The “Five Things” Method: A simple spring cleaning trick that actually works

Motivate yourself to get started Spring cleaning It seems impossible when you’re faced with a mountain of dirty dishes and a pile of wrinkled clothes and stuff everywhere– Especially if you already are laden With work, your social calendar and minimal self-care. But there’s a simple trick that can make everyone’s least-favorite household tasks more manageable — and less time-consuming: the “Five Things” method.

“No matter how much clutter there is, there are only five categories of items in any room.” KC Davis, LPCa therapist and author from Houston How to save a house while sinkingpreviously Books for self. There is “garbage, dishes, laundry, things that have a place, and things that don’t have a place.” By tackling each of these messes individually, renovating your home should become less intimidating, Davis says.

Here’s how the “Five Things” method works:

1. Handling the trash: Start by bagging all your miscellaneous trash — empty water bottles, granola bar wrappers, clothing price tags — and leave them at your front door.
2. Place used dishes in the sink. Cups on your bedside table, random forks on the kitchen counter – collect them all and pile them there.
3. Toss dirty laundry in the basket. Whether that includes Sweaty sportswearOr rogue socks or abandoned clothes piling up on your chair. (You don’t actually have to put them in the washing machine yet, nor take out the trash or do the dishes. The goal now, Davis says, is simply to put things in their proper place, because seeing visual progress can be surprisingly motivating.)
4. Move various items to their designated places: Once you’ve sorted the trash, dishes, and laundry, “put out all the items in the room that have a place,” says Davis. Maybe your kids’ toys belong in the basket, for example. Your sneakers should be on the shelf in your closet or the trash can next to the entrance. Concealer brushes stuck on your dressing table or bathroom can be put back into your makeup organizer.
5. Finally, create a pile for things that don’t have a “place”: This could include your partner’s spare earbuds or any new purchases you intended to return. “You can then spend time finding permanent homes for things in the pile that have no place” — like a drawer designated for junk or a storage box in your closet. “Or put that aside in a basket, bag or box for another day.”