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!
Nancy says
I’m happy I knew this group and receiving articles regularly helps me a lot to be always mindful in decluttering. You are a blessing.
Adam says
Hi Joshua,
We have 3 dogs, a toddler, and a baby on the way. How do we keep all the species and age appropriate toys separate in a shared space?!!
Alexa says
Are you concerned about the babies chewing on the dog toys?
Me says
Never have more dogs than kids!!
G.Rogers says
We quit having a junk drawer. We call it a utility drawer and it contains items we like having handy. It’s a mini office in a drawer – since I do most deskwork at the kitchen table, Post-it notes, tape, a few writing instruments, envelopes, address labels, postage stamps,glue, scissors, stapler, ruler, paper clips, tacks, lighter and rubber ponytail holders – used for everything except hair.
Amanda of My Life, I Guess says
I keep telling myself (and my husband) that we need to tackle our out-of-control storage room. I keep saying if we just tackle one item a day (use it, donate it, sell it or toss it) that it’ll eventually get done without it becoming a big chore. But of course, each day passes and we don’t even open the door to the room. Maybe an approach more like this will do the trick?
Susan says
Absolutely. I’ve had varying levels of depression over the years, and even I can set a timer and tackle something for 5 minutes. Thankfully, for reasons unknown, my depression has gotten much better over the past year, and I am steadily moving through the house, decluttering and deep cleaning. It is such a wonderful feeling to go from feeling overwhelmed and helpless to in control. I keep a cardboard box in the dining room, and as I find stuff to donate, I toss it in. Once it’s full, I take it to Goodwill and drop it off, get another box from the liquor store, and do it again. You CAN tackle that storage room. Don’t feel like you have to wait for your husband to do it with you. If he doesn’t want to be part of the solution, tell him to get out of your way. Nicely, of course.
Lyn says
It’s the best 5 min spend on car, but I never thought of extending it to the dresser top. Sounds like a good new habit to do end of everyday.
Money Beagle says
Just cleaned out the junk drawer yesterday. It took about 30 minutes, but my kids fill it up with pencils so I went through pencil by pencil and put all theirs in an old coffee can, as well as cleaning through all the rest of the buildup.
Steve @ Think Save Retire says
One thing I might add is uncluttering your email inbox as well. Go through that inbox and delete emails that you don’t need, or move emails into different folders, respond to emails that need a response, so on.
#InboxZero, baby. :)
G.Rogers says
Clearing email is part of my morning daily routine. I take a minute to unsubscribe from things also. A few months ago I cleared photos from my iPhone and now I clear photos when I clear email. Keepers are uploaded to Dropbox, Walgreens or Facebook – depending on the subject.
Steph says
I do the same and it is a very good habit
Peter says
All very well, but there are two people in most relationships and after 48yrs together it’s almost akin to being bullied when the non-minimilist half suddenly find things they treasure disposed of without discussion. You obviously don’t care about the consequences for the other half. Is minimalisms ultimate goal one person in a empty space?
Abbie says
Relationships are hard! Especially when topics come up that are hard to see eye-to-eye. This blog has addressed this topic several times with good ideas – none of which are to throw away another person’s belongings.
Frustrated in San Diego says
What are another person’s belongings when they hang on to every book they read, have too many of the same clothes and store in plastic bins in your master closet, buy tools and never open boxes, build a gym in garage they never use… it is a awful, he is 65.
Y.P says
I suggest getting to it first before it gets thrown out. You should be mad at your spouse not this website
Susie says
CONGRATULATIONS on 48 years together!!
no, dont discard it if it’s not yours.
but just think how good you will feel when YOUR unnecessary, unwanted possessions are gone.
Mich says
Great list! To this I would add clean out fridge of anything past it’s use-by-date and the pantry if you have the time. Always a work in progress!
Pam Marvin says
AAAhhh so perfect, a minimalist approach to just getting started! Im going to do them all this weekend.. thank you !!