7 Tips to Declutter Your Home
Clutter = Stress!
Here Are 7 Tips to Declutter Your Home:
1. Clear off a counter. Clear off everything possible, except maybe one or two essential things. Do you have a small appliance sitting there, you haven’t used in years? Put it in the cupboard or better yet, donate it! Clear off all the papers and other junk you’ve been tossing on the counter too.
2. Pick a shelf, any shelf. Could be a shelf in a closet, or on a bookshelf. Don’t tackle the whole bookshelf, just one shelf. Clear away all the things that don't belong and leave it looking neat and clutter-free.
3. Pick up five things, and find places for them. These should be things that you actually use, but that you just seem to put anywhere, because they don’t have anywhere to go. If you don’t know exactly where things belong, you have to designate a good spot. Take a minute to think it through — where would be a good spot? Then always put those things in those spots when you’re done using them. Do this for everything in your home, a few things at a time.
4. Create a “maybe” box. Sometimes when you’re going through a pile of stuff, you know exactly what to keep (the stuff you love and use) and what to trash or donate. But then there’s the stuff you don’t use, but think you might want it or need it someday. You can’t bear to get rid of that stuff, so create a “maybe” box, and put this stuff there. Then store the box somewhere hidden, out of the way. Put a note on your calendar six months from now to look in the box. Then pull it out, six months later, and see if it’s anything you needed. Usually, you can dump the whole box, because you never needed that stuff.
5. Pull out some clothes you don’t wear. As you’re getting ready for work and going through your closet for something to wear, spend a few minutes pulling out ones you haven’t worn in a few months or don’t fit you anymore (because they are too big for you now!). If they’re seasonal clothes, store them in a box. Get rid of the rest. Do this a little at a time until your closet (and then your drawers) only contains stuff you wear.
6. Clear out your medicine cabinet. Go through everything for the things you’ll never use again (after all, we have food!), the dirty-looking bandages, the creams that you’ve found you’re allergic to, the ointments that never affected your energy or your eye wrinkles. Simplify to the essential.
7. Pull everything out of a drawer. Take the drawer out and empty it on a table. Then sort the drawer into three piles: 1) stuff that belongs in the drawer; 2) stuff that belongs elsewhere; 3) and stuff to get rid of. Wipe the drawer out, then put the stuff from the first pile back in neatly. Make sure you deal with the other piles immediately!
Clutter = Stress!
Here Are 7 Tips to Declutter Your Home:
1. Clear off a counter. Clear off everything possible, except maybe one or two essential things. Do you have a small appliance sitting there, you haven’t used in years? Put it in the cupboard or better yet, donate it! Clear off all the papers and other junk you’ve been tossing on the counter too.
2. Pick a shelf, any shelf. Could be a shelf in a closet, or on a bookshelf. Don’t tackle the whole bookshelf, just one shelf. Clear away all the things that don't belong and leave it looking neat and clutter-free.
3. Pick up five things, and find places for them. These should be things that you actually use, but that you just seem to put anywhere, because they don’t have anywhere to go. If you don’t know exactly where things belong, you have to designate a good spot. Take a minute to think it through — where would be a good spot? Then always put those things in those spots when you’re done using them. Do this for everything in your home, a few things at a time.
4. Create a “maybe” box. Sometimes when you’re going through a pile of stuff, you know exactly what to keep (the stuff you love and use) and what to trash or donate. But then there’s the stuff you don’t use, but think you might want it or need it someday. You can’t bear to get rid of that stuff, so create a “maybe” box, and put this stuff there. Then store the box somewhere hidden, out of the way. Put a note on your calendar six months from now to look in the box. Then pull it out, six months later, and see if it’s anything you needed. Usually, you can dump the whole box, because you never needed that stuff.
5. Pull out some clothes you don’t wear. As you’re getting ready for work and going through your closet for something to wear, spend a few minutes pulling out ones you haven’t worn in a few months or don’t fit you anymore (because they are too big for you now!). If they’re seasonal clothes, store them in a box. Get rid of the rest. Do this a little at a time until your closet (and then your drawers) only contains stuff you wear.
6. Clear out your medicine cabinet. Go through everything for the things you’ll never use again (after all, we have food!), the dirty-looking bandages, the creams that you’ve found you’re allergic to, the ointments that never affected your energy or your eye wrinkles. Simplify to the essential.
7. Pull everything out of a drawer. Take the drawer out and empty it on a table. Then sort the drawer into three piles: 1) stuff that belongs in the drawer; 2) stuff that belongs elsewhere; 3) and stuff to get rid of. Wipe the drawer out, then put the stuff from the first pile back in neatly. Make sure you deal with the other piles immediately!
