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Conquer Your Clutter
By Christina | August 25, 2007
What is clutter? As defined by The Free Dictionary, clutter is a confused or disordered state or collection. We all have some sort of clutter around us be it at work, at home, in the car. At home we have junk drawers, piles in the garage of stuff to get to one day, closets dedicated to the things we don’t need or use anymore, and lastly, things we can’t part with but have no interest in.
Here are some Clutter Control rules to help you Conquer Your Clutter:
1. When In Doubt, Throw It Out - I find this rule quite freeing. If you have a widget in your hand and can’t even remember what it is, it’s time to let it go. I find this rule especially applicable when I am cleaning out my daughter’s room. She has a sungle barbie shoe or half the pieces to a game. If the other half doesn’t make its appearance by the end of the clean up session, it goes “bye bye”.
2. Use It or Lose It - I am by no means a pack rat and so for things to pass my test they must have been used by me in the past six months. If not, I rid my home of them. If I am truly perplexed about an item, I give it another 30 days to find its way into use. If that doesn’t happen it goes to Goodwill.
3. Store Things With Efficiency in Mind - It makes sense that if it’s easy, it has a better chance of happening. This is true with clutter control as well. If you replace your books on a bookshelf you will probably put them away but if they are kept in a box in the attic, odds are you will not go through the trouble in the middle of what is possibly an already busy day.
4. Handle Things Once - This one means more work at the moment but saves time in the end. If, for example, you have a stack of magazines to put away collect them all at once and find a spot for them. If you lay them down “for now” you have to pick them up again.
5. Save Only What You Will Use - Some of us reuse our plastic grocery bags for storing wet bathing suits, carrying lunches to work or as small trash bags. Once you have 20 bags and you know you only use 10 bags a week and each week you collect another 20, it makes sense to save 15 at a time, not allowing the clutter to accumulate.
6. Everything Has Its Place - Sounds easy doesn’t it. If everything is in its place, you know where it is. If there is a place for everything, you are clutter free.
These are just a few tips to start you on your path towards a clutter free life. The next time you feel as though your clutter is coming at you from any which direction, take charge and conquer your clutter!
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