365 Less Things

Reducing our stuff one day at a time.

Mini Mission Monday ~ A room a day

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Mini Mission Monday is about finding ten minutes a day to declutter. To make it easy for you, each Monday I set seven declutter missions, one for each day of the week for you to follow. It takes the guess work out of decluttering and makes it easy and “fun” for you to achieve some quick decluttering.

This week’s mini missions should be easy. All you have to do is fine one item per room per day. If you have a small apartment maybe that will be one item per space per day. I will name the room/space and all you have to do is find one item in that area to declutter. It can be anything. How simple is that? If I mention an area you don’t have in your home then choose an alternative of your own.

Monday – Declutter something from a bedroom.

Tuesday - Declutter something from your kitchen.

Wednesday - Declutter something from your bathroom.

Thursday - Declutter something from your living room.

Friday - Declutter something from your dining area.

Saturday - Declutter something from your basement, attic or garage.

Sunday - Sunday is reserved for contemplating one particular item, of your choice that is proving difficult for you to declutter. Whether that be for sentimental reasons, practical reasons, because the task is laborious or simply unpleasant, or because the items removal requires the cooperation of another person. That last category may mean that the item belongs to someone else who has to give their approval, it could also mean there is a joint decision to be made or it could mean that the task of removing it requires assistance from someone else. There is no need to act on this contemplation immediately, it is more about formulating a plan to act upon or simply making a decision one way or another.

Good luck and happy decluttering

Today’s Declutter Item

I hadn’t used this muffin pan for a while and was surprised to find it all rusty. The combo of rust and rare use made it an easy decision to let it go. I have another option should I decide to make another batch of choc chip muffins.

Rusty Old Muffin Pan

Eco Tip for the Day

 Watch less television. Find something to do for amusement that doesn’t require electricity in place of at least one session of your weekly television viewing. This of course will only work if the television gets turned off and not watched by someone else in the family. Perhaps you could instigate an old fashioned games night.

It matters not how fast I go, I hurry faster when I’m slow

Comments

  1. I like the sounds of this week’s mini missions, nice and simple but lots of room to clear out stuff.

    • I love a good balance between the mini-missions being very finite one week & broad brush-strokes the next. Sometimes these nice & simple mini-missions does wonders to help me find my focus, but then again, some weeks I need the very very exacting directions to make any headway.
      While I’m getting pretty darn close to being done with active decluttering (then I move to the “maintenance phase”), I’m still amazed at how many items have eluded me thus far &/or managed to make it under my decluttering radar.
      I have a special tool kit for carving real pumpkins. Never mind that I’ve never actually used it or have any intentions to ever use it….but I’ve looked through my holiday stuff a zillion times & that carving kit has always made the cut (no puns intended). Anyways, I woke up one night last week for no other reason than to consciously remind myself to finally donate that carvng kit. Which is now in the trunk of my car awaiting yet another trip to the donation store tomorrow.

      • Hi Jane I am glad you appreciate the variety of the mini missions. If I made it this easy every week I may as well not bother because my readers should already be doing the no-brainer missions without my prompting.

        Your talk of getting rid of holiday clutter reminds me that I might unpack and photograph my nativity scene and list it for sale. It is a challenge to find a place to set it up in this smaller house. Since my home is only likely to get smaller there will come a time when it won’t fit at all. I also takes up a lot of room in the garage for the other eleven months of the year.

  2. Ok, I have to give it a try again. Something from each room shouldn’t be too hard. I just have to get rid of this “but I don’t have that kind of item, and that too, and that” when decluttering becomes a torture itself.

    • Hi Anda, I would say ~ don’t let not having certain items on the mini missions be a torture . Look on the positive side and think “How wonderful, I don’t have any of those.” Change that negative into a positive and then find something else to declutter. It’s all in the attitude my friend.

  3. More clothes out! I have two ironing boards one stands up and one is more of a traveling board. I am thinking about getting rid of the travel one. It never gets used, but wish it would go to a place that could really use..it’s like brand new. Lisa

    • Hi Lisa, good choice to get rid of the travel ironing board. If it isn’t being used it is just wasting space. I dare say someone who lives in a small space would find it very useful. Try listing it on freecycle or donate it to a thrift shop.

      Don’t be too concerned about finding the perfect home for it. The fact that you have barely ever used it indicates that you didn’t put this much thought into buying it in the first place. So don’t make letting it go be such a challenge. Just release it out there and I am sure someone who wants it will acquire it.

  4. I think I’ll tackle a box in each room! We’ve been here almost a year and still have unpacked moving boxes. There’s sure to be something it each box that will be ripe for the picking.

  6. I like the idea of a gentle decluttering sweep around the house. It should also help with reflecting on which areas of the house have the most clutter. I know at least two of these rooms in my house are already decluttered but others need much more work. Thanks for the motivation xo