In order to keep clutter from piling up, try this strategy – commit to a weekly discard session. The thought is to keep your belongings proportionate to your living spaces. Discarding can mean trash, recycle, or donate, which is a type of recycling.
A weekly discard session doesn’t have to be a major undertaking. This strategy can be tailored to the amount of time you have available, being mindful that the amount of effort you put into this strategy determines the results.
The idea is to choose a room, area or category each week and focus your available time on discarding items that you no longer need, use, or love. Chipping away on the excess a little bit at a time will keep your belongings proportionate to your living spaces as mentioned above.
The list of rooms and categories will be specific to your circumstances. The lists below are just some examples to get you started. If you choose to go with a room or area of your home, consider the size of the area so you don’t overwhelm yourself at the onset of this task.
Room/Area:
Kitchen
Bathroom
Bedroom
Living room
Family room
Dining room
Basement
Garage
Categories:
Personal care items
Clothes – yours, your kids
Jewelry
Kitchen gadgets
Food products
Utensils
Junk drawer
Pots & pans
Bakeware
Plasticware
Dishes
Silverware
Lawncare products
Toys
Sports equipment
Cleaning products
Office supplies
Home décor
To keep your weekly discard session easy, you may decide to choose a category within a room or area. This idea breaks down this task into bite sized chunks that won’t take up a lot of time. For example, if you choose your kitchen as the room this week, choose a category within that room, such as utensils, or the junk drawer, you know you have at least one, everyone does, including me!
During your weekly discard session, be mindful of other family members belongings. Get them involved and only discard the items they approve, including your kids. If they are very young it isn’t an issue, but if they’re older, they absolutely need a say in what stays and what goes, the same goes for your significant other.
Most of us have some sort of cleaning routine, sometimes weekly. It may not be a stretch to incorporate a weekly discard session into your cleaning routine. As you may know from my previous posts, you can incorporate organizing into your cleaning routine, and discarding is a part of the organizing process. If you already do this, then you’re good to go!
Leave A Comment