Clutter

We all have clutter to deal with – and other people’s clutter too! Some of us are on top of our situation – this takes a daily commitment to maintaining the established order in your home (ie the salt and pepper always go in “this ” spot, and the bread gets put away in “that” spot, and so on…). It also means that you are managing the in-coming into your home most days: do I need this piece of mail or can it go directly into the recycling, does this shopping bag get recycled or is it re-useable, and back in my purse or put by the back door so that I can grab it on my way out, etc. It sounds tedious, but if it becomes a habit, you do it with out thinking and it becomes part of the process.

Some of us find this daily effort too much, and some people just have a higher threshold for clutter, so you are left with bigger jobs. Try committing to once a week, when the task of de-cluttering is not too burdensome. The kitchen/familyroom is usually the drop zone for most of the in-coming “stuff”, so start there with the recycling bin handy, and “just do it”, as they say. If you don’t, the job gets bigger, and less likely to achieve…. and then what?

Tips that help:

-containers for things are really helpful (pencils, cotton pads, mail, etc…)

-group like things together (magazines, make-up, belts, spices, etc)

-be realistic (not everything in your home will be behind a closed door or in a drawer)

-be flexible (if no one in your family puts their coats in the hall cupboard, consider putting up some hooks…)

Good luck!