How to Painlessly Declutter Your Home and Keep It Organized

My family is full of people and pets, and we do collect a lot of clutter. We have to keep on top of the clutter problem every day to stop it from getting out of control. Since the “people” part of my family are all busy, we also need to make it as convenient as possible to put items in their right places, ready to keep, recycle or discard.

An organized home makes life less stressful, lets you deal with jobs efficiently and creates a pleasant place to relax - and if your floors and rooms are very cluttered, clearing them makes your home safer too! The following decluttering techniques work for my family.

If an area of your home is so cluttered that you develop a feeling of hopelessness when you look at it you need a ruthless plan of action. To help you handle the intimidating problem, declutter for a small amount of time daily. If you break your decluttering time into small, relatively painless sessions you may find it less overwhelming.

Tidy at a definite time of day for a limited period - for example, work for only fifteen minutes in the evenings on a weekday and in the mornings on the weekend - or whatever fits into your schedule - and work hard during that small amount of time. Walk into the cluttered area holding a garbage or recycling bag and remove stuff as you go. Leave nothing in your pathway - everything from a surface or a floor must be discarded or put in its proper place. Keep as little as possible - if something’s been hidden in a pile of clutter for a long time you’ve been able to live successfully without it, it’s unlikely to be important. Enlist the help of other people in your home if you can - multiple people tidying for fifteen minutes can accomplish a lot!

Clear surfaces first, but if you have no drawers or cupboards to put things in because they’re cluttered too, put items you want to save in a storage bin - or bins - for a while. Just clearing surfaces and floors, getting rid of some stuff and placing things that you want to keep in a closed container will create order and give you a sense of accomplishment.

When it’s time to tidy the hidden clutter, tidy one drawer, one shelf or one container at a time. Consider buying drawer, cupboard or closet organizers to create even more order.

Once your home is decluttered it’s important to keep it that way so that you don’t have to repeat a major tidying effort.

Place containers next to hotspots for clutter buildup so that even when you’re tired or in a hurry you can collect stuff for recycling and stop clutter from building up. For example, place a container or containers:

• by the toilet to collect the empty toilet paper roles
• in the kitchen to collect cans, packages, bottles and plastic bags (If you use plastic bags remember that they can be recycled.)
• by a work desk to collect discarded paper
• by your favorite chair to collect newspapers and magazines
• by the computer desk to collect empty ink cartridges
• by your desk to collect mail (to reduce clutter and to make sure that you don’t lose an important mail item)
  
  

If you have a computer, consider subscribing to digital versions of newspapers and magazines instead of buying paper versions. You may be able to read them for free if your local library subscribes to them.

If a free or inexpensive e-book is available, think about donating or recycling the equivalent paper book (unless it has great personal importance to you). Buy e-books or download free e-books instead of paper books when possible. Make sure that you back up your e-books in multiple places, though, to avoid losing them.

Get e-mail or digital bills instead of snail mail and paper bills.

If there’s a continual stream of new things into your home there must be a continual stream of items out, or you’ll soon reach a cluttered state. (If a large number of new things are coming into you home every day you might want to consider following a more minimalist lifestyle, which will not only reduce clutter but also save money.)

Check what types of products your nearest recycling depot will accept. If the price is acceptable, always try to buy products in recyclable containers. Within walking distance of my home there’s a supermarket that has recycling bins for bottles and packaging, and there’s also a bottle/packaging depot in the same shopping center. I try to never visit the supermarket without taking something to be recycled.

A lot of free paper products - community newspapers, flyers etc. - are delivered to my home. They build up rapidly and are one of the worst form of clutter, especially if the pages of the newspapers separate and get redistributed by playing dogs or cats! I’ve made a rule that when new flyers or newspapers are delivered I must recycle the old ones, even if they haven’t been read - no exceptions.

Apart from essential food, toiletries, medicines, cleaning products and basic clothing (create a list of what clothing items are essential in your life), every time you bring something home, recycle, donate or discard something else, preferably a similar item. For example, if you buy a new magazine, recycle an old one. Also consider if you really need to buy the new item in the first place.

Consider donating items that are in good condition but are no longer used. If you have clothes that you never wear, or that no longer fit you, donate them to a charity organization. There may be a charity collection bin for clothing in your area. If so, try to make use of it. Clean and donate children’s toys which have been outgrown or are no longer popular.

Research places in your community that accept electronic devices and empty ink cartridges for recycling and make use of them. Also research organizations that will pick up large items for disposal and use them if you need to get rid of big things.

Before going to bed, do a very quick survey of your home and put anything on a table, countertop or floor back in its proper place if it doesn’t belong where it is.

Once you’ve got an organization system in place your clutter problem is solved, provided you keep using the system that you’ve created. It’s important to make your decluttering method very easy to use so that a busy life doesn’t get in the way of your efforts to keep your home clutter-free.