Look around your home right now. Is your living space a cluttered mess? Does it seem that way no matter how hard you try? It can be difficult to keep clutter under control when you’re so busy in the rest of your life. Work and kids alone are enough to fill anyone’s schedule, but you still have to take care of the rest of life too! Fortunately, reducing clutter at home is easy with these simple steps for how to get rid of clutter for good.
Tips For Getting Rid Of Clutter
Minimize Your Stuff
The first step in reducing clutter at home is to go through your stuff and get rid of the stuff you don’t need or use. Some of the stuff might be trash, but the majority will be suitable for donation in some way or another. There are plenty of options, from your local Goodwill (or equivalent) to helping out family members who need the stuff more than you do. It’s important to start with things you don’t use at all then move into things that you don’t necessarily need. The extent to which you minimize is up to you, but the potential for clutter decreases when you have less stuff.
Implement the Five Minute Rule
Clutter is cumulative. The random stuff sitting all around didn’t get end up there in one fell swoop. It takes time to amass enough clutter to start catching your attention. A few out of place items won’t even show up on your busy radar, but when you let it go for a few weeks you’ll suddenly look around and wonder, “How did it get this bad?” The five minute rule will help you solve that problem. All you have to do is spend five minutes each day tidying up. Even the busiest people can find five minutes to pick up. Get a kitchen timer, set it for five minutes, and start cleaning up! When it goes off, you’re done. You might not get everything in one go, but the next day you can make up for it with the extra time you have on another day. You’ll be amazed at how much five minutes can do for reducing clutter at home.
Go to the Source
After you’ve been cleaning up every day for a week or two you’re going to see some patterns. Are you picking up the same toys from the same place every day? Do morning coffee cups seem to grow out of the same side table all the time? When you recognize patterns it’s time to go to the source. Convince the kids to put their toys away with rewards. If you’re the problem, start thinking about the time you could save by eliminating the clutter before it even starts. You don’t have to completely eradicate clutter, but with a little bit of work you’ll have it down to almost nothing in no time.
Reducing clutter at home doesn’t have to be a life changing event. Use these simple tips for how to get rid of clutter. You will love how good it feels to get things under control and keep it that way!
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Kelly Evans says
Thanks for these tips. In fact, these tips could really help me to reduce clutter inside my house. Even if I value my things I think I need to get rid of the stuff that is not so important already.
Shalasha says
Thanks for this post ! I do need to reduce more clutter. We just moved into a apartment from a house. Although it is a good sized space we lost the closet space. Still trying to figure it all out 🙂
Sandy Vanhoey says
Thanks for these tips. I really don’t want many clutter inside my house most especially I have a little kid.
PinkDawn says
I go through all mail as soon as I get it out of the mailbox. Stand next to the recycling bin & toss everything junky.