Declutter Motivation: How To Get Rid Of The Junk Drawer

Suppose you’re drowning in clutter and don’t know where to start. In that case, you’re not alone. I run a cleaning and decluttering Facebook group. I can tell you that more people than you realize are struggling with declutter motivation and are overwhelmed with trying to keep their entire home clean and tidy.

We all need some help getting motivated from time to time, and in this post, we will be giving you some decluttering tips on where to get started and get your home in order.

My group members often ask me how to get motivated to get rid of stuff, especially if they have a lot of clutter. Getting started on the decluttering process is probably the most challenging part. Once you start, it gets easier as you go along.

Life can often throw us many curveballs, and things can soon get on top of us. Cleaning and simple tasks can seem overwhelming, and not knowing where to start can affect declutter motivation.

Starting with a tiny drawer like the kitchen junk drawer can make a big difference to your declutter motivation, as you begin to see quick results without suffering overwhelm and burnout.

What better way to start the decluttering process than with the junk drawer? It’s the perfect place to start living in a clutter free home!

Decluttering doesn’t need to be complicated. Once you have an area decluttered, you should notice your cleaning motivation start to kick in too!  Decluttering and cleaning go hand in hand, its hard to know how to get motivated to clean when overwhelmed by mess but if you head over to this post there are some great tips to get you started!

Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a clean, clutter free, organized home!

If you’re struggling to know where to start decluttering your life, we will talk you through some simple steps and motivation to banish clutter forever!

If you are struggling with finding motivation to clean and are looking for a weekly cleaning schedule so you can have people over without the embarrassment of a dirty house, we can help, head over to this post to help you get into a better cleaning routine.

I just want to throw it out there, that it is virtually impossible to organise clutter.

What is the junk drawer?

 The junk drawer is somewhere you stash your clutter, so it’s a great place to start to create good habits. With that said, it’s not going to be easy to keep it decluttered for any length of time, especially if your family shoves stuff in there regularly.

You and your family members may use the excuse that you need to keep your clutter in the junk drawer because it’s “handy.”

However, it’s not so handy having to dig through reams of other junk in the drawer when you need something in a hurry.

 First, let’s examine the junk drawer’s typical contents, and let’s see if we can give each item a new home!

  • Tape measure: Put this back into your toolbag or sewing box.
  • Phone chargers: Keep at a specially designed charging area like this one.
  • Sticky tape: Keep with the stationary or in a basket where you store gift bags and cards.
  • Pens: Keep with the stationary, in a pencil case.
  • Nail clippers: Keep with beauty products or in the bathroom cabinet.
  • Random keys: Keep on a key hook like this one and make sure they are labeled with special keycaps like these.
  • Random cables: Declutter any that are not needed,  then any that you want to keep should be labeled and stored in a zip lock bag or a photo organizer like this one and filed away.
  • Hair bobbles: Keep in the bedroom in a lidded box, put a few spare in your handbag and car for emergencies and bad hair days!
  • Medicine and medicine spoons: Keep all together in a  medicine cabinet, check expiry dates regularly!
  • Plastic shopping bags: Keep in a lidded car boot organizer like this one in the car boot for grocery shopping and reusable bags
  • Lipbalm: Keep in with the other beauty products or makeup kit, keep a spare in the car and bag for emergency dry lips!
  • Flasks and bottle lids: Should be stored with the bottles and flasks on a bottle organizer like this one
  • Sandwich bags: These should live with Tupperware so they are easy to find.

Every item in the junk drawer has another home. There is absolutely no reason to accumulate all that stuff together in one random drawer!

If you’re looking for declutter motivation, the junk drawer is a great place to start. It’s a five-minute job that will free up space in your kitchen and make a big difference to your kitchen space.

For tips on how to get motivated to clean when overwhelmed by the mess, read this post!

How to declutter the junk drawer.

  1. Put everything in its proper home. 

    Everything residing in the junk drawer belongs somewhere else in the home.
    Tip it all out and put it all away. No more trying to organize clutter. Just go and put it all away, getting rid of anything you don’t use or need in the process.

    stationary drawer

  2. Clean out the space 

    Wipe down your lovely empty drawer with soapy water and disinfectant, then dry thoroughly.

  3. Take something from your countertops and store it in the drawer.

    Use the newly emptied drawer to declutter something from your countertops or surfaces and put it out of sight into the drawer. Voila, you’ve killed two birds with one stone!
    What have you got on your kitchen counters? What could you put in your newly emptied drawer?
    Utensils and knives are a great place to start!
    Remember, food prep is much easier with clear countertops and a clutter-free workspace.

  4. Remind yourself how organized your space is.

    Look at the freshly decluttered drawer and the space on your countertop and remind yourself how good it feels to find all those items for which you found a new home. Reminding yourself each step of the way is a great method of motivating yourself to declutter regularly

  5. Reward yourself

    After you’ve decluttered your first drawer, reward yourself for all your hard work by doing something you enjoy.

    woman reading in bed

As you start decluttering, you should begin to recognize that shoving things where they don’t belong is the slippery slope of clutter and is the reason most of us can’t stay organized. Decluttering and simple living go hand in hand!

Having a drawer solely dedicated to “junk”  is fooling ourselves into believing that it’s ok just to shove things in the nearest drawer or cupboard.

Think of the other drawers in your house. Do you have more than one junk drawer? If so, unleash your inner Marie Kondo and get rid of them! do you need some extra motivation to declutter clothes? Why not start with your knicker drawer?

Let’s break this habit and recharge your motivation to purge clutter, starting with one drawer at a time. Gradually move on to other areas of your home, like your kitchen cupboards or closet. Giving everything a home, if you can’t find a home, try to get rid of it.

Read this post to learn more about clutter creep and how using a simple glass of water can help you get rid of clutter.

If going cold turkey is too much for you and you can’t get rid of your junk drawer altogether, you might want to use a junk drawer organizer such as this one to keep all your cutlery together.

Why not put a knife block like this one that holds twelve knives into your new empty drawer to keep your blades sharp and organized!

You could use your drawer as a charging station for your devices!

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How can I motivate myself to declutter?

If you need help motivating yourself to declutter, head on over to this post, where we discuss how to start with small bite-sized tasks and talk you through the simple steps you need to take to boost your declutter motivation and start moving towards a clutter free home. 

Do people need help decluttering?

If you need help to declutter your home, there are some fantastic support groups, such as this one, where you are encouraged to ask questions and seek help. Some people prefer to be left alone when they are decluttering and left to their own devices. We should never force anyone to declutter or try to force them to get rid of anything if they are not ready.

I want to know how to clean and declutter fast.

To learn speed cleaning techniques, you should read this post
where we discuss how to work around a room to clean it faster and more thoroughly than ever before. But remember to spend time decluttering before you clean! Read this post to discover the favorite products I keep in my cleaning
kit!

I am decluttering to downsize do you have any motivation tips?

It can be very difficult to find the motivation to get rid of stuff when you are downsizing. this is because you have spent years collecting items and have no choice to keep them when you downsize to a smaller home. Be kind to yourself, give yourself plenty of time to make the best decisions as to what to keep. if you really can’t decide what to get rid of put some items in temporary storage until you are living in your new home then you get a feel for what will fit in your new space and what will definitely need to go. Moving home is one of the biggest and most stressful declutter motivations you will experience in your lifetime.

Read how to clean when you have zero time in this post

If you enjoyed this post about cleaning and declutter motivation, let us know in the comments!

2 thoughts on “Declutter Motivation: How To Get Rid Of The Junk Drawer

  1. lisalambert38 - Mumdadplus4.co.uk says:

    I have several junk drawers and to much clutter on counter tops it’s. Early spring clean time so will have to sort them out and use them more productively I think thanks for the reminder though

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