Spring cleaning and organizing, when taken as a whole, can be overwhelming. The thought of going through all of the closets and drawers, all of the papers and files, and all of the cabinets is daunting. But what if you broke down organizing your home into smaller bits? Room by room, a little bit at a time.
Not so bad, right?
Set a timer for ten minutes. Only spend ten minutes in each room and see how much organizing you can accomplish. You might be surprised! Here are my suggestions for ten-minute organization, room by room:
(1) Kitchen
First, clear off the counters. Go through any papers that landed on the counter and either act on them or file them away (or recycle them!). Put any dirty dishes in the dishwasher; put any clean dishes away.
Second, open the refrigerator. Throw away or compost any food that is no longer fresh.
Third, do you have any dishes that are chipped or broken? Coffee mugs you just don’t use? Take them out of your kitchen and put them in a bag to donate.
(2) Living Room
For our family, the living room ends up being a dumping ground for backpacks, books, and games. If this happens to you, too, put away any books or games, and hang backpacks where they belong.
Also, we have a stack of old magazines on the coffee table. Every month (when the new issues come in), I recycle the old issues.
Put away movies and other DVDs and, if you have time, organize them either in alphabetical order or by genre.
Fold any blankets and fluff the pillows and you’ve got an organized living space!
(3) Bathrooms
First, clear off the counters. Hang up towels and put away anything that doesn’t need to be out on the counter.
Second, look through your medicine cabinet and safely dispose of any expired medication or toiletries.
Third, go through any beauty products and throw away any you don’t use or haven’t used in a year.
Wipe down those counters and you have a clean and organized bathroom!
(4) Bedrooms
In ten minutes, you have time to clean out your bedside table. I know that, on my bedside table, I tend to keep a stack of reading material. If you do the same thing, then sort through the pile. Recycle any magazines you’ve already read; store or donate any books you’ve finished.
Go through any shelves or drawers and donate or toss anything that you don’t need. For example, I kept birthday and other greeting cards in my bedside table drawer, until one day when the drawer no longer closed! I went through the cards, kept the ones that were special, and recycled the rest.
In kids’ bedrooms, ask them to go through their toys or their books. Make a donation pile and a keep pile and let them sort everything. Then, put everything in the keep pile neatly back. You and your kids will feel a great sense of accomplishment!
Spring cleaning and organizing doesn’t have to be daunting. If you take it in ten-minute steps in each room, you’ll have an organized home in very little time!
What do you think? Have you tried this strategy before?
