Creatrope

As you settle back in the chair after a multi-hour decluttering session you realize that the ‘outbox’ – things to be garbaged/donated/recycled is pretty darn small.

You’ve just spent your afternoon in the classic situation of orbiting around decluttering and instead just Moved Stuff Around. I’ve done that more than a few times…

Don’t get me wrong – getting things in the right place is a big step toward home organization, and it can achieve good results if used judiciously. But if you’re like most people, the real gains and satisfaction are only gotten by the physical removal of items from the house.

The great thing about focusing on removal versus moving stuff around is that it is far more virtuous: It puts you one step closer to Living Simple, makes that that next decluttering phase easier, and you don’t waste your time and effort cleaning/shelving/organizing items that you probably shouldn’t have in the first place.

Food for thought: the next time you get a head of steam to declutter and find yourself moving an item from one room to another, stop for a moment and consider whether you really love it, you really need it, it improves your life or has a good possibility of doing so in the near future – and if not – perhaps tossing it into the donation bin is the right solution.

Decluttering isn’t just about stuff in the closets, the floor or the garage. Sometimes the clutter is right in front of you.

When I used to do a semi-professional magic act, an old friend who was a professional told me that the best way to improve your magic act was to remove your worst effect (non-magicians call them ‘tricks’).

Decluttering walls to improve the look of a gallery of photos or wall-hangings is worth considering. Perhaps removing your worst or least favorite item is the best way to improve it?

If so you might find yourself a bit puzzled on how to remove the drywall anchors.

I’ve written about one way that worked for me in Decluttering Walls: Removing Drywall Anchors

The “Two Minute Rule” goes something like this:

If it can be done in less than two minutes, do it now.

It’s found in many books on organization, including my favorite Getting Things Done. For some people, if that’s the only item they take away from these books, it’s well worth it.

The theory is that the time and mental energy you spend ‘managing’ the action item is wasteful. It costs so little to accomplish the task, just do it now.

I haven’t seen this directly applied to decluttering, but I think it’s directly applicable. If you’re holding something in your hand that truly belongs filed in another room, hung up, garbaged, recycled, put back in the toolbox, or put in the donation box, don’t just toss it in the room you are in. Take a few extra moments and walk it to where it belongs.

The best bonus is if you’re holding something you have a tendency to lose or misplace – keys, glasses, cell phone (on vibrate of course). By taking a few moments to move it to the ‘right’ place you not only minimize clutter in the wrong place, but you make it easier to find the item where you expect it to be.

If someone can provide an ‘original’ citation for this old concept, I’d be happy to update this entry.

This ceiling-mounted kids gym and climbing wall has seen a lot of use, and was easy to build once I figured out a strategy. It was around $125 worth of parts. It was inspired by a friend who has an even more elaborate one.

It uses standard backyard playground equipment and the parts are interchangeable to give the kids some variation. There’s little rare-earth magnets placed on the beam to allow for hanging ‘targets’.

It fits into the theme of home organization and decluttering because there’s nothing to put away and nothing to clean up.

You might also like the DIY Indoor Playhouse.