START 2022 OFF RIGHT!

Create a Sorting System As you go through the rooms in your home, you’ll need to set up a system for sorting the items you find. You can create your own method, or use the popular Three-Box Method. The Three-Box Method forces you to make a decision item-by-item and avoid making a bigger mess than the one you started with.

Gather three boxes or storage bins and label them as “Keep,” “Get Rid Of,” and “Storage.” I find that this system makes it a lot easier to manage.

Create an out of the way Staging Area This could be an area of your home or garage to place your items that you will donate or trash. Once it’s in that pile, do not resuscitate!

Use a checklist or not, it’s up to you A checklist is not a requirement to decluttering.  Experts go both ways on this subject. A checklist can help you stay on track and motivated, but there are no rules to minimalism. Search the internet for decluttering checklists to get some ideas or create your own because only you know the hot spots in your home.

Get your family involved It might be hard at first getting family involved but once they see and feel the difference in certain areas of the home, that should inspire them to help. DO NOT Declutter for them!

The 15 Minute Theory The reality is, even if we have a pretty flexible schedule, we rarely have hours of consecutive time to work on a single project uninterrupted. But if you’re committed to the process, it’s rare that you won’t be able to find 15 minutes a day for decluttering. And if you can manage two sessions a day, you’re doubling your progress! The beauty of the 15-minute method is that it works for any room in the house and can be done daily, all you need is a timer. In fact, tidying experts recommend decluttering for 15 minutes a day, five days a week, for best results. 

The 80/20 Rule 80% of the time, we generally only wear 20% of the clothing we own. This rule tends to be true for other things as well, such as video games, computers, electronics and books, DVDs, toys and more. Your mission is to get rid of the things you don’t use 80% of the time.

Does it Work? If a certain treasure you found stashed away doesn’t function properly, get rid of it. If you want to fix it, then fix it right away. Otherwise, it will continue to sit unused, collecting dust.

I Didn’t Even Know I Still Had That If you come across something you haven’t used in the last six months, you should probably get rid of it. If you pulled the item out and said, “I’ve been wondering where this was”, that is a very good sign that you should probably get rid of it. And if you didn’t even know you still had the item in question, definitely get rid of it. You didn’t miss it enough to warrant keeping it in your home.

Getting Your Kids to Willingly Donate Toys Involve your children in the process of donating their old, outgrown toys to charity or recycling. You can use this as a great lesson to teach them that not all children have tons of toys like they do and donating them could very well put a smile on another child’s face. Mattel actually has a new program designed to recover and reuse materials from old Mattel toys for future Mattel products, and supports the company’s goal to achieve 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-based plastic materials across all products and packaging by 2030. They will even send you a free shipping label! Link to program: PlayBack | Mattel Playroom