairbrushes, combs, etc
  • Empty or mildewed bottles
  • Yucky bathroom accessories – eg rusty shower caddies
  • Unloved bathroom ornaments

Kids’ Stuff

  • Tatty, no-longer-used toys
  • Outgrown clothes
  • Torn posters
  • Outgrown CDs, DVDs etc
  • Outgrown back-packs, drink bottles, etc

Extended Organizing Mission Options

  • If you run out of time or your bag fills up and you want to keep going, then do. Put on some music and have fun with it. But your basic mission is only to fill one large bag or keep going for 30 minutes.
  • If other household members want to participate give them their own bag and encourage them to let go of stuff.
  • If you want to tackle extra, unneeded items that are in good condition, do a second run with a charity bag. (I guarantee you’ll still have plenty to do when we get to our charity-bag organizing mission.)

Ready, Set, Go!

Remember – move quickly, act fast, don’t overthink.

Before You Go – Check In

Have you completed this week’s Get Organized Mission?

You’re now accountable to your organizing mission-mates – so please add a comment to let us know you’ve completed your assignment and you’re keeping your commitment.
(Click ‘Comment’ at the very top of this post or scroll down to the bottom. Depending on how you’re viewing this post, one of those options will be available for you.)

And see you back here next week. 🙂

Update

You can get your weekly organizing mission delivered to your inbox.

Click here to sign up for 52 Organizing Missions.

Image by Material Boy

Michele | Get Organized Gal

Michele is into writing, books, simplicity, love, TV, productivity, and staying thin in a world of chocolate.

438 thoughts on “Get Organized Mission #1: Fill a Hu-u-uge Trash Bag”

  1. Asli says:

    This just scraped a bit ice from the top of the iceberg but it is a start.
    I ended up throwing:
    -frozen sauces that I never used in a year from the freezer
    -black bean salsa, never used chutney from the fridge
    -cooking magazines that have been laying on the ground for months. I never got a chance to scrap them.
    -a big can of lollipop that I have collected from my visits to a restaurant.
    -4 dead plants
    -empty soap dispensers that I hung onto because they were so cute.
    -catalogs that accumulated
    -old invitations that I thought I would use for crafting
    -stale crackers

    I need to repeat this again.

    Reply
  2. Donna says:

    I just joined today and did this already. One big bag downstairs and one upstairs- plus I gathered up some stuff to donate! Woo hoo!

    Reply
  6. Julie says:

    I did it!! I was late, but I did it this past weekend and I’m now in the mood to do more.

    Thanks for the motivation!

    Reply
  7. Gill says:

    Finally stopped procrastinating and started chucking. A big bag went to the tip and a huge pile of books has gone to a good home. My Dad always used to say “a tidy room, a tidy mind”. It may not always be true but it sure does help!

    These missions are brilliant, thank you!

    Reply
  9. Sharon says:

    cathartic or what?!
    I actually did this a few week ago as I was about to start a new job and thought that I would clear my head by ‘tidying’ up.
    I threw out 2 black bags worth of crap, loads went to the carboot sale and some went on to a ‘freecycle’ website and were picked up the very next day.

    Can’t wait for week 2!

    Reply
  13. Tracey says:

    Done! Filled my black bin with plenty more to go in! Looking forward to the next mini-mission to prod me into action!

    Reply
  16. Linda says:

    We have not long moved, which I can recommend for a good chuck-out 😉
    In fact that is quite a good way to evaluate how much you really ‘love’ something – Would you be prepared to carefully wrap, pack, move and unpack it?
    However… I didn’t have time to evaluate a heap of notebooks + various ‘paperwork’ that have been occupying a corner of my new office so today… with timer set… I’ve gnawed into a chunk of it –
    Looking fwd to having to be accountable for another chunk next week 😉

    Reply
  18. Michele Connolly says:

    Melissa,

    This is absolutely fabulous – congratulations!

    Isn’t is funny how our blocks in life can turn out to be long-held beliefs that just don’t serve us anymore.

    You’re a shining example to your fellow mission-mates. 🙂

    Michele ♥♥♥

    Reply
  19. Melissa says:

    I did it!! I threw away 40-50 pounds of junk! Thanks for giving me permission to throw away clothes. I hate throwing clothes in the trash, would rather give to charity. But I didn’t want them and who else would?? NOBODY! That’s why it is trash! Thanks. 🙂 btw- you are my husband’s new best friend.

    Reply

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