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- School/college notes and texts (unless you just graduated they’re probably out of date)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
I did it – I actually have 2 bags full of trash and 2 for donations 🙂 Very freeing… and contagious!
I did it. One trash bag out in the dumpster. I think I need to do this for two weeks.
then you might be able to tell.
done! Not as bad as I thought and it only took me a week and a half. Oh well better done then never….
All done feels good. Two BIG bags in the trailer ready for the dump
I did it! For the first round, I didn't set a timer, I just tackled the garage with my heavy duty trash bag. I had to do a bit a sorting, because much of it was recycling. I filled my bag and my recycling bin in about an hour. It felt so great seeing the clutter disappear that I got another garbage bag and started the online timer. Wow! What a difference. It really was just useless junk filling our space. I'm so glad it's gone, and I'm ready for my next mission!
The bag was enormous and quickly full. Though my house looks neat and tidy and there is little obvious clutter – it was surprising what was on shelves that I did not use, need, or wasn't in any way decorative. That was before going into drawers….
Well I did mission 1 – my house is such a mess it seemed like it hardly made a dent! Two big bags and two small baes and a big pile of papers was thrown out. I'm feeling moviated to keep going!
1 bag for bin, 1 bag plus a box of books for Salvos 🙂
Who knew there were so many little odds and ends floating around in the bottom of that bag. The place where “no one had gone before”. Now it is so much lighter. And I got paid! How much change is floating around in the bottom of your bag? Now I can buy myself a reward. Well, at least I can have a little extra gas money. lol.
See you again soon.
YES!!! I filled one bag and was so motivated after seeing the dent in the corner that I kept going. This is one project that I will do more often along with the other weekly projects as I see more results.
One bag will not do a whole lot, but it is rewarding to see what a small amount of time can do when it is focused on one task without the rest of the mess calling to me.
I will be back.
I was able to fill a bag. I wish I had time to continue with other rooms but I didnt have it. I might do another 30 minutes this week and do it by 30 minute chunks.
DONE!!! I can’t believe how much useless stuff I just threw away
:):):)
I am re-starting the 52 missions because I got way behind. This time, I’m putting them into my schedule with reminders. 2 bags emptied and didn’t take long at all!
Done! That was not too hard.
OK, mission accomplished! I didn’t even have to set the timer. I was cleaning my kitchen, laundry room, and a corner of the garage in preparation for the arrival of some new appliances and before I knew it I had filled SEVERAL large kitchen garbage bags with: mystery ingredients from the fridge and pantry, outdated coupons and old grocery receipts, a blender that didn’t work, two old, grungy cutting boards and baking sheets, old containers with no lids, old and empty cleaning product bottles and boxes, Styrofoam packing material from old empty boxes, and so on. In addition, I recycled a 6ft high by 4 ft wide stack of old boxes from appliances, electronics, and other items we no longer own or use, but that hubby was keeping “just in case,” a stack of old magazines (address labels removed) and newspapers (many unread) along with a variety of empty jars from peanut butter, jam, pickles, etc (again, that hubby couldn’t part with). As I go through each room of the house this summer, I plan to do the same. What a release! Bring on the next mission…
Mission #1 Complete! Although it wasn’t difficult since I moved a week ago, so I got rid of most of my junk before we moved. :o) No need to move things we didn’t want. I am ready for Mission 2!
Done! Looking forward to next week’s mission!
DONE!!!!! Set the kitchen timer, went through the house and tossed. I actually tidied my linen closet in the process!
Bring on the next mission!!!!
Done! I spent the whole 30 minutes in my family room and still could have gotten rid of more. .
Done! I spent the whole 30 minutes in my family room and still could have gotten rid of more. Will try to do 1 room a day until mission 2 arrives.