Clutter is chaos. It is unsightly disorder. It is a cause for anxiety and an attraction of dirt and dust. It wastes time (think of all that time spent looking for your keys in the pile of paperwork), wastes money (bills lost in the paperwork accruing interest) and wastes effort (energy that goes into searching and stressing about not finding things). Clearing clutter creates space, simplicity and order. Who isn’t in need of more of that?
To clear clutter consider these strategies:
The first stop when entering your house is usually the place where everything gets dumped in a heap. So create an entry system – whatever works for you; a closet, a coat stand, lockers, open shelving – and allocate a place for everything that is routinely dropped on the welcome mat.
Paper quickly turns to clutter – create a system for all your paper – you may want to have a general inbox /outbox, more specific divisions like bills, receipts and lists or separate divisions for each member of the household. It is useful to use pinboards – you can keep one in the kitchen with schedules and grocery lists, one in the study with bills to pay, memos and reminders, and one in each child’s room displaying their recent art work and achievement certificates. Then purge the pinboard at the end of each week.
Four boxes – sort your clutter by filling one box with things to sell, one with things to donate, one with things to move to a better spot in the house, and one with things to trash. You can temporarily store a fifth box filled with things that you can’t decide whether to keep or to part with.
Clean up in short, strictly-timed bursts – this method preserves your energy, reduces frustration and allows you to reach short-term goals. If you don’t want to be restricted by time, create small-scale projects, like clearing a single counter or shelf, and see them to completion before attending to something else.
Everything needs a home – create a consensus in the household about the best places for things to be put away.
What are your top tips for keeping clutter in the home under control? Share with us in the comments box below.
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