Declutter Your Life Challenge: Physical Clutter

Get Your Donation Bag Ready

Friends! Welcome to my brand new Declutter Your Life Challenge. We’re kicking things off with some actionable prompts to help you reduce physical clutter. None of these prompts should take more than 15-minutes of your time.

I’ve designed this challenge as a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, meaning you can commit to one prompt each day or knock them out all at once. Even if you do just one per week you’ll start to reduce distraction and create new results in your home and life.

Let’s go!

START HERE: TAKE OUT THE TRASH

Fact: It is hard to feel relaxed when your home is teeming with actual garbage, as a recent client confessed. We don’t judge here. Grab a trash or recycling bag, and do a fifteen-minute sweep of your home. Toss used tissues, old receipts, Amazon boxes, random candy wrappers that your teenagers leave in their rooms (for shame!) - you get the picture. The idea is simply to swiftly reduce the physical clutter in your space.

PROMPT ONE: SPRUCE YOUR NIGHTSTAND

Let’s make your nightstand feel more like a boutique hotel and less like a dumping ground, shall we?

• Relocate old coffee cups, smoothie glasses, and other items that have lost their way. Recycle magazines and newspapers.

• Consider what you’d like visible to help you unwind at the end of the day and start the next one (do you really want to stare at fifteen unread books, or would it feel like a relief to to just store the one you’re currently reading?)

• Wipe down drawers and surfaces.

• Add something that’s lovely to look at - a piece of art, a framed photo, a candle, some flowers.

• Exhale.

PROMPT TWO: CLEAN OUT YOUR DAILY-USE BAG

Time to declutter the things we carry. Grab the bag, clutch, or backpack you used most recently and let’s give it a quick declutter. Toss gum and food wrappers, old receipts, and other trash. Relocate items you’d like to keep but have no business in your bag. Consider what you need to have access to - my bag contains my keys, wallet, mobile phone, lip balm and hand cream in a small pouch. Traveling with less stuff can spare your back - and your sanity.

PROMPT THREE: CLEAR A SINGLE SURFACE

Dealer’s choice! Pick a single surface (or drawer or shelf) that’s causing stress or distraction. If you’re stumped, check the kitchen counters, entryway, or dining room table which tend to be clutter magnets. Set a timer for 15-minutes and go, go, go! Make sure you have trash and recycling bags and a vessel to corral items you need to relocate like kid art, toiletries, or dishes.

PROMPT FOUR: TRY A 15-MINUTE FRIDGE REFRESH

Say goodbye to sticky shelves and expired condiments! Roll up your sleeves and let’s take this hardworking space by storm. Here’s how:

• Toss old produce, leftovers, and other items that are past their prime

• Group remaining items by type - produce together, meats together, dairy together, beverages together, etc.

• Wipe down condiments and any items that tend to get sticky

• Bonus: ditch shop packaging, and try decanting beverages and produce into pretty glass or ceramic vessels

PROMPT FIVE: DROP OFF THOSE DONATION BAGS

If you have a bunch of donation bags and boxes that are taking up precious real estate in your home (or garage), now’s the time to load them up and get them moving. Identify your most convenient charity shop, non-profit, or creative reuse center so you can knock this out out the next time you run errands. You can also try joining a Buy Nothing Group or posting on your local parent or neighborhood group. For more difficult items like old sheets and towels or e-waste, just google “e-waste or textile recycling near me.” You’ve got this.

Bonus: Knock out your shop returns so you are no longer haunted by that pile of shopping bags and cardboard boxes cluttering up your entryway. Clutter, bye!

*Share one tiny task you’ll do to declutter your home in the comments below and you’ll be entered to win a signed copy of Organized Living and my favorite chocolate!

Other fun news and updates below:

That’s all for now. Get ready to declutter your mind next week, one small step at a time.