All you need is little commitment to some basic principles, habits and tips that will help you stay organized.
1. Purge the Unnecessary Things
Our homes are full of things, hence the importance to purge often. Daily, weekly, monthly; whichever works fine for you. Untidiness begins to appear most prominently when we own too many things. The fewer items we own, the easier it is to keep clutter at a minimum and our space tidy.
The first and I believe the most important step in keeping your home clutter-free is to remove the excessive stuff contending with our lives, time and energy.
In your process of removing the excess, you should come up with a working definition of clutter to guide you on this journey. Define what clutter means to you; too much stuff in too small a space, anything that you no longer use or love or anything that leads to a feeling of disorganization. With that as your guiding filter, the rest is easier.
Junk drawers full of unneeded items (rubber bands, old batteries, or old keys), closets full of clothes you no longer wear and decorations that are no longer meaningful and/or outdated; they should all be either given away or thrown out.
2. Slow down
Once you shed the excesses, be slow to accumulating others. I know that as long as we are alive, we consume. It cannot be avoided, because human wants could be extremely insatiable - especially in today's society. But if we can effectively manage the invasion of possessions into our homes, clutter can be managed.
To slow the accumulation of things in your home, change the way you think while shopping. Understand that your purchases cost far more than the price on the sticker. Each one will require time, energy, and effort once they enter your home.
So before making a purchase, ask yourself these questions:
• Do I need it?
• Is there space for this in my house?
• Am I buying it for the right or wrong reasons?
The key word here is to organize.
When things are not organized according to their type, it's easy to keep living in a cluttered space. You don't want to be searching for a piece of socks or tie where you have your suits neatly hung. This may cause you to scatter everything in an attempt to get the handkerchief out.
Learn to stash like items together and you'll be able to easily sort through and think better in your living space.
4. Create Houses for Your Pets
Now that you've slowly built a new routine and you're working really hard at maintaining it, it won't be a bad idea if you get the pets to live outdoors.
Are you a pet lover? You probably have cats or dogs (or both) all over the house. While you may have trained them to do things appropriately, we all know the responsibility that comes with living with a pet. It's a huge one.
Living indoors with you may add to the clutter in your home.The cats' rubber toys or the dogs' plastic bones littering the floor at every turn. This can be placed in check if you get them a proper outdoor home for pets.
5. Replace Items after Use
Basically, all I'm saying here is, Maintain the good work you've already started.
If you open it, close it. If you finish it, replace it. If it's full, empty it. If you take it off, hang it up. If it's dirty, wash it. If it's garbage trash it. Brought in the laundry? Fold them.
It may seem like you don't have time to do these things right away (or motivation), but if you do it anyway, you will be much happier and have saved yourself an amazing amount of time. I think this is one of my biggest tricks to being organized. I don't let things "sit" and they never accumulate into a big task.
Slowly, it would become a habit that you won't ever think of not doing it.
Bonus Tip!
Either first thing in the morning, or just before bed, EVERY DAY, take at least 5 minutes to whip around your home and put away some things that you might have missed throughout the day and make everyone in your house do the same, including your kids.
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Are you interested in selling or buying your home in the next few months? Work with award winning realtor, Carmen Leal and her team that specialize in Real Estate Vancouver and have qualified Buyers that are looking for a home in your area! 604.218.4846 & www.carmenleal.ca
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