The Clutter Cure
Posted Monday July 06, 2009
If you need to de-clutter your house, then make sure you do it right. If you dive in head first without a clear plan of attack, you are probably going to be left with a bigger mess than the one you started out with. Try this six-step plan to effectively eliminate clutter in your home!
1) Collect your tools. You will need four containers - one for trash (garbage bags work well), a second for donations (cardboard boxes or sturdy paper bags), a third for “put away” items (a laundry basket is perfect), and a fourth for “I can’t part with it yet” items (plastic or cardboard box).
2) Select one project at a time. Don’t just start grabbing at stuff. Select the one area you will work on, such as a closet or drawer, and make sure you have adequate time to complete it. I know distractions are inevitable, especially with little ones around, but try to zero in on your target and keep working at it until you’re finished.
3) Don’t handle something more than once. This is a trick that works wonders. Sometimes when we are trying to clear out clutter we pick up objects, handle them for a while without knowing what to do with them, and then put them back down, only to pick them up again and repeat the process. When you pick something up, put it in one of the containers with no rest stops in between.
4) Put everything where it belongs. Put trash in the outdoor trash can. Put the donation box in your car to drop off at the center. Put the items that belong somewhere in the house in their proper places. And if there are any items that you feel you just can’t part with, box them up, label the box, and stick it in your attic, garage or somewhere out of the way. Now put a note on the calendar four months from that date to go back to the items in the box. If you have been fine that long without them, you don’t need them - try to make yourself sell them or give them away.
5) Reward yourself. Give yourself a treat for a job well done. When you finish de-cluttering, pour a cup of tea, polish your nails, munch on a cookie, watch a favorite movie, or do something that you especially love. Eliminating clutter is hard work, and you should reward your efforts.
6) Keep the cycle going. “Clutter in, clutter out.“ This will be your new mantra. Repeat it until it rolls off your tongue with ease and grace. Clutter is inevitable. We are always going to have junk appearing in the nooks and crannies of our homes and multiplying in its quiet little corners. So don’t think for a minute that your cleaned-out garage will stay that way. Clutter is sneaky. It’s mischievous. It will find ways to creep in without your consent.
So let the march continue! Let the clutter come in, and then march it right back out again. It’s a clutter cycle. So just make sure that you keep the cycle going.
