Organize Clutter

For anyone who desires a clean organized home clutter can be a major stumbling block. Unless you possess the knowledge on how to de-clutter and keep your home de-cluttered. If you let clutter take over your home then the actual cleaning process like vacuuming, mopping and dusting end up taking a back seat.

You will now end up spending far too much time simply trying to de-clutter before you can actual do the real cleaning. Once you’ve accomplished this then you are usually too tired to continue cleaning everything else. Even if de-cluttering seems overwhelming there are steps you can take to control the clutter in your home.

Organizing Paper Clutter

Most people’s homes are cluttered with paper. Whether it is your mail, papers from work, those treasured bits of paper your child has brought in from school, or newspapers. I have several ways for you to organize and cut down on this type of clutter.

• Take the time each day to go through your mail the minute you come back into your door.
• If it helps place a small waste paper pin beside your door and upon entering go through you mail and dispose of any junk mail this way. That way it never actually makes it very far into your home. Carry your bills then to your desk or whatever area you most often keep them. Instead of now tossing them onto the desk, take time to file them away.
• Place your bills into a “to be paid” folder or file, and continue on this route with the rest of your mail.
• Keep another small waste basket beside your desk or phone this makes it handy to keep organized as well. File any other important papers away now and not save them till later. If you save papers till later then you always end up with a stack that seems to grow and grow and then you’ll find yourself with clutter once more.

Newspaper clutter

• For your newspaper I recommend having a plastic bin or basket and when you’ve finished reading then place them into it.
• Each week remove the old and give it to the city recycling service. You have just rid yourself of clutter while at the same time doing your planet a favor.

School Bag Papers

If you have children still in school then you already know how many papers they bring home each day. You also find yourself torn as to what papers to keep and what to dispose of. You might be one of those parents who believe that everything your child makes is a treasure you want to keep and hang onto. There is nothing wrong with this at all, but if this is the case then take the time daily to decide what you want to keep and get rid of the rest.

• Keep a small storage bin (preferably plastic) close to where you check your child’s backpack for these papers and any that you want to keep place in the bin.
• Once a week move those papers to a larger storage bin for safe keeping.
• If you go through their papers each day and remove what you want to keep and throw away the rest immediately you’ve just cut down on the amount of paper clutter you accumulate.
  

Gaining Control of Clutter

When gaining control of other types of clutter you may have always bear this in mind. Ask yourself some questions:

• Is this an item I’ll ever use again?
• Have I worn this piece of clothing in the last year?
• Have I needed this item one time at all this past year?

Be honest with yourself. If you answered no to any of these questions then it’s time for those things to go. You might want to consider giving them to charity or selling them yourself.

• If you still have any objections to selling an item or thinking you might actually use it again, then store it another 6 months, at the end of that 6 months if you haven’t worn it, used it or needed it, then get rid of it. Chances are you’ll never miss it at that point.

Setting the frame of mind

• Make a promise to yourself that you will continue in this same frame of mind all the time.

• For me at one point in my life I moved into a very small apartment. I had no room for clutter at all. I made this same promise to myself that if I hadn’t worn it, read it, looked at it or found myself needing it from year to year, I removed it from my home. I kept this promise even after moving into a large house. It has helped me cut down on clutter immensely.
• I find it easy when changing out my seasonal clothing to do the same. Place any seasonal clothing items in large clear plastic bins to be stored away for the next seasons use. However remember when doing so that if you didn’t wear it this season, chances are you won’t next season either.

Once you have completely de-cluttered your home you’ll find it much easier to keep it clean and clutter free from that point on. Then when you want to purchase anything new ask yourself this question: What can I remove from my home to take its place. After all you don’t want to clutter it up again!

Recommended Reading – “DeClutter Fast – How to get your home in Order”
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