Have you ever thought about how clutter may affect your life? If not, perhaps you should. If you’re like most people, at some point in your life, you have dealt with clutter: paperwork covering your work desk, baby toys scattered about the floor, makeup and hair products strewn about your bathroom. Remember that time you were looking for an important document and making more of a mess because it was lost in a pile of papers? Do you remember the frustration you felt from not being able to find your important document and how you just couldn’t relax until you finally did find it? That’s clutter stress. Not only can clutter stress us out, but it also costs us time when we spend hour upon hour looking for something.
Clutter can also cost us money. How many times have you replaced an item because you couldn’t find it at the time you needed it. Have you ever replaced an item by buying a new one only to find the first one you had a week later, hidden amongst your clutter? Cha-ching!
Here are three easy things you can do to help declutter your home.
1. Tackle your clutter, but pick one area at a time, such as your closet or your workspace. Decide what you really need to keep, and get rid of what you don’t need. You may find it helpful to begin with three declutter piles: ‘throw away,’ ‘consider throwing away,’ and ‘keep.’ Keep an eye on that ‘consider throwing away’ pile. Do not let your declutter piles sit for too long. It’s better to set aside enough time during the decluttering process that you can hopefully get through it and get it completed in one shot.
2. Make a goal to keep items off of the floor. It’s incredibly hard to keep toys off of the floor if you have a little ones, but if you have handy—and decorative—toy boxes throughout your home, it’s doable.
3. Get family and/or friends involved. Family and friends can be great motivation. You never know, you may have a friend who loves to organize. And getting the family involved is a great way for everyone to recognize how important it is to ‘pick up after yourself.’
Once you get the initial decluttering process out of the way, it will be easier for you to maintain a clutter-free home.