If you’re home this week while the world is taking a break from normal life, you may be decluttering. (Missed out on Day One? Click Here!)
Today’s task:
Deal with Procrasticlutter.
Huh?
Procrasticlutter (a word I just totally made up) is all the stuff you stop noticing because you know exactly what you need to do to deal with it. You just haven’t dealt with it.
Examples of Procrasticlutter:
Clean laundry piled on the couch.
A stack of papers you’ve already determined you don’t need, but you want to shred them instead of throwing them straight into the recycling bin.
A box of books that has been sitting in the corner of your dining room for a (few) year(s), waiting to be taken to the second-hand bookstore.
The Donate Pile(s) by your back door, or your bedroom door, or in the hall, or wherever.
Etc. Etc. Etc.
What should you do?
Fold the laundry and put it away.
Wash the dishes that are piled on the kitchen counters. (And put them away.)
Shred the papers, even if it means driving to the store to buy a shredder.
Load your car with the books to be sold and the boxes to be donated. Sell the books and drop off the donations.
List the things from the Maybe Someday I’ll Sell This Online Pile on your local Facebook swap group or on eBay.
Do the things you’ve been meaning to do.
Here’s the thing. When the Urge to Declutter hits, people like me spin in circles, wondering where to start. It’s all just so overwhelming. I do a little here and a little there, and at the end of the day I’m exhausted but can’t see any progress.
And that makes me want to quit.
My goal for you this week (or any time when you land on this series and start decluttering) is for you to see visible progress at the end of each day. If you’ll focus on these things, in order, you’ll see results. Really.
And stick to the Visibility Rule, just like you did with the Trash Bag Tour. Deal with the stuff you can see before you start digging in cabinets and opening drawers.
Tomorrow, with all these yeah-yeah-yeah-I’m-gonna-get-to-that “projects” out of the way, you can dive into the more dramatic and legit decluttering projects you really want to do. If you go ahead into Back-of-the-Closet mode now, your house will still be a mess at the end of the day and you’ll throw your hands up in the air in despair.
I know this.
And, if tomorrow happens and the opportunity arises to skip decluttering and head to a movie, you’ll come home from the theater to a significantly-nicer-than-before home, and you’ll be inspired to get back to decluttering the next day.
I’m all about progress. Visible progress. Visible progress that inspires me to keep decluttering.
Wanna talk about this live?
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Need more inspiration?
See my decluttering tips, tricks and stories (with totally real before and after pics) here.
How to Prioritize Decluttering Projects
You might also want to check out my video course, The 5 Day Clutter Shakedown.
If you’re desperate to declutter and/or would like detailed guides, check out my books: How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind and Decluttering at the Speed of Life.
--Nony
How did you know I have a box of books in my dining room!?
I was thinking the same thing…how did you know I have books in the dining room?!
ok! I’m assigning the kids to fold and put away the clean sheets that are piled on the couch. Hubby and I are heading to town with boxes and bags for the thrift store. And the kids are filling their trash bags (day one assignment!) with stuff from their rooms. And dishes are done because I’ve been listening to the Nony-Voice playing in my head (do the dishes before you go to bed) Making progress 🙂 thanks for the motivation!
I needed the simple reminders! We got home from holidays with family and mountains of gifts to unpack for 2 little girls. I had just read your first post on throwing out trash first and that helped tremendously! I can’t say all the messes are cleaned up but the piles shrunk every hour as I forced myself to touch each thing once and put it where we would look for it first! Thanks for helping me keep my sanity by keeping it simple!
I love this term “procrasticlutter”. It has repeated itself in my head about 100 times a day since I read this post. It kind of has a nice ring to it. Today it was the title of my To Do list, as the majority of the items was procrasticlutter (including Christmas gifts long wrapped but still not sent!).
This post is still haunting me. I have so much procrasticlutter! I have the dishes under control (you taught me that the habit is everything), still working on laundry (so much better than it used to be), but oh, the procrasticlutter… everything is different, so how to make a habit out of it? Give it a time slot so that the project is different but the time is the same? Hmmm.
I’m loving your blog, it really speaks to my soul…….with one exception. I’m a mother that also works full time………AND I have a long commute. I leave my house at 7:00am to drop the kiddo at daycare, then make it to work on time at 8:15am. I leave work at 5:00pm and tend to not get home until around 6:30pm or so. That gives me about 2 hours or so to cook and clean up dinner (though the clean up often gets left behind) and spend time with my hubby before he goes to work (he works third shift) and get my kiddo to bed (by myself because the aforementioned hubby conveniently leaves for work right at bedtime). This does not leave a lot of time for cleaning. And on the weekends, I want to spend all the time with my family, because we just don’t get much throughout the week. Do you have any ideas, or links to other bloggers that provide tips for the Mom that works out of the home? Thanks!
Honestly, I recommend working through 28 Days to Hope for Your Home (only available until Monday) and fitting in the tasks to your unique schedule. It works for people in all different situations because it is truly THE most basic stuff that must be done.
I love it when I can’t even read your whole post before I’m inspired to jump up and DO something. This time it was unloading the dishwasher. I shared the term “procrasticlutter” with my husband and he jumped up to take the bags of Christmas paper out to the trash/recycling. You make a big difference around here, Sweetie!