Throw It Out Thursday
Thursdays are for…
We’ve moved to Oklahoma y’all!
Sorry, I dropped off there for a while. My home was for sale, then I took it off the market, and then I was under contract. After a lot of tears and terrifying thoughts, I found a cute cute cute fixer upper in OK, and it’s been a whirlwind since I wrote last.
Throw It Out Thursday - Well, Monday’s, Tuesday’s, and Wednesday’s tasks have come and gone, and Thursday, if you have time, is for throwing out the trash that may be lying around, especially since today is Wednesday, December 25, 2024. What kind of trash am I talking about? When was the last time you purged your pantry or fridge? How much paper in your office can be filed, shredded, or recycled? When our living spaces are filled with useless items we can become blind to their existence and they will eventually become part of the background. This may lead to dust piling up and more clutter accumulating on top and then layers and more layers grow on top of the ones below. This may not be your situation, you might live with a less significant level of clutter than what I’ve described, but clutter is clutter, and it can steal your energy and joy.
‘Oh I’ll get to it, it’s not that big of a deal… really, I can find whatever I need because I know where everything is.’ These are some of the comments I get from clients when I address the cluttered surfaces in their homes, and then once we start categorizing the items in their piles they say, ‘I’ve been looking for that forever.” They also get to see how many things they had to buy over and over because they couldn’t find the first one they’d purchased.
Clutter doesn’t lie!
The goal is to only buy it once and then give it a permanent spot in your home. By regularly recycling junk mail, throwing out broken gadgets, keeping surfaces cleared off, and essential items away, nothing is lost or forgotten. You’ll save money and time and gain mental clarity and the freedom of knowing what is where. Shoes will be paired and only the clothing you love AND wear will be hanging in your closet. Vital documents, spark plugs, batteries, scissors, recipes, your favorite high school t-shirt, tools, and the necklace your grandmother gave you, all will be in a special spot that you have memorized in your mind because you’ve thrown out the trash and removed the insignificant and never used items from your home. (If you’re a judgy reader, and you scoff at the untidy lifestyle, I hope if you’ve read this far you’ve realized this website isn’t for you!)
Throw It Out Thursday can be done any day of the week, for any duration of time, and you can throw out as much or as little as you choose. You can schedule it on your calendar like you would an oil change or a dentist appointment. You can call a friend while you do it to keep you on track. You can adopt a regular throwing-out party with your family. You can throw out this tip if it doesn’t resonate. You can leave a comment on the blog if you’ve found it helpful. All habits, good and bad, are determined by what’s important to you. If you want a new way of life, throw out the past (useless items), and nurture the present (everything clean and put away), so that your future won’t be bogged down with regret of any kind.
In light of keeping these tips short and sweet, my only purpose for writing them is to express that keeping your home clutter-free can be simple and easy if you initially break down the process into bite-sized steps. Once your whole home has been decluttered, keeping it maintained will be comparatively effortless.