Try Micro-Cleaning When Cleaning Is Too Tedious
For some people, cleaning and organizing brings liberation, relaxation, or even pleasure. For others, it is overwhelming and only gets worse when the aversion to it outweighs the motivation to do it, resulting in more and more turmoil that demands attention. Some cleaning and organizing techniques are designed for people in this first category, those who have the attention span and the drive to take on a big project right away. For all others, the methods need some modification. If you’re struggling with feeling overwhelmed, try micro-decluttering.
What is micro-decluttering?
The term “micro-decluttering” has been around for a while now in blog cleanup , and while the phrase is new, the idea is pretty well understood: instead of decluttering everything at once, choose small sections to work on.
So, instead of promising to clean your bathroom in a day, focus on your first aid kit. Instead of cleaning your bedroom, go to your closet or nightstand. Instead of cleaning out the kitchen, look at the refrigerator or silverware drawer. Obviously, you’ll master all the “micro” spaces in these rooms, but you don’t have to do it all at once. Rather, you can actually improve on a small section, enjoy the sense of accomplishment it brings, see immediate results, and test yourself to see if you have the ability to quickly complete the next section.
How to micro-declutter
To get rid of clutter, find a system that works for you. You can devote one day to small sections of individual rooms, working on each room for about a week, or you can switch from room to room each time you clean. This is like a modified version of the ski slope method , which requires you to clean in a zigzag pattern rather than going straight across the room. The good thing about micro-decluttering is that it can be done in a more dosed manner. You can space out your sessions to suit your needs, reducing overwhelming feelings. If you don’t think that’s too much, try setting up a schedule so that you complete at least one microsection per day and get a little structure around the plan to help you stay on track.
Try taking before and after photos of small areas you’re working on to increase your sense of accomplishment. Being able to see results will go a long way towards motivating you. As rooms start to get cleaner, the entire room will gradually follow suit, giving you an even bigger boost. Over time, you will be able to create larger partitions or multiple partitions at the same time.
As with any attempt to declutter, be sure to put everything into four piles: save, throw away, donate and sell. To make things easier, grab a set of stackable boxes . Every time you finish a micro-section, be sure to clear out the boxes, moving the things you’ve been storing into their proper places, throwing everything out of the trash pile, and preparing the rest for donation and sale. Don’t let anything linger and hinder your progress. Then continue at your own pace, gradually completing sections until the work is complete.