KonMari this, KonMari that. It’s all over the internet right now. There’s no escaping the Japanese decluttering wizardry of Marie Kondo that’s taking the Netflix-watching world by storm.
But what if you’re a busy, tired ass mama, who just doesn’t have time to roll everything you own into a little ball and check whether it sparks joy?
Especially if you have a rogue child on the loose who makes a game out of unrolling everything you’ve just rolled. Or declaring that they suddenly LOVE everything you are trying to toss. We hear you mamas. And we’ve got you covered.
Presenting our top five Mum Central tips for getting organised, the easy way.
The 5 Steps to Decluttering for Real Mums
1. Sort out tasks into categories
This helpful technique will make you feel on top of things and get you all ready to start decluttering. We suggest: things to do later; things I probably won’t do; things I definitely won’t do.
Bonus tip: including a ‘things I’ve already done’ category means you can tick stuff off before you even start. Excellent. Make sure you write your lists on a nice piece of paper that you can lose later.
2. The art of re-gifting
Got a bunch of junk taking up space? Most likely it’s posh smellies in your bathroom. Maybe a candle. Or some sort of cream. Someone gave you them for your birthday once, but you’re never going to use them. They’re just going to sit there, in your posh smelly pile. Forever. Am I right? YES. The decluttering answer? Regift! Then they can go and live happily ever after in someone else’s posh smelly pile AND you’ve saved money! #winning.
WARNING. Do NOT regift to the person who gave it to you. I hear that’s bad.
3. Does it smell funny? Are there holes in it?
These are more reasonable questions to ask yourself when decluttering your wardrobe. Not all of us can afford to toss everything that doesn’t spark joy. I mean, I need to keep SOME clothes. I can’t just live in my fat pants for the rest of my life… can I?
4. Have a garage sale
This is a great way to get rid of all the crap you’ve bought at garage sales.
5. Put everything in a ‘safe place.’
This basically guarantees you will never see it again.
Completed all these decluttering steps? Congratulations! You’ve graduated from the Mum Central School of Decluttering! Here’s a little medal and a nice certificate for you. Now go and find a place for it, somewhere in your lovely, tidy house.
Once your little people have finished messing up everything you’ve just un-messed, why not make them help you clean it up again? Here are 7 simple chores your toddler can do to help at home!
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