Now that you know how to swap, what to swap, and where to swap, it’s time to put it into action. Your challenge this week is to pick one room in your home. Just one. If one is too overwhelming, then pick one section of one room: your bedroom closet, perhaps, or those cabinets in the garage, or the corner that gets the stuff pile. If you can tackle a whole room, though, do it. Don’t get lost in the details and it can be done in two or three hours.
- Choose your challenge. One room, one corner, one closet, one set of cabinets. What do you most need to tackle? What’s bugging you? Where are you throwing the mail, the dirty clothes, the half-used bottles of toiletries that smell kind of funny? Take care of that spot.
- Set a time. If you have a whole morning or afternoon, that’s great because you can tackle a large area and get through it. If you only have an hour or two, though, do what you can. You can make a lot of progress in a little time if you have your supplies and a good plan.
- Gather supplies: boxes, bags, or other containers to hold what you sort, plus easy access to your trash and recycling bins. Get your digital camera and keep it handy, with a notebook and pen. When you find something swappable, snap a picture and jot down the item, a brief (but accurate) description, and what you think it’s worth in cash terms.
- Set your timer for an hour.
- Attack! Stand in the doorway of the room with all your containers in the middle. Turn to your right and start grabbing and sorting. If it’s trash, put it in the appropriate recycle bin. (Unswappables include personal papers, food remnants; but before you trash broken items, offer them to the world. Sometimes people have a use for broken items.) As you accumulate swappable stuff, sort it into rough categories, take photos, and put each item on the list.
- Work your way as far around the room as you can before the timer goes off. Keep going at a steady pace and don’t get distracted by reading old cards or stopping to paint a wall.
- Take a break when the timer goes off. Consolidate your swappables into a few containers so you have some empty ones for the next go-round. If you’ve got a pile to donate, go ahead and take it to your car. Get a glass of ice water. Turn up the music. Set your timer for the remaining amount of time you have and start again.
- Continue from the spot you left off and keep working your way around the perimeter of the room until you’re finished or until your timer rings.
- Take your pile of stuff to swap to a place where it can sit for a few days, out of the way. Clean up the area: a quick sweep and straighten should do it. There. Doesn’t it look better?
- Get on your computer and go to one of the sites mentioned in yesterday’s post and start listing your stuff. Remember to include a picture, when appropriate, and an accurate description as well as what you’d like to get in return (or the value you think the item has).
That’s it! Good job.
Image Credits: ifindkarma.
I love bare feet, Dr. Bronner's, cotton skirts, summer rain, winter snow, new places, open-minded people, deep conversations.
I had a (short-lived) natural products company while I was in college: The Full Nelson Natural Products...
