How to Declutter in 10 Minutes or Less – Part II

Quick and Easy Decluttering Tips Continued..  

 This post is the second in a series of posts on how to declutter your home in 10 minutes or less. If you missed the first one, here it is. Meanwhile, here are some more simple and easy ways to cut the clutter and have a neat home simply by spending ten minutes a day on any one of the following areas of your home or life.

 Declutter the Dining Table. The dining table is yet another area that, in my house, tends to transform into a clutter-magnet. The sheer space it offers seems to tempt my husband into dumping everything on the table. By spending ten minutes during the day I can keep it neat and clutter-free, easily. Simply remove all dirty plates and empty bottles and cans, put them in the kitchen sink or trash can. Remove newspapers and magazines, put into magazine rack. Any clothing items are dumped into the laundry bag. (yes, I usually find a towel or tee!) Wipe table clean. All done.

 Declutter my Handbag. I like my handbag to be organized and neat as well. Considering that I carry one, which usually has a minimum of three compartments, besides two small zippered compartments inside, I have a lot of stuff. So, here is what I do every once in a while. Empty contents. Remove anything that I no longer need or use. My toddler’s stuff – glass, bib, wipes, hand sanitizer, goes into an outer compartment while my writing stuff –pens and a notebook go into the second outer compartment. The main compartment holds my cell phone (in a separate case), my spectacles and sunglasses (in their respective cases), a wallet, basic grooming stuff-comb, lipstick, perfume and hand cream (in another case) and a purse for loose change. The zippered compartment holds my car and house keys. That’s it. since everything goes into a separate case, it is easy to declutter and organize it in ten minutes or less.

 Declutter a Part of the Closet. Closets are a clutter haven. Decluttering them can take time. So, I spend ten minutes a week decluttering any one shelf or even part of a shelf. It makes decluttering the closet so much easier. Simply follow the same principles as when decluttering a drawer or the catch-all areas.

 Declutter the Refrigerator. Ten minutes is all one needs to clean out and organize the refrigerator. Simply remove any food or drink items that are old, moldy (!!), past their use-by date or basically, unidentifiable. Arrange like items together. I keep salad dressing items together and syrups and jams together. Keep items that need to be kept really cold at the back. Keep leftovers in covered and preferably, labeled containers. Wipe shelves and inside of door clean. Ta-da! Done.

 Declutter my Writing Area. When I’m writing, I tend to do a lot of research, especially for my Buddhism/Taoism articles. As a result, my writing area (I don’t always write at my desk) tends to get cluttered with books, papers, jottings, Post-Its and other stuff. So, I spend ten minutes at the end of the day decluttering and removing everything that doesn’t belong and basically leaving just my laptop and my to-do list for the next day. This ensures that I come to a clean working area every morning.

Stay tuned for the next post in the series that will focus on decluttering and organizing the kiddie stuff in ten minutes or less. Till then, do share your quick and easy ways to declutter and organize the home.

Photo Credit: smemon87