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How to clear a doom pile in 10 minutes

A kind, fast way to deal with the heap of things you put down “for now”: rubbish first, four groups, and stop when the timer rings.

, 2 min read

A doom pile is the heap of things you put down “for now”: post, chargers, receipts, the parcel you meant to return. Nearly every home has one. It grows because each thing in it needs a small decision, and small decisions are easy to put off.

So the trick is to make the decisions tiny. Set a timer for ten minutes.

You will need

  • a bin bag
  • a box or basket
  • an envelope or folder
  • a clear surface, such as a bed or a table

The ten minutes

  1. Move the pile. Carry it to the clear surface and spread it out. It is easier to deal with things you can see than to dig through a heap.
  2. Rubbish first. Wrappers, old receipts you don’t need, junk post and empty boxes go straight in the bag. This is the fastest win, and the pile shrinks while you watch.
  3. Make four groups. Pick up one thing at a time and put it in the first group that fits:
    • Lives in this room. Put it away now.
    • Lives in another room. It goes in the box.
    • Needs doing. Bills, forms and returns go in the envelope.
    • Not sure. Leave it in a small group of its own.
  4. Walk the box round once. Drop each thing off in its room. Don’t start tidying those rooms. You are only delivering.
  5. Give the envelope one next step. Write the first thing to do on the front, such as “pay by Friday” or “print the label”, and leave it where you will see it.
  6. Date the “not sure” group. Put it in a bag or a small box with today’s date on it. If you haven’t needed anything from it in a month, most of it can go.

When the timer rings

Stop. If the pile is smaller than it was, that counts. You can do the rest in another ten minutes tomorrow, and it will be quicker, because the rubbish has already gone.

Keeping it small

A pile comes back to the same spot because that spot is handy. Don’t fight it. Put a tray or a basket there, so the pile has an edge, and empty it once a week. A full tray is a much smaller job than a full chair.

Fresh in Ten can remind you: add “Empty the tray” as a weekly task and it will come up when it is due.

Decluttering10 minutes

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