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Do you look around your house and see piles of clutter you want gone, but you’re unsure where to start? You obviously want all of those piles to disappear, but you don’t want to spend the next week making it happen. It would sure be nice if you could organize it in 10 minutes instead, right?
With all this extra time with quarantine, you decide to just do it. Maybe you even chose a room to start in. Perfect!
But what next? The secret to getting started…is starting small!
Here are 25 things you can organize in 10 minutes or less.
1 | Dirty Clothes
Do you have dirty clothes all over the floor? Pick them up and put them in the hamper. Boom. One thing done.
2 | Laundry Pile
Want to really take care of those dirty clothes? Wash it. Dry it. Fold it then put it all up!
3 | Mail Pile
If you’re anything like me, you’ve got a stack of mail filed somewhere just begging for attention. Sort by keep, recycle, shred to take care of it quick.
4 | Paper Pile
Again, like me – you might have several of these around the house (cough my desk cough) but just start with one.
Quick tip: Organize into two piles – keep and toss. Then go through the keep pile and categorize again into groups – important documents, work, school, etc. Then take a good look at your piles and set up a filing system to prevent more from piling up again!
5 | The “Dump” Zone
You know, the part of the house where everybody just throws their stuff right after they come through the door? For us that’s our dining table. Take 10 minutes to put things back where they belong, throw away any trash, and wipe it all down when you’re done.
6 | TV Remotes
Is everybody searching for the TV remote all the time? I know I am! My husband had a horrible habit of bringing it around the house with him, or it would be trapped between the couch cushions.
Designate a spot where your remotes will permanently live and USE IT. I use a handy tray on the coffee table and it works wonders!
7 | Keys
Always losing your keys? Hang a hook next to the door or place them in a pretty bowl on the entry table. These Command Hooks are perfect for just that!
8| Shoe Pile
Can’t get through your door because of the massive pile of shoes? Or have a place everyone seems to dump their shoes in their room? Organize them with a cute basket or over-the-door organizer.
9 | Bags + Backpacks
Everybody’s bags all over the place? I have a terrible habit of hanging them off any chair I can! To help with this, find a wall space, grab some more Command Hooks and give them a place to go.
10 | Dirty Dishes
Sink full? Just go ahead and do those dishes. It’s one of those things that will only get worse the longer you leave them, so you might as well get them done!
11 | Expired Makeup
It’s time to say goodbye to that eye shadow palette from high school and all of those unused “freebies” you have piled up. Use this post to help you figure out what needs to go.
12 | Toys
Grab a basket and walk around the house picking up out of place toys. For us that means lots and lots of dog toys, but it works great for kid toys as well!
13 | Receipts
Somehow, mine end up all over the house, covering desks, cluttering up your purse, or forming random piles on the kitchen counter.
Collect them all and just like with your paper piles, categorize them up in separate boxes for easy access. If you have some extra time, scan them on to your computer, file away digitally, and get rid of all that paper clutter!
14 | Junk Drawer
Ah yes. THE drawer. We all have them somewhere collecting a random hodgepodge of stuff. Ours is in our kitchen and contains lighters, batteries, appliance books, and a ton of other random stuff at any given time. Clear. It. Out.
- Take everything out
- Wipe out drawer
- Separate things that need to go somewhere else from anything you want to keep in that drawer
- Group like items in your “Keep” pile
- Use handy drawer organizers, small boxes, or other random containers to divide up the drawer
- Place items back in drawer using containers
- Keep organized!
15 | Expired Meds or First Aid Cabinet
Although you’ll have to make sure you dispose of your expired meds the right way, it won’t take long to declutter them in the meantime. Go through your medicine cabinets an get rid of any that have expired meds, or organize your whole first aid cabinet!
16 | Batteries
My favorite way to organize batteries? Using these small 3 drawer units with a little label or if you have a spare drawer use drawer organizers to group like ones together.
17 | To-Do List
Write down your list of things to do, then choose one thing to prioritize.
18 | Sock Drawer
Toss the socks that have holes or don’t have matches. Use spare boxes or construct some cardboard dividers to keep them organized instead of piled up.
19 | Fold like KonMari
Learn how to fold your clothes like KonMari, pick a dresser drawer, and get started!
20 | Your Phone Apps
Did you know you can sort your apps into sections on your phone? Sort by type, color, alphabet, whatever your heart desires.
21 | Your Phone Photos
Stop running out of room on your phone. Download a photo organizing app like Google Photos to always have a backup.
22 | Bathroom Cabinet
An easy way to organize oral care items, hair items, nail polish, soaps, etc are to put them in separate bins or drawers. Use what you have and paint leftover boxes to keep things aesthetically pleasing, head to your local dollar store for a bargain organizational find, or use one of my favorites – Amazon, Target, or The Container Store.
23 | Meal Master List
My absolute favorite thing! Make a list of all your family’s favorite meals so you have ideas when it’s time to plan dinner.
24 | Declutter the Refrigerator
There’s a study that shows a correlation between the amount of clutter stuck to your fridge to the amount of clutter in your life. Yikes. Pare down the fridge clutter to only the most important and relevant stuff, that way you can have less clutter in your house.
25 | Food Storage Containers
Somehow our food containers end up missing a half – remove all the containers without a lid and the lids without a container. Stack like containers together along with their lids, and tetris them together in your cabinet or drawer.
That’s 25 easy things you can organize in 10 minutes or less. The most important thing is to get started!
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