226 | What to Do When it Seems Like There Is Not Time to Declutter & Organize

[00:00:00] Often as he was like, there is never enough time in the day. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like we have any spare minutes for anything that we want to do, or that needs to be done. But a couple minutes, a few times each week can add up to big results and less time than you think.

 friend, it’s Tuesday. And that means I am answering a question that was submitted by a podcast listener.

If you want me to help you solve a problem or help you problem solve for a struggle that you are dealing with in your home with organizing decluttering. If you need help, figuring out where to start, what needs to be done in your home to make it more organized. To simplify everything, go to intentional, edit.com and click on that little record.

Now button the button will pop up either on the side or the [00:02:00] bottom of the screen. click on that and then it gives you the option to a record, a message for me. So you will leave a message just like you would be leaving a voicemail. It is super, super easy. And once you submit your question and then I will use it and answer it a future Tuesday episode. of the international audit podcast. question that was submitted today is a pretty common one. I get questions that are similar to this all of the time. This one says. I would be more organized if I had the time to get all this stuff we don’t use out of our house. What do I do if I don’t have time for this, but no, I would feel better if I perched. Thank you for submitting that question.

That’s a great question. You’re basically saying. I want to be organized. I understand some of the benefits of organization for my house. This is something that I want, but I need to purge. I need to declutter. I have an excess of stuff. I have clutter throughout. And I need to get rid of it, but I don’t have the time to do this. What you’re going to do the solution to this problem is problem-solve, you’re going to take a solution based approach to get to that end result that you want.

And that end result is organization. You want to have an organized and orderly home. What’s going to get you there. A couple things. One routines, routines are going to be what saves you time in the long run. And removing the clutter, removing the excess is going to help you have more time. Once those things are out of the house. Most of us, don’t have endless hours to dedicate to a purging every single week.

So we’re going to solve the problem by finding a smaller amount of time. We are busy just as humans. We have a lot going on and a lot of things consuming the minutes of our day. So if you don’t have hours upon hours upon hours to tackle these big projects, we’re going to break it down and [00:04:00] we’re going to get this done in minutes.

So you’re going to find a minute. Minutes to do clutter. I know you can find 20 minutes in your week to dedicate to this. At some point, you’re going to have a 20 minute chunk of time. If you have to make it to 10 minute sessions, then do that. But dedicate 20 minutes, say this is a priority for me. And I’m going to give myself 20 minutes to dedicate this, to this, to make small baby steps, to move towards that goal of removing clutter from my home. Now, if you have two blocks of time in a week where you can do this two 20 minute sessions, do that.

When I’m giving you the 20 minute example, I don’t want you to limit it to 20 minutes. If. Maybe you have 30 minutes or you can do 20 minutes twice a week. But the bare minimum is going to be 20 minutes once a week. And that’s where you’re going to start. You will begin with one area in your home and you can go back and listen to many, many other episodes where we talk about where is the good place to start. When you want to organize your home and when you need to organize and purge the belongings in your home. You start with an area that is causing you stress. What is stressing you out right now? It could be a variety of things.

And usually you’re going to have more than one spot. So identify one and we’re going to start there and we’re going to move through the house. Is this area that is the stressor, the kitchen counter. Could it be the toys on the family room floor that are there all the time? Maybe it is a dresser drawer in your room. Because that drawer is so overstuffed, you can’t get it to close. In the simplified home masterclass, we go into detail about how to properly de-clutter and once you have done the decluttering, once the items are purged, then we move on to organizing and the strategy is behind organizing. [00:06:00] I want you to use those strategies that are taught in this simplified whole masterclass. In any project that you are working on, it doesn’t matter if you’re in a 20 minute block of time, or if you have an entire weekend designated to work on a purging and organizing project, strategies that we teach in the simplified home masterclass. Our in depth detailed and go. Through from start to finish exactly what you need to do to remove the clutter and get organized room by room by room. your time is limited. But your goal is to get organized and your goal is to simplify your home. So you’re going to use this 20 minute approach that we’re talking about here. Once a week, 20 minutes. Or if you have a couple of times a week, do this a couple of times a week. Block out these 20 minute sessions, just like you would schedule a dentist appointment or a hair appointment or something important in your calendar. Book this time for you to work on these de-cluttering projects, this is important.

Put it on your calendar and use the time that you have selected. To work on the purging for the 20 minutes. Before you begin, when you’re, let’s go back to picking which area you’re starting with, brainstorm a few projects that are really causing you stress that are driving you crazy right now that you want that mess to go away. I make a list of those places. And one of those is going to be the first area that you’re going to focus on. Now when it is the time and your calendar says, it’s time for you to do these decluttering projects, you’re going to use a timer to help you stay on track and help you stay focused.

So you want to use this timer because you’re going to set it for 20 minutes and you are not going to do anything else during this time, besides the decluttering of this one designated area. You’re going to set the timer 20 minute [00:08:00] countdown. And do not pick up the phone. Do you know? I start scrolling, do not answer a phone call, do not answer the front door, do not do anything except work on this decluttering project.

This is the time you have determined is going to be dedicated to this. And I want you to stick to that. So you’re not going to go to another part of the house. You’re not going to do anything else until that timer goes off at the end of the 20 minutes. Now let’s move on to talk about what this 20 minutes is going to look like. You’re setting your timer.

And before you do this, if you want to play your favorite music or listen to a podcast, Get that all set up. You’re going to need a trash bag for garbage or trash can for garbage and some kind of a bag or box for donations. And the thing is that you don’t want to keep in your house. And then you’re going to get one other thing.

And that one other thing is going to be a box or basket. Or something small that is going to contain anything that you find in this space that you are decluttering, that goes to another area of the home because you are going to stay in this space. And anything that goes in another spot in the home is going to go in that container. The reason we do this is you don’t want to constantly be going back and forth, putting things away because then you will be wasting time and you will lose focus and get sidetracked and start doing something else. So that is why that is an important piece of the puzzle.

And this 20 minute decluttering. The idea that I’m talking about here is very similar. Uh, to what we do in the 10 day challenge, the practical purging 10 day challenge, you can participate in that it’s completely free. It doesn’t cost anything. The link is in the description where you’re listening to the podcast, just click on practical purging projects, and you can get the downloads for that.

So you can participate in that 10 day challenge. And even if you can’t do it every single [00:10:00] day, you can still follow along with the challenge and. with each activity on a different day when you have those 20 minutes. So sign up for that, get all the information by clicking the link in the podcast description. Each day with that, it’s a different project and it takes you 15 to 20 minutes. To declutter those areas usually.

And so by the end of the 10 days, the idea is you have 10 projects complete. If you need to space it out more than those 10 days, that’s fine. Let it take you two weeks or three weeks. Do it every other day. Do it every third day. Do it. When you have the time available to you. And get it done. And it’s the same concept that we’re talking about here, but it’s going to give you the actual spaces with, with how to declutter those in that challenge.

That is something that I recommend because it’s a great way to kickstart the decluttering. And there’s instructions and tips for you to follow that help you with the decluttering and help you make decisions about what you’re getting rid of and what you’re keeping. And it’s easy to follow along with and help you move along. No, you’re a long-term desire is a home with less clutter, maybe no clutter at all.

A home that is organized that you feel good in. Uh, home that. simplified. part of the effort of decluttering. Is going to be preventing the clutter from ever coming back from preventing that clutter from piling up in the first place. If you’re going to put the effort in, then what are we going to do to set up this problem from ever happening again, the key to not having to declutter very often. Is, you have to reduce the number of items that you’re bringing into your home on a regular basis.

So that means you’re limiting the over consumption. And that will play a huge role in how often we have to purge and how quickly we feel that overwhelm in that stress creeping back in because the clutter is starting to accumulate again. If you [00:12:00] don’t get a handle on what’s coming into your home, then the clutter will accumulate over time.

Just like it has right now. Once you have put in the effort and the work and taking the time to remove the clutter. And get these things out of the half house and throw the trash away and D take all, everything you don’t want that still has life left in its belongings. You’re donating those things.

let that. and energy that you spent doing this go to waste. Live it, the over-consumption limit what you’re bringing into your house. that will help you. limiting how quickly the clutter accumulates in the future. going to use the timer for 20 minutes sessions to declutter the most annoying and cluttered areas in your home. You’re going to start with that sign up for the practical purging projects, 10 day challenge.

If you want that to be the way that you stay focused and you get those 10 tasks done first. That is an awesome way to start or start with the areas that are causing you the most stress. Set your timer for 20 minutes, make sure you have your trash bag. Making sure you have your container for donations and a box or some type of container that is going to be where everything is collected.

That goes in the rest of the house. Once your 20 minute timer off, you should be wrapping up your decluttering of that one drawer or that one kitchen counter or that one is space. That you’re working on that day. And then later on in the day or the next day, take the basket where you have all of these things that go to different places in the house and spend a couple minutes putting those things away, where they belong. timer trick is especially helpful.

It helps you stay on track. It helps you stay focused during the time. you can use it to help you to get this 20 minute decluttering session done so that you are moving closer and closer [00:14:00] with each project that you finish to that organized home, to that simplified home that you are dreaming of and thinking about in the future.

And the other thing is don’t forget to be mindful about what is coming into your house, because reducing that also significantly reduces clutter. Thank you for listening. Thank you for submitting a question. If you’re listening today and have a struggles that you want me to help find solutions for go to intentional, edit.com.

Click on the record now button that will pop up on your screen. And submit your question for me to answer on a future episode. I answer listener questions on most Tuesday episodes, and I would love to help solve your problems and help you eliminate the struggles that are happening in your home with organization or decluttering.

Getting your house simplified, coming up with routines to keep everything. Tidy and dialed in and bring that order organization to your home sooner than later. This is the last episode that will come out in 2023. Thank you for being here and being part of our intentional edit podcast community.

I will meet you back here for the next episode in 2024. Happy holidays and happy new year.

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