Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - Garbage Bag Therapy - Get rid of Stress and Clutter | Clutterbug Podcast # 13

Episode Date: May 19, 2016

Garbage bag therapy is a technique I have used for many, many years to not only get myself motivated, but to keep my home clean and clutter free! Garbage can build up in unlikely places and even a little bit here and there can add up to mountains on clutter over time.   Garbage clutter, especially paper, can even become invisible to us after a while. So get a bag today and go on a hunt.  Look in drawers, bathrooms, the office and of course on your fridge for all of those things that are outdated, not needed any longer or just plain garbage! Treat yourself and your home to some Garbage Bag Therapy today!!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey guys, welcome back to the Clutterbug podcast. Today I'm going to be talking about one of my favorite things to do whenever I'm feeling stressed or overwhelmed or my house just basically looks like it's getting out of control. And one of my favorite tricks to getting sort of on top of clutter but also feeling great is garbage bag therapy. Now, I call it Garbage Bag Therapy because I'm using a garbage bag, but it also feels really therapeutic. So after I'm done doing this garbage bag therapy, I feel energized. My house looks better. I feel like I've accomplished something. And it really kicks it off for motivation for me. There's a lot of days where I just don't feel like doing the same mundane chores over and over again. And as a stay-at-home mom, a big part of my day is taking care of the home, right? I'm taking care of the

kids and taking care of the home. I have a toddler that I'm constantly picking. up after three kids means a lot of laundry, beds to make, you get the idea. And there are days where I just, ugh, I am reluctant to get started and I'm procrastinating to get started and I just can't find the mojo. And one thing that is a surefire way to get me fired up and finding that energy, that motivation that I need to tackle my day is something I call garbage bag therapy. So what I do is I grab, obviously, a garbage bag. And then usually a smaller bag as well, like a grocery size bag for donations. And just like we do the 21 item toss, which means I go around and I grab 21 items,

this is what I do. A 21 item toss is what I do when I'm specifically looking at decluttering and forcing myself to find 21 items, either 21 articles of clothing or 21 things from my bedroom, 21 things from the kids' room, when I really need to do some decluttering. But garbage bag therapy is a little different in that I'm not counting, I'm just running around and clearing out some junk, most of it being garbage. And you'd be surprised, I don't have a messy house, but you can find garbage all over the place hidden here and there. Some examples would be, you know, creams that are. are all gone or makeup that's expired. I have, you know, bills that have, or junk mail or bills that

have been paid, but the envelopes are still here. All of that stuff I go around and I just clear out in my garbage bag therapy. If I do happen to stumble upon something that needs to be donated, I will pop that into the donation bag. But most of the stuff that I grab is literally garbage. I also empty out the garbage is during garbage bag therapy. So the garbage is from the kids' bedroom, the bathrooms. I'm just literally filling a garbage bag with garbage. So I go room to room and I just look around and I always find some. I always find little things here and there. I'll open up a drawer and say, you know what, why am I keeping this or old receipts that I keep in my dresser after I buy an article of clothing? If I've already worn it, I don't need the receipt anymore. So I'm

I'm easily able to find things to throw in the garbage with my garbage bag therapy. And if you guys have listened to me at all or watched any of my YouTube videos, you know I'm doing this whole weight loss thing. I'm on a shake diet, no food. And I find it extremely hard to lose weight. I am struggling to lose weight. But I can easily drop a few pounds from my house just by clearing out stuff that I'm not using, not loving, or stuff that's literally garbage. And so I really want to encourage you to do this today,

to do some garbage bag therapy. Grab a garbage bag. You might say to yourself, I don't have a lot of garbage in my house or things that need to go, but you'd be surprised. You would be surprised how quickly you can fill a garbage bag. By looking in junk drawers or dresser drawers, my kids' room is always a treasure trove of absolute garbage. They are pigs. I love them dearly, but they will shove, you know, candy wrappers in their drawers, and they'll hide, you know, empty juice boxes, places. And in my son's room, I always find things like McDonald's toys or little things like that that, you know, aren't worth donating, and they can quickly go into a garbage bag. He'll won't miss them, and the kids won't miss them or, you know, coloring that they've done that's just really scribbles

or something that's not special, all of that can go either into recycling or in the garbage, and you instantly have your house feeling lighter and brighter, and you feel lighter and brighter, too. Who needs to diet? Who need to diet when we can just clear out some junk from our house? If only it was the same for my butt. If only I could just spend, you know, 10 minutes and get rid of a garbage bag off my body. It doesn't really work like that, but fortunately it does work like that for our house. house. So I have my garbage bag. I don't know if you can hear it here. I got my garbage bag here, you guys. And so that's why I decided to do this podcast because I needed a little motivation today. I needed to get inspired to really, you know, get up and get things going. My husband was gone away.

He's flying back right now. His plane lands actually in 15 minutes. So I'm going to do the thing that I do usually before he gets home from work. It's about 10 in the morning right now. but usually before he goes to work, I do a fast, fast clean. I make sure all the beds are made, obviously. I clean the kitchen. I spot mop or anything like that. I just make sure that the house looks really, really clean before he comes home from work.

Not that I'm like, you know, he expects that, but just so he's not like, did you watch Netflix all day? He has no idea if I watch Netflix all day. And also, that's not 100% true, the only reason, but that is part of the reason. But the other thing is, I want him to come home and feel relaxed. And I know when I come home after being gone all day and I walk in the house, if there's kids' toys all over or there's the kitchen's dirty, I feel stressed out.

It definitely adds to my stress of the day. So I really want him to come home to a clean and serene environment just so he feels relaxed and we can just enjoy him as a family and he's not feeling stressed out. Now, my husband doesn't get stressed out very easily, but I know I get stressed out from that stuff. So I'm just trying to give him, you know, some courtesy that he doesn't have to come home and be bombarded by the dirty dishes that the kids and I made a mess all day with or, you know, just all the junk that gets everywhere.

So I'm going to do that right now, but I'm not feeling overly motivated. So I'm going to grab a garbage bag first. And here looking at my desk, I'm seeing just sitting here at my desk doing this podcast, there are notes that I've written, my to-do notes. I have, you know, some papers of people I needed to call and phone numbers. I have some empty envelopes from mail that I had opened. All of this stuff can go. And, you know, I should be getting rid of it right away, but I don't.

I let it sit. And it becomes sort of invisible. And that's the thing with invisible clutter. That's what I call it. Those things that we're using from time to time that we leave sitting on our counter. And it's sitting there for so long or sitting on our dresser or at the end of the bed, that we don't see it anymore. We've seen it so much for so many days that it literally becomes invisible.

And some examples would be of invisible clutter are, you know, your kids have a birthday party, so you put that invitation on the fridge, the birthday comes and goes. But the invitation that's been up there, you know, for a week or two, so you don't forget about it or the doctor's note or whatever it is, can sit there long after you need it. Because it's been there for so long, it's invisible. We don't see it anymore.

I do this with a to-do list that I leave on my kitchen counter or grocery list that I've already gone to the grocery store. These things have a tendency to be laying around. So these are the things that we grab and get rid of during our garbage bag therapy. And of course, we empty all the garbage is during this time as well. So what are you guys waiting for? Open up some drawers. Go through your bedroom.

Look on your surfaces. Find some stuff that is literally just garbage. get rid of it today and don't feel guilty if it's some of that is your kids artwork. Kids do artwork all the time. I can't keep it all. There isn't enough space. I have binders for each of my kids for really special things, but the rest of the stuff has to go. Can't keep everything. So it's being recycled today as well as I go around and find things and then I'll feel the motivation that I need to continue with the rest of the chores that need to be done today. So thank you guys so much for listening. Grab a garbage bag, you guys. Do a little bit of garbage bag therapy today.

Feel lighter. Feel brighter. Make your house cleaner with very, very minimal time and effort. Thanks so much and we'll see you next time.