http://www.care2.com/greenliving/clear-your-clutter-in-six-steps.html
Clear Your Clutter in Six Steps
Inspired by Teen Feng Shui, by Susan Levitt (Inner Traditions, 2003).
Clutter makes chaos. Susan Levitt defines clutter as items that are not stored properly (so either you can’t find them when you need them or you’re constantly tripping over them), items you don’t need or use that still take up space, and items you dislike that you feel obligated to keep. But you can conquer your clutter!
Here are six steps to rid your home and your life of clutter forever:
First, categorize your stuff.
You can do this room by room, since most of us are overwhelmed by the thought of doing the whole house all at once. Here are the five categories:
Essential: The things you need and use regularly.
Favorites: Your treasured mementos and favorite pieces of art.
Other people’s stuff: Things that you have borrowed, including rented videos and library books, and items that just don’t feel like they should belong to you anymore.
Annoying: Dirty laundry, junk mail, old magazines. It all piles up quickly.
Disgusting: Moldy food, junk food wrappers, that kind of thing. Eww.
Now you’re ready to conquer your clutter.
Ditch the disgusting stuff. This is the most obvious and easy place to start. Wash, dump, compost, or otherwise get rid of it.
Deal with the annoying stuff. Recycle magazines and junk mail, collect and wash the laundry, file, box, and store the things you think you might need, but get all of it out of sight and out of your space.
Donate. Give borrowed items back to their owners. Donate unwanted stuff to a local charity. Be honest with yourself: if you really detest something, even though it was a gift, get rid of it. You will find this to be remarkable cathartic and freeing.
Display. Your favorite things deserve special places where they can go. Honor your jewelry with a beautiful box, place loose photos in an album, make a shelf to show off your collections.
Devise. Your essential things need to be accessed easily, so devise a system so you’re not always fruitlessly searching for them. Keys can go on a hook by the door, bills in a basket on the desk, dirty laundry in a hamper in your closet, borrowed items in a box that you check every time you’re getting ready to visit someone.
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107 comments
add your comment »ha ha i know how you feel. i have a back bedroom that i fear going in !my son moved out and left alot behind , but .............. after reading this i intend to don a pair of rubber gloves and get to it ..........good woman or what ha ha ! kat swansea
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@Lindsey Parkinson: what a great idea! Turning cleaning and decluttering into a game! That would be the way I could probably do it.
I hate to clean and I love games.
I will try this system.
Thanks for the tip.
Also Anny B. Bond's tips are great.
Thank you very much.
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thanks, much needed help my room is a disaster
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thanks for reminding me i am on holidays and i should be "de-cluttering"
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interesting "M.C." calls her "clutter" treasures...I'm sure at one point in time I thought my all "clutter" were "treasures as well. Since I don't have the time to recycle every 2 weeks, I simply start in an area that makes me feel good about gifting,recycling,and clearing. Lets be nice-in Hawaii we say Aloha- Jenna
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I am quite pleased to say that my home has minimal clutter; this is borne from years of discipline and practice. The trick is to put the item back in its original place instead of leaving it out, recycle or donate items that you do not need by placing or keeping them in pre-prepared boxes. I have a couple of boxes which I created for recycling, donating, swapping, KIV etc. I kept them out of sight in my store. When they full, I will try to attend to them asap so that there will be minimal clutter. The only items that I have difficulty parting with are my precious books and the National Geographic Magazines (from December 1989 till today). I have a couple of hundred of books in airtight containers and some more on wall to wall bookshelves in my room, family rooms and the study...sigh...plus recipes books (nearly 40 of them) in my kitchen. Thank god I have a huge house but I was told space will run out eventually if I keep up with my book and mags collection!
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I have just received the following personal message in response to my comment below from one MARIE C in huge letters and it read as follows: "WILL YOU PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE WITH YOUR STUPIDITIES". I don't know who this person is and why she chose to send this offensive message to me. If your site does not want people to comment, then I suggest you refrain from sending your material. If you encourage such offensive behaviour towards genuine care2 members, then I do not wish to participate here any longer. I strongly suggest that you track this individual down and have it out with her. I did not come here to be insulted. Thank you
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I recycle every 2 weeks. My only clutter are my treasures collected over many years and stuff that memories are made off.
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Thank you, I found this article breaks the task down to easy step by step doable way. I think maybe I can master this.
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I wish you luck Sharren, I too find myself being like my mom and I had promised myself I would never be like my mom and over stuff my place with stuff.
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