8 Ways to Kill Clutter in 5 Minutes
One of the biggest reasons for the pervasive clutter in my apartment is a lack of time to deal with it. It takes longer to put a shirt away than it does to just throw it on the floor, so onto the floor it goes. As long as there’s a path from the door to my bed, I tend not to ignore and perpetuate the clutter. I’m increasingly realizing, though, that all the out-of-place stuff in my life can become a huge time drain. I spend precious minutes and hours looking for things that could be easily avoided by a better system, and a few minutes devoted to staying organized.
In an effort to become more organized, especially in my personal space, I’ve found a few methods that can help even the busiest of us to get organized, or at least get the organization ball rolling, in only a few minutes. In the time it takes to brush my teeth or check my voicemail, I’m able to get some of the junk in my life a little more in order.
Here are eight ways to get in, get organized, and get out:
One Box To Rule Them All
Between the shelves, the desks, the drawers, the nooks and the crannies, the things I need to deal with get pretty spread out. To tackle them, try the “One Box” method: take out a box, as large as possible, and put everything you need to deal with into it. Clear the junk off of every surface, and if you need to do something with it, don’t- just put it in the box. It’s much easier to sit down later with a box and delve into processing it, than it is to try to clean and organize all at once. I call mine the “Box of Everything,” and it will make your space cleaner and give you an easier time of processing the relevant stuff. When in doubt, put it in the box.
The Space-Killer
Pick a single space in your room or office- a desk, a bookshelf, a chair piled with laundry- and clean it until it’s spic-and-span. Make sure it’s a small space, as you’re trying to get this done in five minutes, but pick a spot and have a mini-cleaning bonanza. Most small spaces will only have a few items to deal with, which will make the process both easy and rewarding, as at least one small part of your mess looks immaculate.
Trashing Sprees
Do a sweep of your whole space- office, bedroom, wherever you’re looking to get organized. Anything that needs to be processed or dealt with separately, leave where it is. For these five minutes, all you’re dealing with is trash-able items. Walk around with a big trash bag, and liberally dump stuff into it. I find that a huge portion of the clutter in my own room is due to things I meant to throw away, but for whatever reason didn’t before now. In five minutes, you’ll fill a trash bag and make your space look that much nicer.
Clean from the Ground Up
In most rooms, a dirty or cluttered floor is the most obvious sign of disorganization. There’s significant psychological benefit in a clean floor, and it’s much easier to keep the floor clean if it’s clean to begin with. Try cleaning just the floor- if something’s not touching the floor, leave it alone. Most of what’s on my floor are clothes, shoes, and other things that I have the terrible tendency to walk into my room, drop, and walk back out. With a clean floor, your space will look better and feel better to you, and likely make the task of organizing much less daunting.
Pick It and Fill It
Another thing prone to messing up your space is things without a home. The easiest way to fix this? Give them a home. Start by picking a place for all of a certain thing to go- let’s say DVDs. Once you’ve created a home for your DVDs, go around collecting them and putting them in their rightful place. Don’t deal with anything else except your DVDs. In just a few minutes, you can collect all your DVDs, put them where they’re supposed to be, and be done with it. Organizing your DVDs, or whatever it may be, gets a whole lot easier when they have a set home, and a home only for them.
Piles, Piles, Piles
This one’s somewhat the opposite of a lot of what I’ve mentioned, but can work for me depending on my mood. Sometimes, all I want to do is make a mess so large I don’t have a choice but to clean it up. When I’m feeling this way, I dig everything out of the clever places I tend to hide things - drawers, behind and on top of other things, under my bed, and what have you. Once everything’s out, on the floor, and in front of me, I’m able to gauge what it is that I’m dealing with, and get to work. If you’re not in the mood to clean, but know you should, try this one – make the mess messier, but in a useful way.
Pretty Systems
Organizing is simply more fun when there’s a flashy, cool system to it. That’s why David Allen always suggested the use of a labeler for your filing system – it’s no more useful than a pen, and probably takes longer, but it’s prettier and more serious-looking. This is a great tip for when you don’t want to clean up at all: make some files. Figure out what you’ve got a lot of, and create a file for it. Make it pretty, easy to get to, and I’ve found they tend to fill themselves up somehow.
Minimizing Space
This is a new habit, and it’s worked wonders for me: When I’m organizing, I put duct tape over certain places: my bookshelf and my cupboard, for instance. They are off-limits, and I’m not allowed to put things in them. Now, instead of being able to just shove things in drawers and hope for an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality, I have to find a useful place for them- or just get rid of them. Mostly, it’s just get rid of them. I leave myself a finite amount of space for my things, and it’s typically easy to shrink my stuff to fill the space.
Organizing works best in baby steps- trying to do it all at once can be overwhelming. Instead, take five minutes, and tackle one of these eight tasks- you’ll feel better, your space will look better, and organization will somehow begin to look a little bit easier.
Photo: cogdogblog
WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY
David Pierce
David Pierce is a college student, freelance writer, and lover of all things Web-based. He blogs about the digital world at The 2.0 Life, and can frequently be found on Twitter .
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Comments
sean808080 says on January 26th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Great stuff here..I feel a blog post on this coming on.
sean808080 says on January 26th, 2009 at 10:02 am
yup….my post on this topic with hat tip here:
http://sean808080.com/blog/sla.....ever-over/
Squirrel Nutkin says on January 26th, 2009 at 10:21 am
I like this posting a lot, especially the ‘One Box’ idea at the beginning.
timgray says on January 26th, 2009 at 11:44 am
The biggest thing is to get rid of stuff. over 60% of what people have is really not needed and nothing but clutter. Get rid of it.
If you get rid of stuff, you dont have to take care of that stuff. My rule is that if it has not been touched in 18 months it get’s sold or given away. Yes even big things, we got rid of our RV last year with this rule.
David Pierce says on January 26th, 2009 at 11:46 am
@timgray- Great point. I’ve slowly learned that if I can’t, in five seconds, think of a likely scenario when I’m going to absolutely, positively, definitely need it, throw it out.
An RV? That’s pretty impressive, I like the 18 month rule for anything, large or small. Thanks!
Roger says on January 26th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Great article! I have found that decluttering never ends – it is a continuous process and you have got to keep on top of it. I agree with what you said about finding a place for your things – I adhere to two rules: everything must have its own place (or out it goes) and nothing must be on the floor.
David at Animal-Kingdom-Workouts.com says on January 26th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
This site is so interesting. I never would have thought I’d find a good post on clutter! I like the one box method. It makes so much sense, I really should have thought of it myself (which is why I probably didn’t).
- Dave
Armen Shirvanian says on January 26th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
This set of items fits very well into the category of actionable options that we can take during quick organization or cleaning. I have used the one-box idea in the first point, and it nearly takes care of any overwhelming problems that would show up while cleaning. The 18-month rule that was brought up in the last couple of comments sounds like a relevant item to keep in one’s organizational mental repertoire.
Chelle says on January 26th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
This is a great idea and all, as are most organizing systems, the problem is, if everyone in the household doesn’t follow it, then it just goes out of whack. I feel as if I have to follow my family around with a trash can because they can’t seem to throw anything away. Cheese wrappers, empty coffee bean bags, even scraps from dinner don’t seem to make it into the trash no matter how many times I ask or make them get up and do it. I feel like a maid in my own home.
Ryan says on January 26th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Nice article! I got rid of DVDs and starting keeping all that stuff on my computer – less clutter and worry for me
DonB says on January 26th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Throwing your shirt on the floor because it’s quicker than hanging it up isn’t efficient, it’s just plain lazy. It’s not a lifehack, it’s called being an adult. Put away your toys after you play with them.
David Pierce says on January 26th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
@Roger- those are great rules, though I’d have no chance. My habit of “walk in, drop everything on the floor, walk out” is a tough one to break. Decluttering never does end, but it’s possible to keep it from being overwhelming, or at least debilitating.
@Dave- Always happy to provide the ideas :) The one box method isn’t unique to me, but I’ve adapted it and it works beautifully for me. I hope you like it too!
@Armen- That’s absolutely true. I’ve found that even putting “box everything” on my to-do list as a simple, quick thing I can do helps me to get it done. I’m excited to try the 18 month rule- it does sound like a good one. Thanks!
David Pierce says on January 26th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
@Chelle- that’s one of the reasons I love these tips so much- they’re easy to convince anyone to do, because they only take a couple of minutes. But yeah, it’s tough to do any kind of organizing without some help.
@Ryan- Good call! Putting things on your computer is critical, it definitely kills the clutter. Great tip!
@DonB- I’m not sure I understand. I totally agree, leaving your shirt on the floor isn’t good, or lifehack-y, but it’s a reality for a lot of people. It seems to me that putting your toys away is a lot easier said than done- especially when we don’t know where “away” is.
D-Mac says on January 26th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
sweet post.
tom says on January 26th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
If you don’t do it right of the bat, it becomes a struggle to catch up.
Beverly says on January 26th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I like the last idea but they all are good!
Laura Zigler says on January 26th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Love the ideas, and I find them kind of funny in ways as that is the way I HAVE to clean, as I am ADHD and if I try to clean more than one little area..I am lost, so sticking to one area and not going past it then I am good and I can actually get something done. The other thing I learned long ago (not that I always implement it) but the 5 minute clean up..you can do it before going to bed, or out the door or whenever, and everyone in the house does it too..you just take 5 minutes..cleaning up, putting things away, it is amazing how five minutes can make a difference in a room.
David Pierce says on January 27th, 2009 at 12:20 am
@Tom- True. But I find the longer I put off the catch up, the worse it gets. And eventually, I have to catch up :) It’s a problem.
@Laura- We should start a club. I can’t do much of ANYTHING for more than five minutes, otherwise I get distracted by something shiny. The 5-minute cleanup also works well for kids and busy families- has that been your experience? Thanks for the comment!
Gaz says on January 27th, 2009 at 6:17 am
Things just dropped when finished with because it’s easier than hanging them up. Paths from the door to the bed. Piles of things on the floor. “Things I meant to throw away, but for whatever reason didn’t before now”
Are you sure you haven’t been to my house?
Shawn says on January 27th, 2009 at 10:25 am
I think I like the one box to rule them all method. Things tend to build up in my room then I’ll break and have a mass cleaning.
xXIIChAsEIIXx says on January 27th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
You guys are ill. Cleaning up after yourself is not hard if you deal with your problem at the time its a problem. Grow up and clean up after yourself when u clutter an it wont be clutter. I understand children but if u are an “adult” then take responsibility an your kids will follow suit.
Larry (IEOR Tools) says on January 27th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
That sounds conspicuously like the 5S system. 5S is a great tool for cleaning and standardizing, particulary in the workplace. 5S stands for Sort, Sanitize, Set in Place, Standardize, Sustaion. Just do a google search for 5S and you will find a lot of resources.
Vincent says on January 27th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
By implementing a daily routine of clearing the clutters will definitely make your work space a more friendly place to work in. It will also help to make you more efficient.
Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
Mimi says on January 28th, 2009 at 10:56 am
In lieue of a box I use a sheet or blanket to Collect all items in a particular space and Process from there. This is a great method to tackle the kid’s Stuff.
David Pierce says on January 28th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
@Larry- It IS a little like the 5S methodology. Thanks for pointing that out, I’d never seen it before. It’s actually a LOT like GTD, which is pretty interesting. Thanks!
J says on January 29th, 2009 at 12:41 am
Great post! The last one made me LOL as dumping stuff all over the floor is how I end up tackling closets and other large spaces.
Going Green says on January 29th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
One box to rule them all… If I use that box will my stuff become invisible? Cool… as long as it doesn’t turn to the dark side. Oops, wrong movie.
D-Mac says on January 29th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
still a sweet post
Martin Lewis says on January 31st, 2009 at 7:53 am
Good tips there. Thanks.
graceonline says on February 7th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
All of these tips are useful, and I’m going to start using some of them right away. My favorite is to find a home for one type of article, such as DVDs, and pick up all those items around the house and put them away. Thanks!
natalya says on March 19th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
there are a lot of useful tips in this article. not only getting rid of clutter helps you find all your stuff, but it also looks fabulous. it makes your room look bigger. great article!