Clutter Management

If you’re not careful, clutter can take over your life. Taking control of your clutter will give you a sense of pride, independence, and relief. It can seem like a daunting task. There are a few ways to make it easier while making it more of a lasting adjustment. Getting things all cleaned up will only last for so long if you don’t make it easy to manage in the future. Clutter control starts with a plan. You have to plan for the future so that your efforts are rewarded with constant organization afterward. You don’t want to get completely done cleaning fifteen things in your house only to find out that the first thing you cleaned is already disorganized and cluttered once again. Follow these steps to getting your home clutter free and keeping it that way.

Concentrate on being efficient. With every task, ask yourself, “What is the fastest way to get this done correctly?” For a bedroom, it could be that you should make the bed, pick up dirty laundry, put away clean clothes, remove trash, organize junk, and then vacuum and dust. If you start with organizing your bedside table, then the giant mess will be looming over you the whole time, draining your mental energy, and making it less likely that you will finish the job. Getting the big and easy things out of the way first will motivate you to keep going.

When everything is pretty straight, evaluate what you have. What are the key problems with the areas that get the messiest? Does the laundry go all over your room instead of in the hamper? What’s the easiest way to solve this one problem? Make your solutions as simple as possible so that you are more likely to follow through.

It may seem silly, but having a hamper with a lid will deter most people from putting their dirty laundry inside. If the hamper is in the closet, you’re more likely to leave the clothes in a pile outside of the closet, just to avoid opening the door every time. Replace the closed or hidden hamper with an open one or a laundry basket. Put it where you can easily throw clothes into it from where ever you normally get dressed. Make sure that you have another laundry basket to replace it when it’s being used to bring laundry to the washer and dryer, or to bring clean clothes back into the bedroom. You want a laundry basket or hamper there at all times.

Make sure that you have a place for all of your clothing, preferably in your closet. Try to make putting laundry away a “one stop shop”. Use the right hangers for the different types of clothes that you have and it’ll keep your closet and your clothes looking neat. Choose clothes hangers that serve the purpose that you need them for. For example, a coat hanger or wood hanger is best for heavy coats and suits. A cascading hanger can let you hang multiple pairs of pants on one hanger, saving you space in your closet.

Use these same techniques of concentrating on your habits and making the solutions more efficient throughout your home. Your clutter will shrink and your messes will be more easily managed. Remember that if it changes your routine too much, you are less likely to follow through. Having a place for everything and making that place easily accessible will help you control clutter in your home.

About the Author: Joe Granville is on the staff of Only Hangers, a leading online resource for wood hangers, coat hangers and all types of clothes hangers which is recognized for the excellent quality and value of its wood hanger and coat hanger offerings. For more information, please visit http://www.onlyhangers.com.