Toss It Out Tuesday

Looking for the most recent Toss It Out Tuesday? Barbies. I had fun with this one.

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What’s hiding in your closet, lurking under  your bed, in your drawers, bins, boxes and bags?

Clutter.
Junk.

Stuff you don’t use, don’t need, and possibly never even wanted.

It’s time to let it go (cue Idina Menzel), and to help provide a little motivation and inspiration, join me on my new mission, Toss It Out Tuesday!

Toss It Out Tuesday

Starting next Tuesday, January 6th, and continuing every Tuesday in January, I’ll invite you to share what you are ready to toss out of your own space.

As you’ll see, “toss” doesn’t necessarily mean out of the home – it could just be out of the space you’re working in, so it can go into its permanent home in another room.

Tips to help get started with Toss It Out Tuesday:

1. Find six boxes, bins or bags you can use to toss into. You don’t need to buy anything in order to begin. Puh-lease! Your bins don’t need to be all matchy-matchy in red gingham because it gives you a happy feeling as you declutter. That’s not the point. Grab three of the bazillion reusable bags you own and forget to actually bring in to the grocery store (uh-huh, I know you have them), and tear a couple of sheets of paper into six strips, and write in big bold caps the categories below.
2. Place these bags or bins in an area of your home that you’ll see, nearly trip over, but still tucked out of the way a bit in case of company. Because let’s face it, YOU know you have a clutter problem, but we still want to fake it ’til we make it {disappear}, right? The point is, you want it to be slightly in-your-face every day, so you can remember your Toss It Out goal.

Here are the 6 labels for tossing into:

• Donate – Use a cardboard box, trash bag or other disposable container so you can easily drop off the whole thing at Goodwill or another organization without having to transfer your items out of a container you wish to keep.

• Move – This is for those items that aren’t in their permanent “homes” within your home. If you have a large family with young kids, this may be your largest box! Those toys that end up in your bedroom, the 23 pairs of shoes dropped by the garage door … you get the gist.

• File – Any papers you come across that need to be filed, or even magazines you want to read later, are tossed in here.

• Sell – With three growing kids in my house, this box gets filled up the most often. Use a plastic tote with a lid, because this will be a consistent in-and-out container. Whether you’re packing away for your garage sale, a children’s consignment sale or you want to sell in a Facebook marketplace group, tuck your goods here and pull out when you’re ready to sell.

• Recycle – Again, use a recyclable bag or box to avoid yourself the step of having to transfer your contents.

• Trash – If you could see my daughter’s dresser, among the ponytails, earrings and scented lotions you’ll find Jolly Rancher wrappers, scraps of papers she’s folded into a little face and named “Evan” (don’t even ask), tissues (used – blehhh) and who knows what else. You’ll definitely need a bag labeled Trash.

A little incentive

I am really hoping Toss It Out Tuesday will be motivating for you, as I know it will be for me! Even the fact that I’m writing these words, wheels are spinning in my head over all the possibilities around my house.

To help encourage your commitment and engagement, at the end each week’s Toss It Out Tuesday post (starting next week) you’ll have the opportunity to leave a comment, sharing what you tossed out that week (into any of the categories above). All who comment on each week’s post, will be entered to win a fun prize.

Sound fun? Let’s get tossing!

Action Items

• Over the next couple of days, find 2-3 empty Amazon boxes, a large tote with lid, and a few large empty shopping bags. Label each one Donate, Move, File, Sell, Recycle and Trash.
• Choose the room, or area within a room (such as a bedroom closet) that you want to tackle first.
• Have your bags and boxes ready, head to that space and set a timer (on your smartphone might be easy) for 5, 10 or 15 minutes. If you only have 5 minutes, then power through at a faster rate to get more done.
• Be ready for the next Toss It Tuesday post next week on January 6th, and share in a comment what you tossed. Where did you toss it? Which box was most full?
• BONUS entry into the January drawing … send me a photo of your labeled boxes, bags and bins ready for tossing (like this one, above) to ann-marie (at) chaosisbliss (dot) com. I’ll post my favorites in an upcoming Toss It Tuesday post!

You might also be interested in:

• Toss It Out Tuesday: Barbies
• Toss It Out Tuesday: A peek inside
• Family-friendly recipes
• Posts on my favorite kitchen tools