Step Three: Throw stuff away. (Go through all rooms, in order of priority determined in step 2, before moving to step 4.)
Why, yes.
I do have to have “Throw Stuff Away” as its own step on a printed checklist.
As I cleaned for Paula, I had to make myself stop and purposefully do this step. (That’s the beauty of the checklist. It makes me be purposeful.)
I’d much prefer to start tackling the prioritization list than to walk through the house looking for trash.
But I did it, and it worked. (As it always does.)
I took my black trash bag (very important that it’s black so no one but me knows exactly what’s inside) and walked through each room, looking for things to throw away. I found plenty of trash, but nowhere near as much as I would have found pre-blog. Yay for that!
I threw away:
Mostly empty chip bags, dead leaves, and the case for a lousy thermometer we got rid of months ago.
Paintbrushes that some lovely child never cleaned, a coupon for free queso that technically doesn’t have an expiration date, but was printed in 2007, and a single-sized bag of jalapeno chips that none of the kids would eat and obviously Daddy didn’t want either.
And a single, too small, not-worthy-of-being-donated shoe.
Etc.
I was actually very surprised that my bag wasn’t overflowing. But still, this trash-throwing-away step accomplished what it was intended to accomplish.
- I removed trash. Cleaning (which comes later) is ever-so-much easier when I don’t first have to get past layers of stuff before I can clean.
- It kept me focused. I reminded myself (over and over) that my ONLY job for the moment was to remove trash. This kept me from getting distracted with random (and sometimes unnecessary) tasks.
- I added things to my prioritization list. As I went through each room, really looking at it, I noticed additional things that I didn’t see on the first walk-through. I also gained a better understanding of how much cleaning each room would need.
- The house looked better when I was done. Really. I’m constantly amazed at what a difference it makes to simply de-trashify my house.
Stay tuned as I continue to share how I worked through my How to Clean a Messy House checklist in preparation for Paula’s visit. You can see the entire checklist, explanation post, and printable checklist here.
Still wondering who Paula is? I’ll tell you next week.
Hint: It’s not Jane Pauley.
(I know. She isn’t even a Paula. But she seemed like a Paula to me as I kept trying to think of her name. As I kept asking myself: Who is that newswoman that Hubby had a huge crush on when he was a kid?)
Excellent! I may try this today, and see how it goes.
This really hit home and made me realize that my husband and I are really, truly opposites (good thing opposites attract)!! He does this with the trash bag every Sunday evening and Wednesday before he goes to work (Monday and Thursday are trash days). I would never think to go through the house with a trash bag just because. On the rare occasion I gather trash for trash day, I get a bag and go to each trash can. That’s it… never think to look around my house for additional trash. And even more sadly, I never realized that I was any different than my husband in this area until I read this post!!! I truly do have slob-brain!
You and I think alike re: Jane Pauley. Every time I try to think who Paula might be, I come up with her. Maybe you should make her change her name and then invite her over.
Know what? I like that step. I’m thinking of doing that once a week. With all the stuff I have in my house that I don’t know what to do with, maybe that would get things done quicker. We don’t have donation pickups in my area, and I can have a pile of ‘to donate’ stuff sitting around forever. So maybe, unless it’s really, really good…like Hospice-worthy donations…I’ll just pitch it.
For anyone who wonders why Hospice is where I take many donations… In my area, they take care of dying patients, and most of them at no cost to the patient or family. They’re funded by financial donations, as well as household (including furniture and clothing) donations that they sell in their resale shops (which is run by volunteers). They took excellent care of my grandparents, an aunt, and my father after he was diagnosed with cancer. That’s a place I will always, always support in any way I can.
That said, I can hardly wait to find out who Paula is. It’s making me crazy trying to figure out who it is. 🙂
Paula Zahn?
Nope!
Just decided to donate huge box of grape decor, which I absolutely love!! But, this kitchen does not have display space like my previous 2 places. So, much as it pains me, I have to let it go. If it’s not useful, and I have no space for it, it’s clutter. Also, I wanted to keep the 7 purple glass goblets from that box, so I got rid of 7 plastic cups, and mugs. 1 in, 1 out. Thank u Nony!
Oh I love how you managed to get to keep your faves! Go you!
Thank u. I wouldn’t have purged those 7 other cups/mugs, if I hadn’t been reading your blog.
You are such an inspiration to me. I love how real you are, and that you understand me!! ||My Mom sure never has!
And you answer my comments! I feel like a rock star groupie! (|You ARE a rock star!!)
The 3 boxes of clutter that I purged yesterday, and today are already living at the Salvation Army.
It really does feel good to have room to breathe. Keep on encouraging us, and we will continue supporting you! I want to go shopping on Amazon, but… I need to go shopping here in my own house first! lol
Now, I need to get busy decorating these blank walls…
I feel like I’m constantly throwing trash out and it seems to keep back the torrent more or less, but my daughter’s room (she’s 7) looks like a junk heap. For one, she has no closet. And she hates to throw anything away. I sneak stuff out, but she is her own person and I want to honor her stuff. Any ideas?
This might help: http://www.aslobcomesclean.com/2013/12/how-to-declutter-a-childs-room/