Spring Cleaning & Clearing

Disorganized Drawer          Neat drawer

We were very fortunate to have a mild winter! This coming Saturday night, we turn back the clocks by one hour; a sure sign of spring. Yippy!

With the approach of spring it’s getting to be that time again to clean the home, and get rid of items you no longer use or need.

This past weekend I looked through files and drawers in my office, and removed outdated documents to be shredded, papers to recycle, and small decorative items I no longer like or use. I took the papers to be shredded to the Staples Office Store. They have secure locked bins they put your documents into, and a secure Iron Mountain Shredding truck picks them up to shred at their facility. I will bring the office and decorative items I don’t want anymore to Goodwill for others to enjoy and make use of. As for cleaning, I will do my weekly chores as well as a more thorough cleaning of the apartment.

Have you begun your cleaning and organizing for spring?

Here are some tips I offered from last year’s blog post to help you get started:

1.  Thoroughly clean one room each week. If your home isn’t too big, this should take you to the end of April. Vacuum, dust, rearrange furniture, purge, and organize the stuff in each room. This week, I continue to un-clutter and clean my office space.

2.  Sort through one shelf, drawer, box, cabinet and bin at a time. Keep it simple, so you do not get overwhelmed. I have sorted through and organized a drawer I keep nail polishing items, Band-Aids, over-the-counter meds, and other small toiletries in (see before and after photos of drawer above.) Yes, I let it get out of hand. But, it’s never too late to take control of your clutter.

3.   Practice the age old expression: ‘When in doubt, throw it out’.  If I don’t love, need, use, or want an item, I throw it out! Or, give it away, or recycle it.

4.  Don’t spend money, be creative and re-purpose the containers you already have! Look around and you will most likely find empty boxes, canvas shopping bags, or plastic containers for storage. I’ve been using my plastic covered containers as needed. You can also sort through and purge any full containers you have to make them re-usable. Perhaps you can use old ice cube trays, tiny cardboard boxes, or empty egg cartons for storing jewelry or other small items.

5.   Take a few minutes before work or after work to recycle plastics, wash a counter, sweep the floor. You’ll be pleasantly surprised that life will be easier if you take on this task each day. Yesterday , I cleaned the dish drain tray, which took about five minutes.

6.  Don’t worry about following someone else’s system for cleaning/organizing. Use the system that works for you. My way may be different from yours.

7.  And, make a promise to yourself to not procrastinate. Get it done! I’m a big procrastinator, but when I get a household task or organizing project accomplished, I feel great!

Do you have any TIPS for spring cleaning/organizing that work for you? I’d love to hear about them.

 

 

 

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