2023 12 Days of Organizing

SK Simple Solutions’ The 12 Days of Organizing by Donating, Getting Rid of, or Keeping our Treasures!

12 hundred corks, 11 missing flip flops, 10 funny erasers, 9 piles of papers, 8 jars of dried goods, 7 old sharpeners, 6 Halloween tags, 5 paper bags, 4 shelves of linens, 3 snake skins, 2 festive pillows, and just 30 minutes organizing every day!

12 Days, 30 minutes each day, decide what to donate, get rid of, or keep!

We are on a journey to change our clutter behavior to reduce what we buy, reuse what we have, and treasure & display our collectibles!

Let’s look at the first 4 days of organizing.

Set a specific goal for Days 1-4

SK's goals for days 1-4: pillows, collectibles/snake skins, linens,

DAY 1

On the first day Organizing

My personal organizer said to me,

Just 30 minutes to declutter every day!

For the next 12 days commit to organizing 30 minutes.

On the second day of Organizing,

My organizer said to me

Donate 2 festive pillows

DAY #2 We have 30 minutes. Goal gently used festive pillows.

Make 3 piles; donations, throw away, KEEP
Set the timer: 30 minutes
Go

Search through closets, drawers, attic, or garage for all your pillows. Lay them out on the floor. First, take the ones that are dated or ragged and put into a bag. Second, find those that you haven’t used in more than a year and put them into the bag. Any old sleeping pillow is best just thrown away. Finally decide which ones to keep. Take the donation bag to the garage immediately.

Goal---pillows, festive pillows, fun pillows

On the third day of Organizing

My organizer said to me

Donate 3 snake skins.

DAY #3 We have 30 minutes. Goal: Collectibles

Now if you don’t collect snake skins** then look at other things you have collected; erasers, salt/pepper shakers, marbles etc. Collections are meant to be displayed. However, sometimes what you used to collect doesn’t interest you anymore. So, pack it up and donate it. Let someone else enjoy it! Or take out something you collected and display it! Use shadow boxes, floating shelves, glass containers. If you decide to display a new collection then retire another displayed collection. Pack it up and store it or donate it.

**No snakes were harmed. Skins were collected in the fields where snake shed their skins.

Retire the Collection—there’s no spark, old, torn etc.—Donate it and let someone else enjoy it!

Pack & Store Collection—yes, keep it, but not displayed
Display it Better—remove all from case, shelf etc. dust, reposition all pieces.
Display a new collection—something packed & stored & now displayed.

How did you do these first 4 days? 30 minutes to declutter is feasible.

Set a specific organizing goal. Focus on that specific item. Use the 30 minutes to sort and evaluate what to donate, throw away, and KEEP. Put it all into a plastic bag, take it to the garage for donations, NOW! Celebrate!