Welcome 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- School/college notes and texts (unless you just graduated they’re probably out of date)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
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Click here to sign up for 52 Organizing Missions.
Image by Material Boy
wow that was awesome…i know it was supposed to just be half an hour, but i decided to do an hour coz im actually sorting through stuff from a family home thats been sold so theres a LOT of stuff…& i did it speedy anyhow…not getting stuck on any one thing…actually i just moved through the rooms list…grabbing stuff like a crazy woman!…so good…
it helped me along with a mission job…& i really do need to get it done quicker than i was moving…
so thankyou michelle…im looking forward to doing next weeks challenge…
Yea! This was not as bad as I feared. Great reading the other posts as well — I can hardly wait for Mission #2.
one done today–all from my toy room! tomorrow I’m going to do one or TWO more upstairs in the kids and my bedrooms!
I did it!
done 🙂 Two big bags of clothes donated!
Done! Still, I probably need to tack this mission on to future missions for a while…
One big garbage bag down – I feel like at least 4 more are needed – but one step at a time. At least I am not losing ground.
I did it! It feels great to know that at least something was accomplished, even if it’s only a small dent. Thanks for the motivation! Keep the missions coming!
All done and feels wonderful … but definately only a start. Filled 1 charity bag, 2 recycling and 2 trash.
I loved how filling a huge trash bag with crap made me feel better about myself. The satisfaction I felt when I threw that bag into the trash was awesome
I did it!
Well, I did it but I’m not any where near done. I could keep doing this for several months before I would see real results. But, none the less it was empowering to see so much stuff go out the door. My plans are to keep doing this along with the other organizing missions until I have completely purged all the unnecessary junk in my home and I am back to basics.
YAY!!!!! Completed the first mission and got rid of alot of stuff it’s so liberating there was alot of rubbish but also alot of things that were gifts that I really didnt like or want. So thank you for giving me “permission” to get rid of these things. Feeling much lighter and keen to do Mission 2
Thank you Michelle.
DONE!!!!
Done!! It feels sooo good!
Done! I was very inspired once I completed the mission. After throwing some things out of the fridge, I realized that if I didn’t use the vegetables in the crisper, they would be garbage soon. I decided to make all a vegetable soup, which finished cooking and cooling.
Finished mission #1! Got my bag full in 25min of just going over the top. Now going to go back and sort through things!
I got a bag full… Lot less trash than I thought I would get. I finished my task with like 2.5 minutes to spare. Woah! I am so committed to getting super organized.. For me this is as big as the olympics.
Done! I finally did it! I was procrastinating a bit but got it done! Wow it was mostly filled with garbage!
Finito! One gigantic trash bag to the trash, two gigantic trash bags to charity. I had a hard time throwing some useable, working stuff away. As long as it’s out of my house, I don’t think it matters where it goes!
Done! And will probably do this mission again a few times.