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You tackle simplifying, organizing and decluttering challenges, step by step, in just 30 minutes a week. Break free of clutter - and save time, money and energy. Find out more.

Do you feel stressed just looking around your home or office?

If you’ve forgotten what your coffee table, countertop or desk looks like, then this organizing mission is for you.

Remember: you only need 30 minutes for the basic mission. Extended Options are below.
If you’re new, you might like to start here -> 52 Organizing Missions.

Get Organized Mission #39:
Declutter Your Surfaces

Step 1: Clear The Surfaces (5 minutes)

Let’s start by choosing an area to target.

In 30 minutes you could tackle one or more of these surfaces:

• Desk
• Kitchen counters
• Bathroom counters
• Coffee table
• Dining table
• Spare room floor.

Once you’ve picked your zone, remove everything from the surfaces and place all the items on the floor.

Step 2: Lose What You Don’t Need (5 minutes)

You knew this step would appear somewhere, didn’t you!

Scan your pile of items and put aside anything you can discard or donate.

Be ruthless. Your rewards for ruthlessness are clutter-free surfaces, visual calm and mental clarity. That’s a pretty good trade off, don’t you think?

Step 3: Put Things Away (5 minutes)

Of the remaining items, gather those that have a home, but have somehow migrated onto your surfaces and taken up residence there.

It’s time to send them back where they belong, so quickly return everything to its proper place.

Step 4: House The Homeless (15 minutes)

This is the hardest step – finding a home for things you do need, but don’t have a place for.

Here are some tips:

• Do these things end up on your surfaces because you need them in a handy location?
  –> Then give them a home in a nearby drawer or cupboard.
• Do they need you to take some action – perhaps a repair?
  –> Then put the action on your to-do list.
• Do they relate to a reminder – like a book to return?
  –> Then create a special zone for such items, perhaps in a cupboard or on a table by the door.
• Do they not fit in the proper place – say clothes that won’t squish into an overflowing closet?
  –> Then schedule another 30 minutes to revisit the relevant organizing mission (office? bedroom? closet? kitchen? bathroom?). Get rid of stuff you don’t love and make room for stuff you do.

Once you’ve found a home for those remaining items, you’ll be able to savor your surfaces.

Dos & Don’ts

• Do notice how good it feels to look around and see surfaces. Let that feeling motivate you to get rid of what you don’t need and put away what you do.
• Do keep select items – like photos or plants – to decorate the room or make you feel happy.
• Don’t let clutter pile up. Make a habit of tidying away surface clutter at the end of each day.

Extended Organizing Mission Options

Want to go beyond this 30-minute organizing mission?

• Include the family. Assign a surface to each family member, so you can clear the house together.
• Do the mission as a group. Get together several friends with clutter concerns and spend an afternoon going from house to house as a team of clutter-killers.

Ready, Set, Go!

Remember – move quickly, act fast, don’t overthink.

Start The 30-Minute Timer

Before You Go: Check In!

Please add a comment to say you’ve completed this week’s Get Organized Mission and you’re keeping your commitment.

And see you back here next week!

Organize Your Whole Life – With Life & Goal Organizer

Life & Goal Organizer is a 360-degree goal and life organizing system.
Like a personal coach, it helps you take charge of your goals, plans and life, one step at a time.

It’s unique in using the power of checklists and integrating them into an organic system of more than 150 goals and projects across 12 life areas.

By leading you step-by-step through this system of ready-made action plans, it’s an ingenious solution for organizing your time, your goals and your life.

Learn about Life & Goal Organizer.

[Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/m500/ / CC BY 2.0]

Related posts:

1. How To Declutter Your To-Do List [Organizing Mission #43]
2. Get Organized Mission #8: Declutter 50 Items
3. Organizing Mission #44: Live Within Your Home’s Boundaries