{"id":3569,"date":"2015-01-12T16:07:12","date_gmt":"2015-01-12T21:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/runningahousehold.com\/?p=3569"},"modified":"2015-01-12T16:08:00","modified_gmt":"2015-01-12T21:08:00","slug":"finding-motivtion-declutter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runningahousehold.com\/?p=3569","title":{"rendered":"Finding the Motivation to Declutter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Do you know what needs to be done, but can\u2019t seem to get it done?\u00a0 Are you lacking the motivation to get going?\u00a0 Sometimes the projects can seem overwhelming in size, when actually they are not that bad.<\/p>\n<h3>Getting motivated<\/h3>\n<p>I recently converted a storage room into a playroom for the kids.\u00a0 Initially I was excited about the idea.\u00a0 Honestly, I wasn\u2019t even sure where to start.\u00a0 The room as it was, appeared completely overwhelming.\u00a0 If there was so much stuff, where would it go?\u00a0 But if I could declutter and make the space a useable playroom, it would be worth it.\u00a0 The end result was my motivation. So, when it comes to decluttering, it doesn&#8217;t matter where you start.\u00a0 It is\u00a0more important to just start.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/runningahousehold.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Clutter-Just-Start.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3572\" src=\"https:\/\/runningahousehold.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Clutter-Just-Start-300x231.jpg\" alt=\"When it comes to decluttering, it doesn't matter where you start.  It is more important to just start.\" width=\"300\" height=\"231\" srcset=\"https:\/\/runningahousehold.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Clutter-Just-Start-300x231.jpg 300w, https:\/\/runningahousehold.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Clutter-Just-Start-624x482.jpg 624w, https:\/\/runningahousehold.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Clutter-Just-Start.jpg 792w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Assessing the Clutter<\/h3>\n<p>As I looked around, I found things we no longer needed to keep:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Old papers, bills, and statements, unused checks<\/li>\n<li>Baby toys<\/li>\n<li>Tvs<\/li>\n<li>Stereo equipment and speakers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By grouping the items, it made the project more manageable.<\/p>\n<h3>Picking a Starting Point<\/h3>\n<p>Once I assessed the situation, I felt better.\u00a0 I picked my starting point with the paper.\u00a0 Ours was contained in white file boxes.\u00a0 I went through one a day, and kept very little.\u00a0 What did I do with all of the paper with personal information on it?\u00a0 Although we have a shredder, it would have taken me weeks to feed each piece in one at a time.\u00a0 Luckily, I read that there would be a paper shredding event in our town at the end of the month.<\/p>\n<h3>Setting a Deadline<\/h3>\n<p>So, I gave myself two weeks to go through 10 boxes of paper.\u00a0 (I know.\u00a0 I can&#8217;t believe there were 10 white storage boxes of paper!)\u00a0 After recycling some of the paper, and combining the remainder, I was down to 5 boxes.\u00a0 Then I just drove these boxes over to the site, and put them in one large blue recycling trash can.\u00a0 I brought the kids, and they loved watching the can go up into the truck.\u00a0 There was even a tv screen on the outside of the truck so you could confirm your papers were being shredded.<\/p>\n<p>Next, I gathered all of the baby items we were not using and put them in my laundry room.\u00a0 My plan is to bring some items to the consignment store, give some things to friends, and donate the rest.\u00a0 Honestly, I made a mess in my laundry room.\u00a0\u00a0 However I chose this area because I knew it would bother me to keep them stored in this room.\u00a0 By looking at the baby items every day for a week, I was motivated to deal with the items and get rid of them one way or another.<\/p>\n<p>So the storage room has been decluttered.\u00a0 Stay tuned for how I planned and organized the playroom. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<h3>Preventing the Clutter from Coming Back<\/h3>\n<p>When it comes to all of the paper we had, I found that it was mostly old bills and statements.\u00a0 We have since gone paperless to reduce the amount of paper coming into our home.\u00a0 So we now receive\u00a0these items via email, or can access banking statements on-line.<\/p>\n<p>To read more about how to go paperless, click on the link to read our article: \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/runningahousehold.com\/?p=123\" target=\"_blank\">Do You Still Receive Bills and Statements in the Mail? How to Go Paperless<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Ready to get started on your clutter?\u00a0 Next Steps<\/h3>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">1.\u00a0 Read the following article, \u00a0where you will find our free printables to help you get started, and tips on getting organized.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/runningahousehold.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Decluttering-Signs.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-thumbnail wp-image-3357\" src=\"https:\/\/runningahousehold.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Decluttering-Signs-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Decluttering Signs\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/runningahousehold.com\/?p=3339\" target=\"_blank\">How to Declutter Your Home &#8211; Once and For All<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">You won\u2019t want to miss a thing, so be sure to join us in the following ways:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">2.\u00a0 Sign up by entering your e-mail address.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">3.\u00a0 Join us on Pinterest:\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/pinterest.com\/runningahouse\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you know what needs to be done, but can\u2019t seem to get it done?\u00a0 Are you lacking the motivation to get going?\u00a0 Sometimes the projects can seem overwhelming in size, when actually they are not that bad. Getting motivated I recently converted a storage room into a playroom for the kids.\u00a0 Initially I was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[163],"tags":[923,924,884,925],"class_list":["post-3569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-organization","tag-finding-motivation-to-declutter","tag-get-motivated-to-declutter","tag-how-to-declutter","tag-making-a-playroom"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Finding the Motivation to Declutter - Running A Household<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/runningahousehold.com\/?p=3569\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Finding the Motivation to Declutter - Running A Household\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do you know what needs to be done, but can\u2019t seem to get it done?\u00a0 Are you lacking the motivation to get going?\u00a0 Sometimes the projects can seem overwhelming in size, when actually they are not that bad. 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