Picture your dream home. I bet it’s not filled with clutter. (tweet that)
Uncluttered spaces are life-giving. They promote calm, peace, freedom.
But sometimes, uncluttered spaces are difficult to realize. For any number of reasons, homes fill up with more and more things. Existing clutter attracts more clutter. And as a result, imagining decluttered spaces in our home becomes more and more difficult.
Minimizing all the clutter in our house over the course of one weekend is not reasonable for most people. However, taking a few small steps in the right direction is possible for everyone.
Here are seven 5-minute decluttering projects you can accomplish today:
1. Clean out your car/vehicle. Too often our vehicles fill up with unnecessary things: old CDs, sunglasses, Happy Meal toys, receipts, coins, empty water bottles, paper trash. Grab two bags: one for garbage and one for items to relocate. Fill them quickly with everything in your car that doesn’t need to be there. You’ll be surprised how quickly you can empty your vehicle of unneeded clutter.
2. Clear off the top of your bedroom dresser. Bedrooms should promote rest, relaxation, and intimacy—not upheaval and unrest. With focused attention, it will take you less than five minutes to clear off the top of your dresser. And it will change the entire mood in your bedroom.
3. Clean out a bathroom medicine chest. If empty containers, expired products, and dozens of items no longer used are cluttering up your medicine chest (and probably the cupboards under your sink), take a few minutes and remove everything that can go. Then, dispose of it wisely.
4. Return toys to the toy room or bedroom where they belong. If you have young children (or even older ones), you know that toys routinely get strewn around the house. Grab a few minutes with your child this evening before bed and make sure all the toys get taken back to the room or space they belong. If this task seems overwhelming, consider some of the benefits of owning fewer toys. But in the meantime, do your best to teach your children the importance of returning items when finished using them.
5. Declutter your plates or cups cupboard. Many modern homes are filled with duplicate items. One of the places this can be easily noticed is in our kitchen cupboards. Realistically, how many cups, mugs, bowls, and plates does your family need? Have you slowly accumulated an entire cupboard full of them? Maybe. Reach in the back, grab those that are never used, and minimize them forever from your life and valuable kitchen space.
6. Tackle a junk drawer. Some junk drawers may take longer than five minutes, I admit. If you’ve got the extra time, declutter it completely. However, for a strict five-minute task, set a timer on your watch and see how much of the junk you can remove from the drawer. You may be surprised how much you can remove in that time frame—and how quickly you can accomplish something when you put your mind to it.
7. Sort through a pile of mail or paper. Junk mail piling up on your kitchen counter? Is there a stack of paper files on your home office desk? First, look for piles of paper in places they don’t belong (kitchen counters, dining room tables, coffee tables) and tackle those piles first. You’ll get through them quickly and easily. If you’re feeling motivated, move on to tackle a larger pile—sometimes taking the first step is the hardest.
I realize, of course, everyone’s living arrangement looks a little bit different than others. Specifically, for you, one of the projects listed above may take longer than five minutes. But for the most part, they can be completed quickly. And whether you accomplish one or all seven, you’ll be thankful you did. They might not solve all your clutter issues, but they’ll definitely get you moving in the right direction.
Happy decluttering. You’ll love owning less!
Jewel says
Excellent post! I try to keep the thought each time I open a drawer, pantry etc to ask, “What can I get rid of?”. Been working the minimalist journey and when I see open space it gives me calm and joy. Thanks so much! You are making such a difference in our lives.
Tony W says
I love your suggestions. So much so I believe most should be part of a weekly if not daily routine. Cleaning the car is a big one for me. I am afraid of what I may find in my minivan. LOL.
Abbie says
Yes! I try to do all of these regularly – probably not weekly – and it maintains the (mostly) decluttered state of my life!
John says
I’m not sure if this qualifies as “decluttering”, but making your bed first thing each day goes well with number 2 (clearing off your bedroom dresser). A Navy Seal admiral wrote a best selling book titled “Make Your Bed.” But beyond his leadership lessons, I’ve found that a nearly made bed adds to a sense of serenity and order in the bedroom!
John says
Whoops, I meant to type “NEATLY made bed” and not “nearly made bed.”
Abbie says
Is he the one who also gave a graduation speech about it? Very inspirational! (And that isn’t often a compliment coming from me.)
I also make my bed every morning. Changes my day.
Willette Bagwell says
I heard the same gentleman asks grads to make their bed every morning. Since I heard him say that, I’ve only skipped one morning. I got a late start babysitting my youngest grand daughter, & let it go that day. My hubby noticed.
My routine is make the bed. Wash my face & do my hair, then get dressed. It all takes less than 7 minutes. Thank you for the inspiration.
Eldred says
I must be mis-wired. Making my bed doesn’t do anything for me, except take up time. Same thing with shining my kitchen sink(from a different website). Maybe that’s why it’s so hard to do either one daily…
susie says
make your bed daily for a month.
see if you feel better just knowing & seeing it.
if not (after a month), stop doing it.
that’s ok. being a minimalist does not have to be a “one-size-fits-all” situation.
good luck!!
laura ann says
These tasks should be done at least monthly, except for paper clutter do as mail comes in, and most can be recycled for weekly pick up. After checking bank statement online, toss debit receipts from weekly activity. Several of us took clothing items, shoes in good cond. to low income housing as it is just down the road.
Austin Thompson says
These are perfect. Often, we set our goals too high at first and burn out. It is better to start small and grow from there.
Kate says
Excellent points. I’m still a work in progress but it’s so good to know I will get there one day soon.
Priscilla says
I went right past numbers 1-5 because I don’t keep clutter in those areas, and number 7 doesn’t exist for me at the moment. But number 6 (tackling a junk drawer), good heavens . . . thanks for the reminder! I just cleaned out the junk drawer in the kitchen, and it does feel good.:-)
Sandy says
These are really nice suggestions to start with. People should start with these simple tasks to declutter things.
Connie says
I’ve had boxes of stuff sitting in my hall closet waiting for the right time to call the VVA to pick them up. As I was pulling them out of the closet, I couldn’t even remember what was in the boxes. There were a couple of them that were not taped up yet, so I hurried and taped them shut before I could change my mind about anything. There was one small box that was heavy and I thought it must be books. I came close to ripping the tape off just to see what they were. Thanks for your inspiration, Josh. I didn’t do it.
;) says
Some time later…. “Honey, have you seen my gold bullion collection? I put it in that small box, in the closet….”
ilja says
thanks for writing your blog. I really like reading your posts, I m living a minimalist lifestyle for a year now and it improved my life in so many ways, when I started to declutter I didn’t really know what an impact it would have and after a while I started reading your blog and it just clicked, I didn’t just want to declutter my stuff, I wanted to declutter my life. your blog gave me tips and a form of direction in the minimalistjungle. thank you