Spice Up Your Decluttering Game With These Fun Tips
Guest Post by Cherie Mclaughlin
Clutter happens gradually, taking over homes and wreaking havoc. If you are like most homeowners, you have a drawer, corner, room, or entire house dedicated to clutter, and the only way to reign in the madness is to take on the tidying tasks yourself. Sorting, organizing, and purging items might not sound like your idea of fun, but Nest Home Organizing is here to demonstrate several ways you can actually streamline your decluttering game and have fun in the process.
Motivate Yourself with the Benefits First
Decluttering your home offers way more benefits than just having a clean, organized space. A clutter-free abode can leave you feeling more present and energized, not to mention you’ll have more time to indulge in self-care or quality work when you aren’t wasting precious minutes searching for an elusive item. An organized home makes it a lot easier to clean and stay on top of household chores as well. Once you’ve purged to your heart’s content, treat yourself and your home to a deep clean.
How to Make It Fun
Participate in a Decluttering Challenge
Whether you are decluttering solo, involving the whole family, or teaming up with a friend, nothing raises the stakes higher than a little competition. The 30-Day Minimalism Game requires that you purge your home of one item on day one, two items on day two, and so on until you reach day 30. Each day gets a little more difficult, so offer up a prize for who can go the longest. If the minimalism game is a little too hardcore, try the 12:12:12 Challenge, in which you find 12 items to throw away, donate, and organize, for a total of 36 items.
Set the Timer for Quick Bursts
Are you running low on time? No problem. It’s true that decluttering is a long process, but you can set the timer for five minutes, and make a small dent that gradually grows into big progress. During each five-minute increment, you could clear off a counter, clean out a shelf, organize a drawer, put five things in their proper place, or map out a decluttering plan or timeline.
Distract Yourself with an Audiobook or Playlist
With the advent of audiobooks, you can now clean, declutter, cook dinner, and even drive while listening to a book. An audiobook can also help pass the time and keep you focused on your decluttering tasks. You’ll find you’re so absorbed in listening that you’ve finished sorting and organizing your living room or the closets in the bedroom. If audiobooks aren’t your thing, put together a playlist to dance along to, or listen to a podcast.
Earn Rewards for Your Efforts
As you sort and organize, you should separate everything into four piles: keep, trash, donate, and sell. For items that are still in good condition that you no longer have a use for, make some extra cash by hosting a yard sale or selling them online. You could also breathe new life into your items by donating them. As a bonus, donations are tax-deductible, as long as the organization is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, and you keep a record of your donation via appraisals and receipts.
Use Technology to Make Things Easier
If you have dozens of documents and paperwork filed away that are taking up space in your home, you can use technology to digitize these files so you can ditch the paper copies. For example, free programs can scan the files and turn them to images (PDFs, for example). From there, you can use different apps to transform and merge PDF files into one easily accessible file. That way, instead of sorting through multiple image files on our computer, you can flip through one PDF that contains all the documents and information you need in one place. Not only is this a simple process, it’s also a fun way to keep things organized.
Hire a Professional Organizer
If your home is in serious need of help, you might consider hiring a professional organizer to help you get the job done. Get the most bang for your buck by asking for tips and suggestions, as well as making a serious effort not to undo their work.
Decluttering your home might sound like a mind-numbing task, but it doesn’t have to be. These are just a few of the many ways you can make cleaning and organizing your home a fun process. The best part is that you can start now!
Nest Home Organizing believes that "getting organized” is not a once-in-a-lifetime event. If you have questions about how we might work together, reach out today!