Clutter Busting
· Start by gathering up items that have drifted from their "point of origin" and return them. If items chronically "land" in the "wrong" place, it may be time to re-think your definition of "wrong" and to try to find an appropriate way to store them where they evidently need to be. A basket or tray for keys in the entry may work better than hanging them in the kitchen, and items that need to be returned or delivered can be gathered into an "as you" basket to grab "as you" go out. For example, hats, gloves, and warm scarves that always end up on the chair next to the front door might be better stored in an entry drawer than upstairs if you need to grab something warm as you rush out the door. It may be that you need to find a piece of furniture that better meets your storage needs or relocate and "re-purpose" a piece you already have.
· Immediately put items that need to be returned with their receipts into a box or crate you keep in your car. Do this for those irritating little projects too, so that the weird screw, part, or button you need to match to finish a task is where you need it whenever you wind up at the store, instead of buried under yesterday's mail.
· Mail is one of the worst clutter culprits. Sit down every evening and give yourself 10 or 15 minutes to open your mail. Put bills to be paid into an "in basket" by themselves so they don't get buried and try to get to them on a regular basis, whether that is once a week or on a certain date every month. Filing is a lost art, but even a banker's box with labeled manila folders can help you corral income tax receipts you need to save, pay stubs, and other important documents. It doesn't have to be fancy, but it does need to be simple and straightforward enough that you will use it rather than letting documents pile up. The best advice I ever received was to "touch" a document or task once and handle it from start to finish, rather than shuffling it around on my desk.
· Plow through the junk mail and keep ONLY those coupons you know you will use and dump the rest. If you have to "work" to incorporate using the coupon into your life, then you really aren't saving any money.
· For school papers, it is never too late to help your child organize his or her binder. Divide a sturdy binder into sections for each subject, and provide pocket dividers at the front of each section so that homework and permission slips to be handed in are on top for each class every single day. Check the binder periodically to help your child keep things under control; you will be modeling a skill that will serve him or her forever. Help your child file finished homework in chronological order so he or she can find it to study from, filing either newest on top or oldest on top, but consistently all semester long. If the binder gets too full, have the child remove finished work for chapters or quarters once the midterm or final is over. Make a place for manila folders for each subject in a box or drawer in the study area, wherever that may be, so the child knows where to find completed homework for reference.
· If you are a project person that has multiple crafts or projects "in progress", make yourself feel better by assigning yourself only one task at a time and boxing the "components" of the rest in some orderly way. It's not physically possible to update 5 years of scrapbooks, sew 2 pillows, and write a cookbook all at once. Choose one task and perhaps even break that task down into smaller "bites" and finish one bite at a time so everything isn't out all over the dining room table. When you finish one task, you get to open another box, not before. Everything is sorted, contained neatly, and ready to go, but it's not "in your face" making you feel guilty. This works for "outside" projects as well; prioritize them and work them "in line," gathering all the parts you will need to finish the project and keeping them together.
· If your closets are overflowing, tackle one at a time with a laundry basket and two or three boxes or bags ready to hand. In one box, place those items that don't fit or haven't been worn for more than a year but that are still in good condition. This is your donation or garage sale box. Into the laundry basket, place items that need to be washed, dry cleaned or mended. Finally, into the last box or bag goes the garbage. Load the donation box and the items to be dry cleaned straight into your car to drop off the next time you are running errands. Mend what needs mending immediately or add it to the donation pile. After you have the "volume" in each closet reduced, you will need to fit your storage plan to the size of your closet. For example, for small closets it may be necessary to pack or move out-of-season clothes; sweaters may be better stored in drawers or on shelves.
· If you are ready to tackle cleaning any storage area (a pantry, a closet, a drawer), it may be more helpful for you to completely empty the space you are trying to organize. Research has shown that it’s easier to declutter when you are deciding what to put back rather than what you want to subtract. Carefully consider each item before you put it back. Do you use it? If you should use it but don’t, examine if it’s in the wrong place or just plain not user-friendly. If it’s a decorative item, do you love it? Does it make you happy or does it bring back an unpleasant memory? Life is too crowded to keep things that we think we “ought” to keep but don’t need or want. Let items like this go forward to someone who can really use them.
There are literally hundreds of organizational products available, and it is possible to make your spaces work more efficiently without spending a fortune. If all this still seems overwhelming, please contact me and together we will get you organized!