How did cleaning out your car go? Did you find just a little or were there icky gross things hiding in the dark corners? I’m often afraid of sticking my hand under a seat to grab a mitten and finding a squishy old banana instead. Blargh.
If you are just joining us, here’s the deal:
I still had this mindset of decluttering being a big ol’ chore up until a few months ago when I read this fantastic post from Nony at A Slob Comes Clean. It was like a huge light went off in my brain! Decluttering is simply the act of getting rid of what doesn’t belong, isn’t needed, or belongs in the trash. It doesn’t mean buying a whole slew of new bins for your things to go in or coming up with some type of system that you hope will change your life – that’s organizing. It’s a whole different ball game. Right now, I’m in the game of decluttering. I just want things GONE.
When there’s less stuff, especially less of what has no purpose in your home anymore, organizing can often happen naturally. You won’t be cramming thirty towels into the closet because you only need ten and they fit nicely. You don’t need to dig through a tub of medicines to find what you need only to keep coming across bottles that are long since expired.
Here’s my challenge: Each week, take on ONE area of your home. I’ve already made the list for you so that part is done. Go to the area, throw away trash, put items that you no longer need but are still in good condition into a donation box, and put other items where they belong. Simple! You can read more about the challenge on the week one post.
Week 33: Desk Surfaces
Ugh, the desk. We don’t use our desktop a whole lot because we have other devices for casual internet use but when I need to do some major work and need multiple screens then the desktop it is. And then this is where the problem is. Because we don’t need the surface of the desk for work it quickly becomes a place to put papers we need to sort though, LEGO the kids have disassembled that we need to build, spare computer parts, and so many other odds and ends.
Most of the paper is mine. You wouldn’t think writing an eBook could be so messy! I printed out drafts for myself and a friend to sort through and pick the best of the best for the devotional I’m working on. I keep making piles and then they get shuffled around and I forget my place and have to start over. Even paperclips aren’t helping at this point. Clearly I need a better system!
I decided the best way to get through this was make three piles – toss, move to a new home, or keep. This made things go smoothly because I made instant decisions on each item I picked up. I moved the camera lens and raspberry pi box down below the desk so they can still be found but aren’t in the way of on top of the desk stuff.
My toss pile is mostly random papers and other little bits of garbage. And some paper bat wings. I’ve got zip for ideas on where those came from.
My keep pile is a folder with Christmas Bingo inside and all my notes and drafts for the devotional. Keeping them all in one place obviously makes more sense then spreading them out across the desk.
It’s so clean! I put the devotional draft work under the monitor Now I can actually use my graphics tablet and not have to dig for it. Now the key will be putting anything else I bring out or other people bring out to the desk away when they’re done. But alas, if we all knew how to do that then we probably wouldn’t need this challenge!
Your turn! How did cleaning off your desk area go?
Share a picture in the comments or on social media with the hashtag #clutterbusterchallenge of what you found to declutter.
Come back next week for week 34 to sort through your office paperwork. This could be school papers that you’ve been meaning to get to, tax paperwork that needs to be sorted, or perhaps a briefcase or folder that needs your attention.
