Welcome to the 30-Day Organize-athon!
In today’s 5 minutes we’re going to express-declutter your living area.
Take a deep breath, and imagine inhaling a sense of clarity, freedom and order. Then get started!
Day 1: Declutter Your Living and/or Entertainment Area
Step 1: Grab a large garbage bag.
Step 2: Quickly make your way around your living and/or entertainment area, tossing these items into the bag as you go:
- Magazines other than the current month’s
- Newspapers other than today’s
- Knick-knacks – unless you really love them
- Tatty coasters
- DVDs no-one watches any more
- CDs no-one listens to any more
- Games no-one plays any more
- Remotes and technology no-one uses any more (including old game consoles)
- Food
- Books you’ve read and won’t re-read, or will never read
- Videos, cassettes, computer floppies, camera film – any storage device for which you no longer have hardware
- Framed photos – unless they’re genuinely special to you
- Tatty cardigans, socks and other apparel strewn around the furniture
- ‘Displayed’ items on shelves that collect dust but hold no meaning for you
- Dead potted plants
- Threadbare or stained cushions, throws, rugs, etc
- Anything else that isn’t loved and/or used regularly.
Step 3: Put your bag by the door or take it straight out to the car. (Take it to the tip as soon as you can.)
Step 4: If there’s something genuinely valuable in there, and you’d lose sleep over tossing it, then you can put it into a separate charity store bag. But if it’s junk, just let it go. If it doubt, don’t over-analyze – toss it.
And you’re done!
Got an Extra 5 Minutes?
- Return items that don’t belong in the living area to the proper place – the kids’ bedrooms, the office, the kitchen, etc.
- Straighten the coffee table and wipe it down.
- Neaten remotes, DVDs, and anything else that lives in the living room.
- Fluff up the cushions.
Now doesn’t that feel more like a ‘living’ room?
The 30-Day Organize-athon Mantra
Move fast. Don’t overthink. Let it go!
Leave Your Comment Below…
Please leave a comment below to say you’ve completed today’s task.
And I’ll see you back here tomorrow!
Done, just before midnight, but done!
Challenge 1 done and dusted .. so to speak!!
Mission accomplished!
Done! My comment is late but it was done on the 1st… lol
We’re away on holiday so I can’t do this properly till we get home, but I was able to do the “extra 5 minutes” tidying. Mission accomplished!
5 minutes–done!
All done 🙂
Done, and I took some extra time to shampoo the carpet. Smells great, too! Ready for day 2!
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Done…looks great!
Done – old magazines and newspapers have been recycled!
All done, what a nice breathe of fresh air!
Day 1 complete!!
Started in the cleanest room made for an easy start.
I’ve completed the tasks!
It’s late tonight, but it’s done… boy, it sure is easy to just keep going into the next room!
tomorrow I am starting this earlier in the day, but it is now done!
Thank you Michelle for getting me started on my Spring cleaning. Task is done.
Done! 🙂 Except, it’s not my actual ‘living room’ but the family room/office I actually live in that I decided to declutter. It needs it more!
It took me way more than 5 mins., so maybe I’m just overthinking things.