Declutter Fast -
My Top Ten Tips For a Tidy Home
Need to declutter fast?
Then try my top ten tips for creating and maintaining a tidy home. You'll find that less mess means less stress... and that's an important part of functioning effectively as a work at home mom.
1. Work on one area at time
A big obstacle for many people when attempting to declutter fast is the overwhelming feeling brought about by the thought of tackling a HOUSE full of clutter.
So set yourself a realistic goal - one room (or section of a room) per hour/morning/day - whatever works for YOU!
2. Make a decluttering schedule that includes every part of your home...
... and stick to it religiously!
decide upon a time frame within which you plan to finish decluttering - and divide the various jobs needed to accomplish your goal within that time frame.
3. Learn to be less sentimental!
You need to declutter fast? Then you need to be emotionally able to streamline your life, by disposing (in one way or another) of all the unnecessary 'things' you have accumulated over the years.
After all, family is more important than 'things' - apply your sentimentality to your family and the ability to spend more time with them, a goal you'll achieve by ridding your home of unnecessary clutter and the time associated with dealing with it!
4. In order to declutter fast, you'll need a game plan.
Divide all the clutter in each area of your home into 5 groups. Things to GIVE away (to friends or charitable organizations), things to RECYCLE, things to THROW away, things to SELL and things to KEEP.
Items to recycle don't HAVE to be the typical recyclable items like glass and paper - they can include any items that you want to pass on to a group like Freecycle or Freepeats, for others to make use of.
Do not allow yourself to create a pile of items you're unsure about what to do with - force yourself to come to a decision about what to do with EVERY ITEM!
5. Deal with your 5 piles of clutter IMMEDIATELY.
Take the items you wish to give away to their new homes at once. If you are donating any bulky items to charity, see if the organization has a collection service.
Move your recyclable items to an appropriate facility right away.
Make sure all items classified as garbage are placed in bags and put outside the house.
List all the items you want to sell on sites like eBay.
Put the items you want to KEEP in their respective closets or drawers straight away.
6. Make it fun to declutter fast.
Keep a list of all the areas you'll be cleaning and give yourself a reward as you cross each one off! Put on some music as you do the decluttering - it will help you work faster! Set a timer before you start and give yourself an extra reward if you finish before it goes off.
7. Get your spouse and children involved!
If you really want to declutter fast, then it helps to have everyone on board.
Offer your kids prizes and rewards for good work... make it seem more like a game and they'll be more likely to help.
If they're still reluctant, start a scheme whereby YOU clean their clutter, then auction everything you pick up to OTHER family members once a week. Your kids will soon learn to pick up after themselves!
8. If you STILL have lots of clutter, think about better storage.
You can use large, lidded plastic containers - or even screens or curtains - to either organize your items or obscure them from view. This will make things look far tidier and create a calmer atmosphere in the household.
9. If you need to declutter fast, grab a suitable container and run!
If you need to declutter REALLY fast (think unexpected visit from relative or friend), then simply take a container and run through your rooms, grabbing every item that isn't properly stored and removing it from the area. You can always go back and sort it all out later, but it achieves your objective of creating a tidy space in the least amount of time.
10. Once you've finished decluttering, take a moment to congratulate yourself...
... and really appreciate just how calm an environment you've created - and how liberating it is to streamline your life. Remind yourself of this feeling every time you feel tempted to leave clutter lying around in the future.
I hope you enjoyed learning how to declutter fast with my easy-to-follow tips... and if you'd like to add your OWN tips, I'd love to hear from you!
Go from Declutter Fast back to How to Get Organized.
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