It doesn't have to take you weeks or months to get your clutter under control. You can do a little bit at a time, and you'll start to notice a difference.

If you have a few minutes, take on one of these five projects right now. Every little bit helps.

Five things you can unclutter right now

1. Clear the sticky notes. Do you have sticky notes on your monitor, bulletin board, or calendar? Put them in a pile and enter the data into a more appropriate (and permanent) location. Write the appointments in your calendar. Type the dentist's phone number into your Contacts program. Download 1Password (Mac) or Roboform (PC) and stop showing the world your passwords.
2. Sock purge. Go through your sock drawer and make rags of any pairs that are full of holes or missing the sproing in their elastic.
3. File an inch of paper. If you have a to-be filed pile on your desk, pinch of an inch of it and make a dent in your filing. In a week, you'll notice that just a little bit every day can really make a difference.
4. Sort your mugs. Coffee mugs are like rabbits because they multiply at an alarming rate. Get rid of all of the mugs you don't use or don't need. In my house, our table only seats eight people, so we only have eight mugs. There will never be a time when we have a greater need.
5. Archive 100 e-mails. If you've read it and the e-mail requires no further action, drag it straight into your Archive folder. Don't let useless messages get in the way of useful ones.