Get the Junk Outta Your Trunk

When tackling your spring cleaning, remember that you don’t have to get it all done in one day—you just have to get it done.

Before I knew it, Christmas and New Year’s had come and gone, and by the time Valentine’s Day rolled around, I knew a spring cleaning was imminent.

Every time I open the back of my closet, the same boot falls out every time. And when I search for something in the kitchen drawer (otherwise known as the junk drawer), I have to forcefully shove things back in the drawer to get it shut.

As for all of my papers, letters and receipts—they’ve spread out to neat little piles in every corner of the house. Yikes.

The more I looked at all the hidden clutter, the more I wanted to avoid it. It was like trying to hold a big ball underwater.

I wanted some sort of magic motivation or absurdly easy process, so I did some Internet research.

But the bottom line is that no matter how many ways there are to get started and how many ways to get organized, you just need to find what inspires, and dig in.

So I did.

Although I started out small with my refrigerator, I felt a great sense of accomplishment when I was finished.

I decided I would concentrate on one thing and do it well. So I went to town, even cleaning the caps of the condiments and underneath the vegetable drawers.

Every inch of my refrigerator sparkled from top to bottom, and it gave me the magic motivation I had been looking for.

I used that motivation to confront something else that had bothered me for weeks— my baseboards.

I have no idea if other people even look, but lately, the thin line of dust that runs along the top of the baseboards has been nagging at me.

So I took some cleaner and, one by one, cleaned all the baseboards in my house. It felt good.

The biggest obstacle to all this clutter was my mental trepidation.

Procrastination was burying me deeper into the clutter, and my mind was keeping me there. In essence, putting it off was causing me more stress.

Some studies show that having a cluttered home can cause a consistent low-grade stress that slowly drains your energy.

I realized this was part of my struggle—not wanting to live with my clutter and being too overwhelmed to tackle it. 

Working that first small project gave me the influx of energy I needed to get to the next.

There are some great sites for tips to organizing, and just the process of reading them can be inspiring.

I also found that clearing the clutter can really pay off. Literally.

When I got to my dresser and began extracting clothes I hadn’t worn in ages, I felt the crinkle of paper underneath a shirt. Bingo. I found $40 I had tucked away months ago.

My suspicion is that many of you moms struggle with just the thought of spring cleaning after working, cooking, cleaning, carpooling and looking after the children all day.

That’s why my encouragement is to choose one thing to work on each day.

Opening my junk drawer and not having to wrestle to get it shut makes me feel less stress.

Knowing that I’m making my load lighter each day relieves anxiety and motivates me.

I refuse to look at the “whole” picture; I just break it down into chunks and take it one drawer, one cupboard and one closet at a time.

Note: Here are three interesting sites you can use to make the most out of your old goods.