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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

5 minute clutter buster challenge

I hate clutter! The busier I get, the less time I take to attack clutter as it accumulates. In the vicious cycle of things, more and more clutter accumulates in my home, in my car, and on my desk at work. To make matters worse, EmDee has been working nights and weekends, which is the time I usually use to conquer the clutter in my life.

As a busy mom I can say it's overwhelming and frustrating to be upset with the mess but at the same time to feel that I don't have time to do what needs done to fix it. I've generally approached the mess in my life the way I do most of my problems - analyze the problem, break it down, make a plan to fix it, attack it in "small bites".

Following this strategy, I decided it was time to take action. I haven't made a plan for the house yet, but I came up with a quick plan for the car!

Here's what I did: Take 3 empty grocery bags with me to the car during my lunch.
Quickly fill

  • one bag with things that I need to take to the house
  • one bag with things that need thrown away
  • one bag with things that belong in the car, but not strewn all over it

The trash bag went with me on the way back in and was thrown into the first garbage bag I came to. The other two bags went into the trunk. I will take the bag of things that needs to go into the house with me when I get home tonight. All of this took about 5 minutes!!

What tricks do you have up your sleeve when the clutter in your life gets overwhelming? More to follow on how I tackle the various rooms in my house, probably this weekend!

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6 comments:

HeatherPride said...

every now and then the amount of junk we accumulate is just too much and I gather up stuff and pitch it. (usually behind my husband's back because if he sees it he will have a complete heart attack and INSIST he still needs something he hasn't used in 5 years!)

Gill said...

WOW i wish i could be more like you!! I normally wait until my hubby has a day off, i send him out with the kids to bond with each other until i text to say i am done!! LOL I have an all or nothing approach and this way they have no idea what is being binned!!!

carrhop said...

I do the bag strategy!!! We have a 15 passenger van (come on--don't be jealous) and you cannot imagine the stuff that ends up in that vehicle--so we use this strategy often!

Blessings!

Steph at Problem Solvin' Mom said...

Thanks Jill! It feels great to purge sometimes, doesn't it?

Heatherpride, what is it with our husbands being the packrats? :)

Octamom, I can only imagine what ends up in your car! I'd love to hear some of your other cleaning strategies!!

Heidi Boos said...

I should do this 5 minute buster cluster to our van! My 2-year old loves to bring a toy (or two or three!) with her every time we go somewhere. Usually, it stays in the van and then collects over time. I should probably also see if there is any crackers or fruit snacks hidden somewhere in the cracks. Thanks for the idea!

Audra Krell said...

We do this too and the van is doing better than ever. Also, I leave plastic bags in the car so I have them at the grocery store, so I dont' even have to remember to bring them out to the van, they are right in there, waiting to be filled.