A great way to prevent clutter is to stop it from coming in the door in the first place. Put a trash can, recycle bin, and shred container in the garage, and use them to clean out the clutter from the car, your purse, your work bag, and school backpacks. Also use them to toss or shred as much mail as possible before bringing it into the house.
It’s hard to get rid of stuff. I know. Holding onto stuff is much easier. I know. Gift bags and tissue paper that I’ve received, I’m holding onto because I intend to reuse them. The same applies to the vases from flowers I’ve received. Shopping bags and take out containers have multiplied in my cupboard. Boxes from recent purchases take up valuable space in my closet. Coupons and receipts fill a pocket in my purse. Face creams, lotions, and scrubs that have been rejected, sit in my bathroom cabinet. I’m not even going to mention greeting cards, instruction manuals, catalogues, adapters, or outdated phones and other devices.
Can you relate? Do you have similar items or even bigger items? Unfortunately, stuff accumulates unless we get rid of it. We have to make a conscious effort to remove stuff from our homes, otherwise piles grow and clutter happens. One successful way I’ve found to combat the piles and clutter is to remove more than you bring in, at least one day a week. If you can do two days a week, that’s even better.
You may be asking yourself, what does that look like? Let me share with you how I removed more than I brought in for a day. Here is a list of items that I brought into my house one day last week:
Here is a list of stuff I got rid of that same day:
I brought in a total of 11 items and got rid of a total of 16 items. I must admit, I had the urge to clean out the donations and recycling that had been collecting in my garage, and that’s what made this a successful “get rid of stuff” day. The key is to have at least one “get rid of stuff” day a week. Be consistent. That is what will help combat the piles and clutter.
Another successful way to prevent accumulation is to not bring anything in. Have at least one day a week where nothing comes in. I’m not saying leave things in the garage for a day or hid them for a day. I’m saying make a conscious effort to make no purchases and allow nothing new to enter your home for a day. It’s worth a try, isn’t it?
©November 2016 Janine Cavanaugh, Certified Professional Organizer All Rights Reserved
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Putting things away is a very important part of organizing. It needs to be simple and easy. If it isn’t easy, we don’t do it. Therefore, a simple storage solution is the best solution.
For example a client of mine mentioned that she was frustrated with her children for leaving their dirty clothes on the floor where they took them off. I asked her where she wanted the dirty clothes. She walked into the bathroom, opened a linen closet, slid out the hamper, took off the lid, and pointed inside. I then asked her where her children changed into their pjs at night. She said right inside her bedroom door. So, she was confronted with a pile of dirty clothes each time she entered her bedroom. I’m sure we can all understand why she was frustrated. Laundry is a never ending chore that is only simplified with help from all family members. Can you guess at the solution we found? We found one that was simple and easy for her children to adopt. We moved the hamper to a spot by her bedroom door and took off the lid, and let all the children know that they were expected to put their dirty clothes in the hamper.
Another example is a client of mine explained how frustrated she was when her children left their bicycles all over the place. They were in jeopardy of getting run over when they were left in the driveway. They were always getting wet when they were left out in the rain. They were tripped over when they were left by the back door. I asked her where she wanted the bicycles to be when not in use. She answered honestly, that there was no specific spot for the bicycles to be put away, but in the winter they were up on hooks in the garage. This is understandable. Often, seasonal items are either in use or packed away. So, after some discussion we came up with a simple solutions. We used tape to mark off parking spots for the bicycles in the garage. We also labeled each parking spot and let all the children know that they were expected to park their bicycles in their spots at night.
In both of these examples we were able to find a simple storage solution with some discussion and planning. I encourage you to do the same. Keeping things organized will be much easier if you do.
© October 2016 Janine Cavanaugh, Certified Professional Organizer® All Rights Reserved
Schedule yearly bathroom purges to help keep your space organized. Items to purge include outdated lotions, makeup, and topical skin products, broken bath toys, soiled bath linens, and expired medications and prescriptions. The Drug Enforcement Administration website has information on safe drug disposal and the national drug take-back initiative in October.
Follow Me