Tips to Reduce Clutter and Organize Living Space

It's relatively simple and rewarding to take steps to create order and space in your home. I’ll offer tips to help you organize mail, magazines, newspapers and overflowing closets or shelves. The worthwhile ideas below provide motivation and methods to help you arrange and streamline possessions. You’ll be better able to spot what you’re looking for quickly, get more done in less time, and reserve precious hours for what you really want to do.

1. Start with one task at a time. According to Cynthia Townley Ewer, the editor of Organized Home dot com, "Start slow, small and steady. Just as clutter arises gradually, over time, so it must be fought gradually over time." Schedule fifteen minute cleaning sessions and reward yourself when done. Files overflowing? Tackle them by using the same technique Townley Ewer suggests above. Weed out those folders you no longer need, combine those you can, and leave those that work as is.

2. Make your bed early in the day every day. You'd be surprised how quickly this helps dress up your bedroom. Doing this one small thing gives you a sense of accomplishment, and encourages you to tackle the next "easy" decluttering project revealed below.

3. Put important items in a designated place. Install a key rack near your front door or in the kitchen. As soon as you come in, hook keys there mindfully. Place an eye glass case and glasses in the same drawer every day, and arrange medications on a tray in your kitchen or bath. Consciousness and control walk hand in hand. 

4.Purchase closet, shelf, and drawer organizers. Devise a clothing storage system that works for you. If you haven't used items of clothing or furnishings in one year, it's a safe bet that you can sell, donate, or recycle them. Feng Shui principals teach not to hold on to anything unless you love it. Save only those things you thoroughly enjoy.

5. Make a grocery shopping list and stick to it. You'll soon see that you save money, can easily find items in your pantry, save time, and reduce overall stress.

6. Prevent overwhelm before it begins. Are you financially overextended, because you collect or hoard stuff? It's up to you to choose to simplify spending, live within your means, and reduce the amount of financial responsibilities you take on so you'll sleep better at night. If you don’t know how to or can’t do this alone, ask for help from a financial planner, organizational expert, or therapist.

7. Reflect on your attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions. The National Association of Professional Organizers recommends you sort mail and bills as they come in. Clutter makers like newspapers, magazines, and books need to be recycled or donated on a regular basis too. A good rule of thumb to prevent reading matter pile up is to donate, share, or recycle what you’ve finished reading every week.

Which Would You Rather Create? Stress or No Stress?

8. Devote a few minutes at the beginning or end of your day to tidy-up. Wash dishes, discard garbage, and put away out of place clothing, towels, and odds and ends. Don’t put off tasks. Motivate yourself by affirming it's easy to get off to a fresh start each morning, when there's less mess from the night before. Use early morning to meditate and reflect. Envision yourself accomplishing goals, having fun during the day, and relaxing or living it up in the evening. 

9. Acknowledge you are deserving of thriving in pleasant surroundings. What small steps can you take to accomplish this in the next fifteen minutes? Then go for it! 

For more see 3-Secrets-to-Help-Clutter-Proof-Your-Home and Reduce-Clutter-to-Create-Tranquility-at-Home.


The quote for today is : “A simple life is not seeing how little we can get by with—that’s poverty—but how efficiently we can put first things first. . . . When you’re clear about your purpose and your priorities, you can painlessly discard whatever does not support these, whether it’s clutter in your cabinets or commitments on your calendar. (148)” ― Victoria Moran, Lit From Within: Tending Your Soul For Lifelong Beauty
For more see Goodreads Page on Clutter Quotes. 

Before you go please comment. Let us know which tips you can or do use and which ones you resist doing. Do you have ideas I didn't mention that you'd like to share with us? Scroll down, enter your comment, and then click publish.

Thanks for visiting. Wishing you a clutter-free day!



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3 Secrets To Help Clutter Proof Your Home

3 Secrets To Help Clutter Proof Your Home

Colder weather in January and February may mean you retreat inside. It can be an opportune time to clutter proof your surroundings and make your home more functional, relaxing, and appealing. Discover motivational tips, ideas, and support to help you get off to a fresh start.

Secret # 1-Recognize you are not the only one. An online stress trigger study conducted by the Huffington Post in 2013 of over a thousand people, revealed that close to half of the respondents reported feeling nervous that their home wasn’t clean or organized enough. This group included those who felt overwhelmed about things like crowded closets, dirty dishes in the sink, wash that was left undone, and uncertainty about where they put down their car keys, reading glasses, important papers, or even where to find a pen or pencil to take down a message.

Secret # 2-Change your thinking to transform your actions. Set the intention to make your abode more livable. When you are willing to learn how to streamline what you keep around you, simplify your cleaning and organizing routine, and give away or sell what no longer serves you, you’ll act more decisively. See whether you notice that when you clear space for those things that really matter to you, you feel happier at home.

Secret #3- Seek help from family, friends, and the pros. Until now, you probably haven’t requested or gotten help from those you live with. If roommates or your family members need convincing, explain why it’s important to you that they pitch in and how you’ll all benefit from the results. If you are unclear about how to put new routines into place or question why it’s healthful for you to do this, research the topic by reading a book about home care. Annie B. Bond, author of Home Enlightenment: Create a Nurturing, Healthy, and Toxin-Free Home states, “As with any sort of clutter, clothing clutter included, when you have too much crammed into closets, drawers, and trunks, you’re not appreciating or honoring the things that do make you feel good. There comes a day when you need to let go.” Annie goes on to describe how to do just that. Here's a link to her Website.

annie b. bond and home enlightenment

Another expert whose words ring true for me is Jodie Watson from Supreme Organization. Here’s her fix for a front entry make-over. 

http://www.myhomeideas.com/how-to/household-basics/tips-from-an-organization-expert/front-entry-fixes.

Here's a link to a savvy organizational expert named Jennifer Renee, who suggests this 30 minute de-clutter.

http://organizedhomeorganizedschool.com/2014/12/the-30-minute-declutter-that-really-works.html.

The last pro I’ll mention is Alejandra Costello, who appears on a YouTube video to show you how to organize a home office.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDaLxaeArt4

For additional ideas to reduce clutter and bring order to the place where you live read on 

1. Spend 10 minutes today to organize that junk drawer in your kitchen, nightstand, or magazine rack in the den. That's all you have to do the first day.

2. Do the next 10 minute project tomorrow. If you feel raring to go, notice how you feel if you start another clutter removal project as soon as the first is completed. Learn to check in with yourself so you can proceed at your own pace.

3. Remember to pause between tasks to savor the satisfaction of doing a job well.

4. Donate, give away, or throw out anything you haven’t used within the last year. Used clothing, books, magazines, and household goods can help the needy. Recycling cuts down on the amount of things that collect dust, and reduces junk that’s dumped in a landfill.

5. Make fluffing the pillows, pulling together your bed, and taking out garbage part of your daily exercise routine. Mop up spots on kitchen and bathroom floors as soon as they happen, in a moving mediation style. This will keep liquids from being tracked all over your house and keep you entertained as you clean.

6. Clean bathroom and kitchen counters, when anything spills on them or soils appliances.

7. Drop dirty towels into a laundry bag or bin, near your washing machine. This will save time on wash day and get them out of sight right now.

8. Keep garbage in a sturdy, washable container or pail that's out of sight, and take it outside daily. Share KP duty with all members of your household.

9. Tackle closet organization one part at a time. First, arrange clothes neatly on hangers. Then, create your own management system. Some people like to arrange clothes according to category like causal, dress, and exercise gear. Others prefer to sort by colors, and still others like to place shirts, pants, and outerwear into separate sections. Next, think about what would be most effective for you. I have installed hooks for bathrobe and pajamas and shelves for hats, belts, pocketbooks, and items that won’t be damaged by storing them this way.  I use clear storage bins and racks for shoes, bags, and odds and ends. The shelves in my master closet look neat and and items stored are easy to see. 

10. Affirm that if you haven’t worn or used an item for a year or more, it comes up for review. I’ve found that when I release something I never use, it makes me feel less burdened with stuff.

11.Be a cautious shopper, and think long and hard, before you buy new clothing or household goods. Before I take home any item, I ask myself whether I have something similar at home, is it an impulse purchase (what empty space inside am I trying to fill up), or do I really need it? If I decide to purchase a particular item, I get rid of one I already own by putting it in the rag pile, donating it, or giving it to someone else.

Please share about any tips or tricks you have up your sleeve that help you clutter proof an area in your bedroom, bath, kitchen, home office, or living room. I love to learn new housekeeping short cuts. Contact me by email obloggernewbie@gmail.com. If you feel I’ve provided useful information, please share a link to this blog and credit with my name, Nancy Andres. Here’s my Pinterest Page and Facebook Page

Also, here's a friendly reminder. Don't forget to order an autographed copy of my woman's self-care journal, Colors of Joy: A Woman's Guide for Self-Discovery, Balance, and Bliss. It offers many tips and ideas to help women readers feel a greater sense of well-being and joy in daily living. 
Colors of Joy on My Website


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The quote for today is: “I think people want very much to simplify their lives enough so that they can control the things that make it possible to sleep at night."
Twyla Tharp