Spring Clean finale!

Day11-Playroom/Rec Room

First, the top of the room-dust cobwebs, lampshades, light fixtures and wall decorations.  10 mintutes.

Start by going through the stuff and toys.  Go through shelf by shelf. Work top to bottom, left to right so you don’t miss anything.  You’ll need a couple piles: Give away, trash (a bag), fix/needs batteries/lost piece (if you can’t fix or don’t find all the pieces by the end of all this, these need to be given up on and thrown away).  As you take the toys out of cabinets and shelves, wipe down the shelves. Pull them back from the wall when one unit is done and give a wipe to the wall and clean the floor and baseboards behind them… you’ll be surprised what you find… probably some missing puzzle pieces or those keys that went missing a few months ago!  This will take most of the time. 2 hours to 2 days!

Office

Start by clearing surfaces and removing anything that belongs elsewhere, especially if your office is your home’s dumping ground/storage J  Next, consider doing Julie’s paper challenge.  Go through your file cabinet, inbox, any filing papers. Go through all files.  Get rid of anything you no longer need, bills over a year old, tax return files over 7 years.  File anything “to be filed” and shred anything sensitive or put in a paper bag to take somewhere to have shredded, recycle anything not sensitive. 30 minutes to 5 hours.

Dust corners for cobwebs, light fixtures, wall decorations.  Dust or wash the window blinds.  Wash the window, take vinegar, Q-tips and a rag to the window slide and wash the sill. 30 minutes.

Working left to right, top to bottom go through your office.  Get rid of anything that does not belong in your office. Put it in a basket or box and everytime it fills up, take 5 minutes and put things away where they belong.  Check your supplies… Do you have enough/the right amount of office supplies-pens, pencils, paperclips, printer paper, printer inks, etc?  If you are in need of items, make a list and put it in the car so the next time you are out you can stop and pickup what you need. If you have too much, donate or give to a friend who may need them. 30 minutes

If you haven’t filed your taxes, go through your tax file and see what’s missing and organize what’s in there-income items in the front of the file, expenses in the back. 10 minutes

Tackle your inbox-take action where needed-write down appointments, send e-mails.  Recycle anything you no longer need and then get a few envelopes, clips or file folders and mark “keep handy” for things you need at your fingertips; “to do” for items that require action beyond your office; file anything to file, since you already went through your file cabinet.  Have a divider; bright paper or cardboard and put it on top, then you know what items are new in your inbox. Consider having a time each week set aside to go through new items and to do items so you don’t get bogged down. 30 minutes

Kid stuff.  Any art projects, writings, etc.  Once a month or semester scan the ones that you love or take a picture if they are big. Then, I give you permission to pitch that sucker.  Your welcome.  20-60 minutes depending on backup

Magazines and books-anything you aren’t currently reading goes in a too be read pile. Think about where you read periodicals-in the bathroom? In the car while waiting?  Stick a few in that spot.  If you have a huge pile consider recycling anything over say 3-6 months old. If you haven’t read it by now, chances are you aren’t going to.  Round up books from the library and designate a spot for them so they don’t get lost.  Any that have been read put in the car to return next time you are out. 10 minutes.

Digital files-oh, my, this could take awhile.  Start with your e-mail… all accounts.  Your regular e-mail, delete any e-mails you no longer need, make file folders for regular categories, but during this cleaning go through each folder and clean out items that are no longer relevant.  Take action or flag items needing attention, UNSUBSCRIBE to lists you no longer want to be on.  File e-mails by category that you need to save but don’t need to refer to on a daily basis.

Now tackle any junk or work e-mail accounts.  Then move on to your Facebook messages.  Time may vary.

Next your computer.  Think about all the places files are stored….. desktop, external hard drive or two, c: drive, cloud, etc. Tackle one at a time.  If you open it and it’s just a huge list of files, make file folders! For example, I have one called “household” for cleaning routines, school stuff, library numbers, etc. one for business, one for clients, one for pictures, etc.  Go through and delete anything you no longer use and file away files you need so you can find them. You should be able to find any file in 5 minutes.  If something gives no clue to what it is by the file name, right click on it and RENAME to something that makes sense!  Start on your desktop, then harddrive on your computer, then externals and online storage.  THIS is the time to make a plan to do a backup. If it’s going to take awhile, consider setting it for overnight (change your power settings so your computer doesn’t turn off in the middle) but make sure it gets done. If you don’t backup during spring cleaning you probably won’t!  You’ll thank me later. Time may vary.

Crafting or Hobbies-

This could take awhile as well.  Start going through supplies with recycle bin, garbage, donate bin and any extra storage bins you may be able to use.  Start with the largest pile. For me it’s scrapbook paper, for you it may be fabric. Sort through once for what you want to keep v. get rid of then get some labels and organize what you have in a way that makes sense… by color, theme, etc.  Then move to the next group and so on. I can’t give you much more detail than that since your hobbies may vary. But go through with the idea of making it so that you can find what you are looking for in just a few minutes. Label any drawers/bins you can’t see through.  Put things you use more often within arm’s reach, anything you use less often can be stored elsewhere, think about storage in vertical terms… go up that wall!

Hopefully by now your office/craft/hobby space is uncluttered. Dust and wipe surfaces, vacuum and steam clean or mop if necessary.