Time can be both your enemy or your friend. Over time, clutter piles up leaving you with a home that feels cramped and messy. By the time you realize you need to declutter your home, the task feels overwhelming and daunting. If you stick to a routine that promotes daily habits to prevent clutter, it will make your life much easier.
Clutter is a direct result of procrastination. When you put a dish in the sink instead of taking a minute to clean it, this attracts more dishes that pile up. If a particular room in your house looks messy, you are more likely to continue using it as a catch-all space.
After a long day at work, the last thing you want to do is come home and clean. If you spend a few minutes each day doing small tasks, you will be surprised how much longer your home stays clutter-free.
7 Daily Habits to Declutter Your Home
Implement these seven daily habits to declutter your home. It’s easier to clean your home when you do small parts of it every day instead of spending a whole day or weekend dedicated to doing it.
Five-Minute Tasks Each Day
Make a plan to complete five-minute tasks each day. This could be spending five minutes vacuuming up the living room, five minutes wiping down countertops, or five minutes putting away some laundry. Set a timer to help keep you accountable.
Sparing five minutes here and there during your day can help tremendously to knock down the clutter and keep your home feeling fresh longer. Increase the amount of time you spend after a couple of weeks to seven minutes, ten minutes, etc., and really help knock out clutter quicker.
Clean Dishes After Meals
Cleaning dishes after each meal isn’t difficult to do. While many people prefer to take care of it at a later time, you can probably guess what kind of mountain the dishes make even after a day or two of just sitting there. Spend the couple of minutes that it takes to wash your dishes after each meal or even put them in the dishwasher.
Make it fun and something to look forward to doing after each meal. Put on some upbeat music, listen to a podcast, or watch a show while cleaning up. Clutter attracts clutter; declutter your home by inviting cleanliness instead.
Sort the Mail
The pesky mail makes stacks in various parts of the house whether in your kitchen, in your bedroom, or on the dining table. Cut it before it becomes a problem. Sort through your mail as soon as you bring it into your home. Throw out ads or coupons that you don’t need. Open up mail that is important and arrange them as such (i.e. arrange by due date).
You can also look at opting in for e-statements and communication for many companies instead of receiving physical copies in your mailbox. Lessen the amount of mail you get, which helps lessen the clutter in your home.
Put Items Away
Once you are finished using an item, put it away immediately following use. If you leave things just hanging around, they end up getting lost or hidden among other items in your home. This is especially frustrating when you need that item again later on.
In essence, when you take something out and you are finished with it, putting it away immediately diminishes the chance of inviting clutter into your home. Declutter your home quickly by folding up the blanket you just used. Think about putting shoes away immediately when you get home. Place pens and notepads back where they belong. It won’t take you long to do.
Clean the Fridge
The fridge is probably one of the most overlooked areas of a home. Generally speaking, it doesn’t cause visual clutter because the clutter stays behind a closed door. However, it can cause odor in your home if you leave food items in there for too long. This makes your home smell bad and feel unclean. Make a habit of cleaning out the fridge once a week to prevent odor.
Put labels on your food with very noticeable expiration dates on them so that you can get rid of expired items in a timely manner. This would also work for leftovers. Prevent them from getting shoved to the back of the fridge and creating mold. Wipe down shelves, especially when a spill occurs. There can be potential for your fridge to become a food clutter problem if you aren’t careful.
Store Items Off of Counters
It’s just a fact that clutter attracts clutter. If you see a mess on the counter or piles of items, you will likely just add to it instead of cleaning it up. Store your items and small appliances off of the counters to promote a tidy space.
Toss receipts and scratch paper immediately so that they don’t clutter your counter. Also, think of storing all food items in the pantry instead. Keeping your counters clear is a great way to declutter your home.
Establish Organization Strategies
Use an organization professional like myself who can help you establish strategies to keep your home clean and clutter-free. It is my mission to help individuals who feel like they don’t have the time to clean or they just don’t know where to start. With my skills, knowledge, and expertise, I can help you establish how to keep your home organized and decluttered.
Learning to Declutter Your Home is Easier than You Think
It doesn’t have to be rocket science to declutter your home. As much as you want to ignore those cluttered spaces, it’s best to take care of them now before they become a bigger challenge later.
Life gets busy; it’s understandable that things slip through the cracks and get left for another day. Help yourself now by creating daily habits to keep your home clutter-free. If you need assistance, let’s schedule a complimentary consultation. Together, we can create a plan of action for how you can take back control of your home and keep it that way in the days to come.