At the time of writing this, it’s a holiday. Kids are out of school and so many folks have the day off. If you aren’t road-tripping or skiing, what are you doing? It’s a great day to round up your family members for a One-Hour, Family-Time Declutter session. How does it work? Let me tell you.
Gather up your supplies: a few bags or boxes for donation-worthy items, a black garbage bag for any obvious garbage (you may need multiples), a timer.
Call your peeps around you for a family meeting.
Explain your plan as outlined below.
Come up with a reward for when your One-Hour Declutter is done. Ideas: a movie night, frozen yogurt, ice skating, baking cookies, dance party. . .
Set the timer and blast some music to keep everyone motivated. Another way to do this is to say, “We’re going to clean and declutter until this Abba Gold album is finished.” That gives you a little bonus time because Abba Gold is 77 minutes long.
Give everyone an assigned area to work in, then let everyone work through this plan: All garbage gets thrown into the black garbage bags. All items to declutter are stashed in the donation boxes or a separate pile to give to a particular person. Anything that belongs in another room gets immediately delivered to that room. You may also have another pile reserved for items that need to be returned or otherwise dealt with like dry cleaning or library books.
As items are being tossed or donated, areas can be tidied up, however this isn’t a time for deep cleaning. This is a time to blast through your whole house to get rid of anything that isn’t being used, doesn’t work, projects you know you won’t finish, clothes that don’t fit or you never wear, books you’re done reading, even furniture or cookware you don’t use.
At the end of your declutter time, direct all garbage to your garbage bin, and put all items for donation into the back of your vehicle. You get bonus points if you deliver your donated items immediately to their destination, but if you don’t, mark the date and time on your calendar within the next five days as to when you will make that run to the donation station.
Now is the time to celebrate. Encourage your family to take pride in the things they have collected for donation. Revel in the fresh, open space of your newly decluttered rooms and then embark on your reward together.
There is value to kids and families working together toward a decluttered home. Kids don’t naturally learn to keep their spaces clean. They need to see us in action and they need to know that we do these things together because that’s what families do. My kids are fairly sentimental about their stuff, but they are happier when their rooms are clean and organized. As adults, we should set the example to keep our own rooms and living areas tidy.
If you or your family need help working through a challenge like this, consider calling your Northwest Home Coach. If you’re finding roadblocks related to sentimental clutter, overwhelm or a lack of motivation, I’ll help determine your goals, plans and dreams to most effectively move forward in your home decluttering and organization. It’s not always easy, but together, we can do it.