Set Up & Put Away Christmas Presents {Simple Mission For Clutter Free Home}
Today's bonus mission is to set up and put away your Christmas presents soon after receiving them, to cut down on clutter in your home.
Today is a great day to get in the habit of finding a place for, and putting away gifts and other new items you bring into your home, immediately, instead of letting them just sit around becoming clutter.
Don't Let These Items Become Clutter By Just Sitting Around!
Have you ever received a present, or gotten something for yourself, and then since you were in a hurry you sat it down somewhere in your home, such as on a counter, or on the floor in the corner in your bedroom, and then it just sat there, for a very long time?
When this type of thing happens, it means that the gift you've received, or the item you've otherwise brought into your home is functionally clutter, because it's not being used or enjoyed.
Don't let this happen to you! Instead, devote the time necessary to remove the tags and packaging off items, set things up if necessary by adding batteries, or plugging them in, getting them charged up, or learning how to use them, and then getting them put away where they go in your home so you can use these items in the future, and not have them contribute to the clutter in your home.
Help Your Kids Do This & Teach Them A Simple But Valuable Skill
This is also a great teaching opportunity for your kids. If they've gotten presents for Christmas, their birthday, or you've given them something just because, make sure to help them set up and put away their items as well.
After all, this simple skill really can help your home from accumulating clutter, over time, so it's worth teaching your kids this skill now.
If Necessary, Pratice The One In One Out Rule To Avoid Clutter Creep
Whenever something new comes into your home it's necessary to find a storage location to put it in, such as a drawer, a shelf, a cabinet, etc.
Sometimes there's more than enough room for something new (especially if your home is already mainly decluttered), but if this new item will replace something old, or you don't have room for the new item in your home otherwise, you need to practice the one in, one out rule, to make sure you do have room for the new gift or item.
The one in, one out rule, is as simple as it sounds. If you bring in one thing into your home, to avoid clutter creep, remove something else, typically that serves the same function, but that you don't want as much, or something approximately the same size as the new object.
In practice, this can look like receiving a new sweater, and then deciding that the older sweater, with some holes in it, or the one you've never liked as much, or the one that's too big now because you've lost weight, could go, replaced with this new sweater you've just received.
What If You've Received A Clutter Gift?
Sometimes, despite people's well meaning intentions when giving you a gift, they miss the mark, and as you receive it you know you don't want it, need it, or like it, and subsequently, won't use it.
There's no need to be rude as you receive the gift. You should still act grateful when you receive it, because honestly, it is the thought that counts.
However, be honest with youurself, if from the very beginning you know something you've received is clutter, to you, and you know you won't use it, go ahead and get rid of it during this mission.
You can return the gift for store credit, or re-gift it to someone else, or donate it for someone else to use.
I know some people may balk at those suggestions, but honestly, once you receive a gift it is yours to do with what you want, and you shouldn't suffer from guilt just because someone gave it to you, and you don't like it.
I'm not suggesting throwing it in the trash in front of the person who gave it to you, but later, once you're dealing with it in your own home, you've got to remember to be nice to yourself as much as you would be to the person who gave you the gift.
There's no reason to wait years and years to get rid of the gift, if you already know it's clutter to you. If you're really going to declutter your home you're going to have to get rid of this item at some point, so why not now, instead of after it accumulates dust for years, and causes you grief and hassle because it's taking up valuable space that you can't use for something else you do like, want and use?
So start a new habit and routine, starting today, that from now on, as you receive gifts, or bring new items into your home, you'll set them up and put them away soon thereafter, or get rid of the clutter immediately, so your home maintains its clutter free state!
I hope this quick and easy bonus Declutter 365 mission has inspired you to put away and set up your own Christmas presents, or whatever gifts you receive throughout the year, soon after you receive them. After all, it's quick and easy, and really does keep clutter from accumulating around your home.
Want To Do More Decluttering Missions? Get Started With Declutter 365 Today!
Once you declutter one type of item in your home I bet you'll want to declutter some more. After all, decluttering gives you a great reward for even a small investment of time and energy.
The Declutter 365 system is designed to help you declutter, over the course of a year, your entire house, with just 15 minutes of decluttering each day!
Hundreds of thousands of people use this proven system to get rid of their clutter, and bring peace and calm back to their homes.
Declutter 365 works to guide you to clear the clutter without overwhelm, focusing on just one small area at a time, and without making a huge mess in the process, so you see consistent forward progress without all that "messy middle" that makes it even harder to function in your home than before you started.
In addition to building a daily decluttering habit, the Declutter 365 program, along with the accompanying 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, teaches you the skills, habits, routines, and mindsets necessary to maintain the clutter free and organized state of your home from now on, so it'll never be as messy and cluttered as it is right now, ever again.
If you haven't already, make sure to get your copy of this year's Declutter 365 annual calendar here (it's FREE!), find today's date, and do 15 minutes of decluttering on the day's mission. Then, repeat again tomorrow, and again and again. Over the course of the next year, if you do this 15 minutes per day, you'll declutter your whole house!
If you haven't already, make sure to get the mission of cleaning up your wrapping paper and other Christmas day mess cleaned up as well!
Further, if it's time to also put away and store your Christmas decorations, make sure to check out the Christmas storage and organization tips here on the site.
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