How did you do in the first week of the Declutter Challenge? The tasks for Week 1 were to conquer the paper clutter and the clutter in your purse and/or wallet. (Get the plan here if you missed it.) Paper clutter is particularly challenging because just getting rid of it isn’t enough. You can clear it out one day, and within a week be in the same cluttered state again if you don’t have a plan. A plan is key. Let me show you how it went for me and my plan to keep my house free of paper clutter.

First I gathered up all the loose papers in the house I could find. There were papers in the kitchen, on my desk, and in our “command center” space. Papers, papers, everywhere.

This space commanded that I declutter more than just paper, but more on that later.

I put the papers in a big pile on the floor so I had space to work.

Then, I sorted the paper into three piles: to throw away, to file/store, and action items.

I was shocked at some of the papers I found. A flier for an event that took place in May. Expired coupons from 2015. Receipts from 2014. What?!

The throw away pile was easy. Into the recycle bin and done with it! It was the other items that took more time. Because I couldn’t finish this task all in one go, I put the papers into two file folders to be dealt with later.

Then, I went through the action items. I had jury duty papers to be filled out (ugh), box tops fundraiser sheets to be completed, dance audition forms for Meghan, and on and on. These “action” items would take much less time if I completed them as I got them. That’s what this challenge is about, right?! New habits.

Next was the to be filed or stored pile. One item was Meghan’s parent-teacher conference note’s from last year! Why wouldn’t I have filed that yet? Because it got buried in a pile of papers and forgotten. No more piles. I’m done with piles. I worked through the pile and filed what needed to be saved.

As I was taking care of all of the papers, I knew I needed to come up with a plan.

My Plan for Conquering Paper Clutter

1. Take care of mail right away, when I get it.

   I’m actually pretty good at this one, thanks to my husband. He hates clutter more than anyone and if he gets the mail, all junk mail is thrown into the recycling bin immediately. I always lament that I want to look at the catalogs, but he is relentless.

2. Don’t let action items wait, take care of them as soon as possible.

   If I can’t take care of it immediately, I will keep it out and in sight until the very next moment that I can. When I put papers on my desk to be “taken care of when I get a chance” that’s when they get buried and forgotten about. No more. Most of the time, it will take 30 seconds to take care of a school permission slip and put it back in Meghan’s folder or file a paper. I resolve to take the time to do it now.

3. Having a holding place in sight for papers that need to go someplace at a later time.

   Some items, even if I take action on them right away, require a place to stay until they are needed. The slots in our entry way are meant for this, but they easily get cluttered and papers can’t be seen so they get forgotten about often. I solved this by placing a paper tray top of the cabinet. This is only for the papers that have already been taken care of and just need a holding place. As you can see, I decluttered this space of more than just paper. My action plan called for it.

   

4. Don’t keep anything “just in case.”

   There were so many papers I was holding onto just in case I needed it, but never did. I can’t handle having all these just in case papers anymore, so I’m done. If there is something I may need to know or remember, I’ll take a picture of it and get rid of the paper clutter.

5. Have a plan for school papers.

   If there are school papers or projects I want to keep, I am changing my plan this year. Last year, I had a small drawer that I kept them in, hoping to put them into a binder or scrapbook later. All of Meghan’s and Luke’s papers from last year are still in that drawer, waiting to be taken care of. Ugh. This year, I am going to take a different approach. I have a file folder on my desk for each child, and if they bring home a paper I want to save, it will go in there. Every Sunday I will move the paper from the file folder directly to its permanent home in their binder for the year. Then I won’t have a whole year worth’s of papers to deal with at the end of the school year.

6. Once a week, deal with paper clutter.

   This is all well and good, but we all know that sometimes life gets in the way of even the grandest intentions. I set an alert on my phone so every Sunday evening I will take a few minutes to deal with paper clutter. That way, it won’t be a big project that takes a few hours and I’ll never have a flier for a May event hanging out on my desk in September!

The second, smallest project for the week was to declutter a purse and/or wallet.

This is the most embarrassing picture I’ve ever put on the Internet. Seriously! Why do I allow all of this stuff to accumulate in my purse?

Cleaning out my purse didn’t take long at all. The key is to keep it clean. I have tried to use the Marie Kondo method of keeping my purse empty, but clearly I was failing. The plan? Clean it out everyday. Execution? F. Here it is in a glorious empty state. Now to stop filling it up with socks (???) and receipt after receipt. I also cleaned out my wallet, which had so much nonsense I didn’t need in it. It’s much lighter now.

While before this challenge I was spending 10 minutes a night decluttering, I was mostly doing it on my own. I really think it’s something that should be a job for the whole family, so I have started involving them more. Here’s a comical look at us decluttering one night this week. Oh, the things you would see if it was in regular speed. (There may have been one child hitting the other child and me giving the camera an exasperated look. Maybe.)

 

Now for next week’s challenge. Maybe I should break these into two posts next week? This is already over 1,000 words!

Week 2 Declutter Challenge Tasks

Big Task: Declutter your Living Room/Family Room

Our living room or family room is the space we spend a big chunk of our time. Having that space free of clutter and organized makes for a less stressful living environment for the whole family. This week, we are going to get rid of what doesn’t need to be in the living room and focus on keeping the space tidy and uncluttered.

Declutter Your Living Room Action Steps

1. Look at every item you are keeping in your living room. Decide what does not belong there and categorize it into the following six ways:

• This item belongs in another room.
• This is something that needs to be fixed or cleaned.
• This will be given away, sold, or donated.
• This is not needed and will be thrown away.
• This is not mine and needs to be returned to its owner.
• This is a “maybe”. If you can’t bear to toss something out because you might need it later, put it in the “maybe” box.

2. Once everything is categorized, take action on the items. Put things that belong in another room where they go. Fix or clean what needs to be fixed or cleaned. Put items to be given away or returned to their owners in your car. Throw away old, unusable items. Deal with the maybes. Decide if you are going to store it and put it in storage.

3. Now that you’ve gotten rid of what doesn’t need to be there, you can create a system for keeping the area clutter free. Create spaces for certain items that may clutter the area such as books, remote controls, blankets, etc. Having a place for everything is key.

Small Task: Junk Drawer

Choose a drawer in your house that collects clutter and make is usable again!

Declutter the Junk Drawer Action Steps

1. Take everything out of the junk drawer.
2. Make a decision about every item you take out. Ask yourself these questions: Can I throw this away? Does this need to stay in the junk drawer? Is there room for this in the junk drawer?  If the answer is no to all of these questions, you need to find the item’s home and put it there.
3. Take action on all items. Only keep things in the drawer that absolutely need to be there and find a home for everything else that can’t be thrown away.

Remember that I would love to see your photos! Feel free to email them to me: thehappyhealthymama @ gmail {dot} com and with your permission I will share them here. You can also post them to my Facebook page. Happy decluttering!