"Dejunk Yourself" Week Four: Empty the Drawers
Because they’re too easy to fill "Just In Case"
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If there is one principle to guide your foray into emptying the drawers around your house it would be Parkinson’s Law:
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.
Or when it comes to drawers: stuff expands so as to fill the space available in your home.
In other words if you have a ton of storage space, you’re likely to fill it all up.
That’s what this week’s course / how-to guide is all about. A step-by-step process for you to turn your drawers from mess boxes on rails to organized havens.
The best bit? This isn’t going to take anywhere near as long as you think.
First, a quick note. Seeing as we tackled the business of the kitchen last week and closets the week before, I’m going to skip over both of them this week and instead concentrate on other drawers / storage units around the house.
Step one: Count how many drawers you have in your house
We’re talking:
Junk drawers
Sideboards
Tallboys (does anyone still have tallboys?)
Coffee table drawers
Entertainment units
Bedside units
Cabinets
Desk drawers
Under bed drawers
Knowing what you’re dealing with here may feel overwhelming (depending on how many drawers you have) but it’s essential for step two…
Step two: Tackle grouped drawers together
How do you plan to tackle these drawers? The way I do it is to group them by purpose.
Drawers related to kids
Drawers related to junk
Drawers related to documents
Drawers related to “bits and bobs”
If you take a drawer one by one you might clear one but then realize you’ve got a duplicate *insert item here* in another. Sorting them by purpose means you can clearly see every item you own in that category, thus making it easier to throw away spares.
Step three: Start with the junk drawer(s)
If you’re anything like me, you’ll have put off sorting the junk drawer for as long as there has been one in your house.
Here’s the secret - once you actually get into it, junk drawers only take about 20-30 minutes to sort. You could stick a lasagna in the oven for dinner and have that drawer sorted before the timer pings.
Here’s how to do it:
Before you even peek in the drawer, make a list of the items you use the most / would like to keep. The idea is to not be tempted by what you see in the drawer itself, thus minimizing the temptation of keeping items you don’t need.
Take everything out.
Clear the drawer of debris.
Match up what’s in front of you with that original list. Stick those items in a pile then tackle the rest.
Jettison every duplicate. You don’t need 15 pens and pencils, just one or two of the best ones will do. Ditto sticky tape, batteries, lightbulbs etc.
Use the 20/20 rule - if you’re on the fence about an item and it can be replaced for less than $20 in less than 20 minutes, throw it. The Minimalists say they’ve only ever had to exercise this rule a handful of times.
Check out the resources section below for some minimalist junk drawer inspiration.
Step four: Take one drawer / collection of drawers per day
Trying to organize every single drawer in one day simply isn’t going to work (believe me, I’ve tried). Remember - most drawer declutters will take just 20-30 minutes each or roughly one episode of your favorite show.
Cut your bingeing by one episode a day = sort out all your drawers in no time at all.
That sounds like a good trade-off to me.
Step five: A note on documents
Every country has rules on how long you are supposed to keep documents such as tax information, payslips, etc. Check out your country’s rules and use them as a guide for what to keep and what to throw away (don’t forget to use a shredder for confidential waste).
Step six: Make use of electronic storage for your paperwork
Got access to bank statements online? There may be no need to keep the paper copies. Sitting on mountains of receipts? Use a scanning app to store them electronically (see resources section for recommendations).
The more you can keep online, the better news for your drawers.
Step seven: Identify an item’s purpose and only keep it if you’re committed to using it
Back in the UK, I had a drawer filled with wool for knitting projects. The problem was, I had no idea what those projects were. Thus I was keeping most of the wool “just in case.”
Of course, it sat in its sad little drawer for years, never fulfilling its potential.
Here’s the alternative. Assign every item in a drawer a purpose or project and commit to a timeline.
I could have committed to specific knitting projects using that wool.
You could decide what to do with half empty cans of paint or specialist tools.
You could commit to creating a “memory box” to celebrate the best pieces of your kids’ art.
If you can’t think of an item’s purpose - in other words it’s been kept just in case - and you can’t think of a project to use it with, that’s a prime candidate for a declutter.
Step eight: Embrace the empty drawer mindset
I wrote about this a while back. I think a lot of us, myself included, are nervous about empty drawers. They’re like potential unfulfilled.
If you’re decluttering like a demon and your drawers start to empty out, there’s the temptation to refill them.
Remember: empty drawers = more space. More space = a calmer, less cluttered life. And if you find you no longer need that side unit or extra filing cabinet, then great! Donate or sell and bask in the space that once held all your junk.
Resources
Adobe Scan - a great little free scanning app for your documents
Take a look inside one of The Minimalists’ junk drawers
Article: Empty drawers make me nervous
Your homework
I want a cleaned-out, organized junk drawer from you by this time next week! I believe in you, friend.
Don’t forget to give me a shout if you need any extra help or encouragement. I’ve fought this particular decluttering beast and I’ve won. I want to help you do the same. Give me a shout at charliebrownwriter@gmail.com