Keeping a clutter-free home is a discipline we can teach ourselves over time, which requires a little motivation and work. Decluttering a home can be a mammoth task and is better accomplished as a slow process, yet once achieved, maintaining a clutter-free zone can be done by following three simple golden rules and adopting them as daily habits.
Rule #1 - Put Things Back Where They Belong
This relies on giving everything a “home” and putting it back there after you’ve finished using it. Clutter builds up when we use something and leave it lying around; by giving everything a place to belong, whether it’s on a shelf, in a drawer, or back in a pot or hook, it makes it just as easy to return it to where it belongs as it does leaving it wherever you last used it. Storing things where you’re likely to use them is a useful trick that makes returning items to their “home” a lot easier to achieve.
Rule #2 - Get Rid Of Things You Never Use
If you haven’t used something in 6 months to a year, are you ever going to use it? No. Get rid of everything that’s hanging around your home cluttering up your living space. Don’t keep items you wouldn’t buy now (unless you use them and are planning to replace them in the future) and items you’ve been keeping onto “just in case.” There are plenty of useless items you could do without and never notice they were gone: complimentary toiletries, excess plastic bags or shopping totes, newspapers and magazines - the list goes on. Sell, donate, recycle, or throw away.
Rule #3 - If It Takes Less Than 2 Minutes, Do It Now
We often put off doing things that could easily be done in a couple of minutes. Simple chores that take two minutes or less should be done as soon as you notice they need doing. Tasks like washing your plate immediately after a meal, making the bed, throwing a wash in the machine, taking out the rubbish, recycling junk mail, wiping down the dining table, putting away clean washing - it can all be done quickly and leads to less clutter and mess overall.