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!
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Done
What to do if we didn’t get everything finished in 10 minutes? Keep going on to next task, or re-visit same room until complete?
Done!
day one done/ Took a bit longer but found some things I have been looking for. That was fun!
Bonus! Nice start Alison. 🙂
Started my 30 day challenge today….Task 1 complete! Wow….hard to believe ALL THAT STUFF was on my entertainment center.
Woohoo – great start Cortney!
I didn’t expect to find what I found in a living room declutter! leaky battery, video lost for 3 months finally found! Done! Day 1 of 30 day declutter.
Go for it @[1825753943:2048:Susan Christie] love clean out time!
Ha ha well done Susan! Good to know that leaky battery is out of there now! 🙂
good job!
We started just after Christmas and I took a car load to the Smith family, filled the garbage bins, had them emptied and had to stop as they were full again and we had to wait for them to be emptied to continue. Hope to finish this weekend. FEELS GOOD.
whew! Got the first part done, decluttered for 5 minutes on the first day, which was today for me! And it feels great! I was able to remove 3 tatty cushions, an ugly lamp, a whole bunch of miscellaneous toys and even some file boxes! Now, it seems a little easier to focus on our Christmas decorations and enjoy them a little more without all the extra stuff in our living room! I’m going to take another 5 minutes to put some things away where they go and throw away the rest! Yay! I feel great! 🙂
An added benefit of decluttering at this time of year Jackie – great job! 🙂
thank-you! 🙂
I’m done. DVDs sorted!
Nice one Jane. 🙂
Well better a day late then never. I’m done!!
Definitely better! 🙂
I found today easy as the living room isn’t too bad for me, although I need to sort a NAS for all the DVDs and CDs! Nervous about day 2 as my clothes will never take 5 minutes to sort!
Yes the closet is a hard one Amanda! But we concentrate on getting rid of the main offenders, so it is doable. 🙂
God – that was liberating! My living room is small and I thought well everything is contained in the bookshelf and ottoman. Then upon closer inspection, I was able to clear at least ten books and a half a dozen knick knacks. I’ve always been one to save because god forbid so and so notices I no longer display or have that gift they gave me one year. Hmmm, I no longer see/speak to that one person who was the purveyor of chachkies…toss, toss, toss – this was SPLENDID.
It IS a great feeling, isn’t it Stacey!! 🙂
BTW on the subject of gifts, you might like this:
Unwanted Gift Guide: How To Avoid, When To Give Away And What To Re-Gift http://www.getorganizedwizard.com/blog/2012/06/unwanted-gift-guide-how-to-preempt-when-to-give-away-and-what-to-regift/
Done w/ day 1!
I am such a procrastinator that I completed day 1 yesterday and am just now putting in my comment. Lol. Well, this plan will help me with the clutter and my procrastination. Yay!
I really enjoy the blog post. Much obliged.
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Day 1 – 10: Well, I’m back at it again, but because I volunteered at the Center for the Blind today, I only spent another 15 minutes boxing more books. Still have more to go and a few CDs plus I haven’t taken the knick knacks off the living room shelves (need more boxes and some packing materials for trophies, pictures, etc.)
Day 1 – 9 Rest and recouperate – that is if you call going to two meetings and spending three hours pruging files in my computer. Will be back at it tomorrow.
Day 1 ( 8) Still hanging in there. Only worked 15 minutes today (after all it’s Sunday). Still managed to fill one more box of books. Actually the book shelves are in the spare room, but there were books that needed to be boxed with the others. I will probably finish those and also work on the one in my home office. A lot of the books are interspersed in the three rooms. They need to be boxed according to category for sale.
Living room- (Day 1 – 7)
Spent 1-1/2 hours boxing still more books – now have twelve (16 X 12 X 12 boxes and have at least one more to go. When I get to my home office and reading room, I wil have two more six foot shelves of books to box. It is very tedious and tiring, but a task that must be done so I can move. FYI, I will have an estate sale before I move.