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- School/college notes and texts (unless you just graduated they’re probably out of date)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
You can get your weekly organizing mission delivered to your inbox.
Click here to sign up for 52 Organizing Missions.
Image by Material Boy
Hi Karen,
How wonderful that your little daughter helped!
That makes such a sweet picture in my mind.
Thanks for sharing!
M 🙂
I did it! My 3 year old wanted to ‘help’ so I took 1 hr instead of 30 min (and 2 big bags!) to allow for her little helping hands meddling! Feels better already.
That was better than a chocolate binge!
oh i forgot to say- DONE 🙂
i found this site few days ago and its great and exactly what i needed this days.
I started my de clutter mission 2 monthes ago and it help me to clear my head and to be more focus and have some balance in this crazy time of my life.
thanks guys.
Just finished! 1 bag of trash and 1 bag of recycling later (and that was just from my bedroom!)
DId it!!!! Can’t believe I tossed so many clothes! Looking forward to next mission!
I did it! The bag wasn’t as huge as it probably should have been, but I did it.
OMG…I can’t believe I am going to do this tonight!
Hi Joey,
Thanks for your enthusiasm.
Your next missions should be turning up real soon. The emails are are set to out each 7 days, but this might not be at the exact same time of the day you signed up… that said, we are in the process of moving over to a new email system, which will improve things.
Cheers,
Craig
Its Monday. When do I receive my new mission in my email. I’m waiting and ready to get started?
WOW! I had no idea that I had so many things to throw out. I got the biggest strongest lawn bags I could find, and started tackling the clutter. Needless to say, I did several go arounds and still have more to go. I have done a great deal of reading on decluttering and organizing and have picked up some new behaviors along the way. I am going in the right direction to becoming clutter free for life.
Congratulations Lydia, on moving in such a positive direction.
Freeing yourself from clutter will change your entire life.
You’ll feel like you’ve lost a weight you’ve been dragging around for years.
Thanks for sharing your journey with us!
M 🙂
@Joey,
What a fab start! Make sure you give yourself a huge pat of the back – some people go their whole lives without ever clearing out their stuff.
I also wanted to mention that I’m starting a Hall of Fame Gallery for everyone in the 52 Organizing Missions community to share achievements and inspiration.
If you’d like to share a pic, please send me:
– An ‘After’ photo
– A ‘Before’ photo if you have one
– Your name as you’d like it shown
– Your blog or website URL if you’d like a link attached to your name.
And see you at Mission #2.
M 🙂
So it is Sat. Mission 1 has proven to be a huge success. I filled 3 large trash bags (for trash) and 1 huge trash bag for donate. I finally began working my way through the 4 trunks in the garage with all of my childhood and family stuff in it. Yay!
Done! I think I need to do this mission once a week for a while…
I am glad I did this. I didn’t get through all the house but I did get some freed up room in my kitchen. There were things in there that I hadn’t seen in years and really didn’t need. They would have stayed in there too if I hadn’t done this challenge.
I started this mission today and filled one trash bag before I even left my kitchen. I think I did not do this mission justice. So I am going to fill another one tomorrow. 🙂
A good start is all you need – so well done, Lauren!
Keep doing the small chunks when you can, and it will all add up.
M 🙂
OK, I did it! Threw out a lot of junk, random papers, and some stuff that was painful to get rid of but REALLY needed to go. Not sure I made a huge dent or tossed as much as I could have, but it was a start and it feels good. Will have to do another purge soon. My entryway looks almost clean now!
Hi Cheryl,
It’s great to have you along!
And well done on making a good start.
M 🙂