15 Reasons To Declutter Your Home

Unless you are already an extremely organised person – if so, please tell me how you became so good at life – I’m assuming you’ve accumulated a lot of unnecessary clutter in your home. This may bother you and if so, maybe you want to get rid of or re-organise all the extra stuff you have. But it does take a lot of effort, a bit of motivation to get rid of those 500 copies of [insert magazine you subscribe to here] or boxes of junk you’ve still not unpacked since you moved in can do wonders. Well, Sparefoot have created an infographic detailing 15 great reasons to tidy and declutter your home! You’d be surprised what you can gain from all that clutter: less stress, more time even money.

So go ahead and sort out your home for less stress, more money and a happier family life!

15 Fantastic Reasons to Clear Out the Clutter at Home | Sparefoot

The modern home is far bigger than the home of just 30 years ago – and far more cluttered! How can that happen? 50 Ways to Make Your Home More Organized, More Attractive, and More Efficient

Siobhan Harmer is an English freelance writer who drinks far too much coffee, here to help you hack your way to a happier life.

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Declutter Your Life

There was a time, about 8 years ago, when my life was cluttered. I had too much stuff, and it kept coming in all the time. I had too much to do, and didn’t know how to simplify my schedule.

I was in need of some decluttering, and I knew it.

When I started to change my habits, from smoking to running to being more mindful, simplifying my life was near the top of the list.

The question became, how to go about it? How do you start when you’re facing a mountain of clutter, and another mountain of commitments, and piles of files and mail and email and other digital information?

The answer became clear, as I got started: start simply. Keep it simple as you go. Simple, each step of the way.

That said, I found complications that made things harder at every turn. I’d like to help you with some of those here, briefly, in hopes that you’ll be inspired to start decluttering.

How do you get started? As simply as possible:

Take just 10 minutes today to sort though a pile, or declutter a shelf or table or countertop.Put everything into one pile, and start with the first thing you pick up (no putting things back in the pile).Ask yourself: do you really need this? Do you use it regularly? Do you love it? If the answer to any of these is no, then recycle, donate, or give it to someone who might want it. Put it in a box for these purposes.Put things back that you need/use/love, with space between things. This is their “home” and you should always put them back there.Stop after 10 minutes, continue tomorrow for another 10 minutes, and so on, one small spot in your home at a time.If you want to do more than 10 minutes, go ahead, but be careful not to overdo it in the beginning or you’ll think it’s difficult and not want to continue.

Once you’ve gotten the ball rolling, here’s how to keep going:

Keep decluttering in small bits. Pick an area to focus on each week.Don’t worry about perfection. Just get it simpler. You can always declutter it more later.Put your box of donation/recycling/giving away in your trunk, to get rid of next time you’re out. Email friends/family to ask if they want things — often you can find a good home for perfectly good things you don’t really use (that workout equipment).If you’re on the fence, use a Maybe Box (put things that you think you might need in a box, mark it with today’s date, put a reminder on your calendar 6 months from now to check on the Maybe Box. If you haven’t used it in 6 months, you probably don’t need it and can get rid of it.Get help. Sometimes you just can’t bear to part with yourself, but if you can get an outside person to make the decision (friend or family member), they are usually much more dispassionate and ruthless.Enjoy the space. Once you’ve decluttered an area, really focus on how much you love the simplified space. Once you’re hooked on this simplicity, you’re more likely to keep going.

Physical decluttering is only one type of decluttering. You can also simplify your day, and your online/computer life as well.

A few simple tips:

Decluttering your day is about reducing commitments, and saying no to the non-essential things. So first make a list of your commitments.Make a list of what’s most important to you (4-5 things) and declutter the rest. Say no to people with a phone call or email, and get out of existing commitments.Be very ruthless about saying no to new commitments — and seeing requests as potential commitments. Guard your time.Declutter your digital life one step at a time, just like your physical life. Email newsletters, blogs, social networks, online reading and watching, forums, etc. — are they essential? Can you declutter them?

Having other people in your life (home or workspace) can make simplifying more complicated. I have a wife and six kids, so I know how it is.

Some tips:

Talk to them about it early on, when you’re just thinking about it (show them this article). Don’t force a decision on anyone, but involve them in the decision-making process.Focus on the benefits, the why, rather than what they need to do and why what they’re doing is wrong. People don’t like to be wrong, but they do like benefits.Lead by example. Show how you can declutter your space, and how much nicer it is, and how much easier it is to find things, to clean, to be at peace during your day.If there’s resistance, focus on decluttering your space. Don’t get frustrated with them, because that makes it more difficult. Instead, remember that you were a clutter-holic not long ago, so empathize.Don’t shy away from an opportunity to discuss simplifying, and why you’re doing it, in a positive way. Criticizing doesn’t help, nor does acting superior. Inspiring helps tremendously.

This is just a start, to show you that there’s a path. Along the way, you’ll learn much more, about clutter and simplicity and yourself.

If you’d like help with the decluttering habit, join my Sea Change Program ($10/month), where we’ll be spending the month of August focused on Decluttering Your Life.

Sea Change Program: Declutter Your Life

Each month, we focus on a new topic, and I provide a plan, articles, a webinar, a forum, and the chance to form accountability teams. Creating a habit with others is a ton of fun.

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10 Ways To Declutter Your Home

It is quite interesting how we manage to make a mess in our own home. It’s as if we are hoarding. There are numerous studies that show that people tend to keep things for their sentimental value, or any other for that matter, and refuse to throw them away. An attempt is made with causes like salvation army, but even with tax cuts you get by donating your old stuff, people tend to stick to it.

Well, it’s all over now. Let’s declutter your home, and see it as a challenge.  Declutter 10 things in 10 weeks.

First, you need to put all of the cutlery back to its place, as well as other utensils.  Kitchen appliances that are not used very often should be put away. Grab a bin and throw away all the rubbish (papers, damaged cutlery, etc.). Return all other items to their rightful place and then clean. Wash your sink with hot water and some anti-cavity products, and then use some soapy water to wipe the chairs, tables, and even your cupboard doors.

Every year after Christmas, go through your children’s toys to see what they have, clean them, and donate all the unwanted ones to the charity of your choice. You may need to be ruthless and throw away things they don’t want to, but they will cooperate if you tell them that it is for a good cause.

If you’re like me, you tend to buy things on sale or in bulk, thinking that you might use them again, but instead they just stay in your pantry.  Create a meal plan, and try to use up those tomato cans, taco shells, etc.

You have, at some time in your life, probably bought fabric you liked in order to use it some day, but never did. Here’s what you should do: create three piles. One pile will be for the fabrics you won’t use, another for the fabrics that you’re not sure you’ll use, and the last is for ones you like but don’t know what to do with them. For the “definitely won’t use pile,” you should donate them or use them as gift wrap. The other two piles can cover a book, be a pin cushion, be cases, or even be wall art. YouTube is a great source of inspiration and instructions.

Go through your cupboards, cabinets, bathroom cabinets, etc. and throw away all the unused cleaners, toiletries, make up, lotions, potions, and other stuff. Swear that you won’t buy another one until you completely use the one you have.

Use a Sunday afternoon to go through your scrapbook supplies and find things you KNOW that you won’t use. Throw them away. For the rest, you can either create the scrapbooks or donate, sell, or swap them.

We all have a bunch of magazines with recipes that take away our storage space. Here’s what you need to do: cut them all from the magazines and glue them in a notebook. Perhaps one with a cloth cover made from your leftover fabric?

This is the most difficult. We women tend to buy handbags and shoes because we never grow out of them. We can gain weight or lose weight, but we’ll still have the same shoe size. Throw one bag away, the one that’s in the worst condition. Throw away a pair of shoes in the same condition. You don’t need to feel guilty. Sort through your clothes and see what’s missing.  Buy it! :)

Throw away pens that don’t work and similar. Throw away all the scratched CD’s as well.

Throw away rubber bands, notepads, broken pencils, notes, etc.  Then clean and organize it.

These are your 10 week challenges. Feel free to tell me what you did in the comments below.

Here is a blueprint of how to start tackling that clutter and enjoying a less stressful life: How to Declutter Your Life and Reduce Stress

Featured photo credit: Mini zen garden via Shutterstock Jeff has been a blogger and online entrepreneur since 2009. He mostly writes about business, finance and life.

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How to Get Rid of Things After You Declutter

Have boxes of items you are ready to let go of? Congratulations on decluttering your home, but now the question is: how to get rid of things? There are a lot of options and this article will cover a few choices for either donating or selling after you declutter.

If you are ready to just be done with the items, donating them is the easiest way to get them out of the house before you have second thoughts. There are many ways you can donate or give away your decluttered items:

Give to an organization that regularly accepts donations: Goodwill, Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, etc. There are many options. If you have large items you can even schedule a pickup from some of these choices. It may be weeks before they can come for the items though.Your local church, nursing home or hospital would probably gladly take magazines or books.Give them to a friends, family or neighbors who can use the items.List them on Freecycle. Freecycle is a great mailing list where you can list items you no longer want that someone else may want. Generally the person will come pick the item up at your home or you can arrange to meet somewhere to exchange the  item.

Sometimes we aren’t ready to just give away an item and would like to recoup some of our investment in the purchase. In this case there are many avenues where you can try to sell the item.

eBay – for a large value item eBay may be the best way to sell it. There will be more fees and if it is a heavy item the cost of shipping may be prohibitive to the buyer.Craigslist is a great place to sell items online to local folks. Because you are selling to people nearby this method is much more attractive for heavy items. It is easy to arrange for the buyer to pickup the item at your home or meet for an exchange.Use a local mailing list. Your neighborhood, church, school or other group may have a mailing list where people list items for sale. These lists can be the simplest way to list smaller items with a simple email that others may be able to use. Check facebook or yahoo groups for local groups and ask your neighbors.Hold a garage sale, or rummage sale, whichever name you prefer. Avoid the chore of having to do all the advertising yourself by joining a community garage sale. If one isn’t scheduled see if your neighbors would be interested in having a neighborhood sale. A sale with several homes participating draws in a lot more people and the cost and chore of advertising can be shared amongst the group.What is your preferred method to get rid of things after you declutter? Do you do a mix of he above or mostly do one? Share your tips and suggestions with us in the comments below.

(Photo credit: Woman with Feather Duster via Shutterstock)

 Do you want to learn some small optimization tweaks that make a big difference? If so, download my free 45 minute training here: Optimize Your Life   Lori Thayer is passionate about optimization. Optimize life and business when you connect with others, enrich, and simplify. Small changes make a big difference. These tweaks help you save time and enjoy life more. You can follow her on these sites: blog,  Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.

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How to Declutter Your Life and Reduce Stress

Excessive clutter is often a symptom and a cause of stress and can affect every facet of your life, from the time it takes you to do things to your finances and your overall enjoyment of life.  Clutter can distract you, weigh you down, and in general it invites chaos into your life.  Often times, however, tackling the clutter can seem an insurmountable task if you don’t know where or how to start.  By devoting a little of your time to getting rid of the clutter in your life and maintaining things relatively clutter-free , you’ll reap the rewards of pleasing living areas, reduced stress, and a more organized and productive existence.

The best way to tackle the decluttering of your home, your work space, and your life is to take things  one small step at a time.  Combined, small steps will lead to big improvements that will be easier to maintain over the long-run.  Here is a blueprint of how to start tackling that clutter and enjoying a less stressful life:

If you want to be more productive and focused in your work, getting the clutter out of your work area is essential.

Start with your desk. Clear everything off the top of it and take everything out of the drawers.  Assemble the items in piles on the floor.  Clean and wipe down your desk, and marvel at how pretty and clean it looks.  Sort through all of the “stuff” that was both in and on your desk.  Toss out as much as possible a relatively small amount.  Once you’ve weeded things out, it’s time to sort through the remains.  Set up a basic alphabetical filing system with a folder for each project or client.  Keep your office supplies and other items in designated drawers.  If you need to, label things, but the main thing you should do is designate a spot for every item you decided to keep and make sure that it stays there, or goes back there when you’re done using it. Keep flat surfaces clear, and have an inbox for all incoming papers.  When the papers  come in, sort them each day – toss, delegate, do immediately, or file simply file all documents, but whatever you do, DO NOT KEEP THEM ON TOP OF YOUR DESK.  All you want on the surface of your desk is your phone, computer, inbox, and maybe a special photo in addition to the documents you are working with at the moment.Declutter your computer. Get rid of files and programs on your computer that you don’t need.  Get rid of most or all of the icons on your desktop.  They not only slow down your computer, but they also create visual clutter.  There are better ways of accessing your information.  Regularly purge old, unused files.  If organization is not your thing, utilize a program such as Google Desktop to search for your files when you need them.Then move on to information. In the digital world of today, there are so many different ways that information creeps into our lives.  Information in itself can become overwhelming when you have too much of it, and this is called information clutter. Instead of letting information take over your life, set limits.  Reduce the number of things that you read each day and get rid of things from your RSS feed.  Chuck those magazine subscriptions, and reduce your consumption of news and television. I’m not suggesting that you cut yourself off from the world, just that setting some boundaries will help.  Instead of letting information, even the kind that friends share on Facebook, take over your life, control how and when you receive it by limiting what you read.r

Outside of work, home is where many of a bulk of our time.  So it’s no wonder that a messy house can add to daily stress.

Simply your rooms. If your rooms are too cluttered, you’ll want to simplify them.  Start by clearing off anything that is on the floors.  Throw out or donate unused things.  After clearing the floor, move to flat surfaces such as countertops, shelves, tops of dressers, etc.  Clear them as much as possible, and then move onto furniture.  Consider if you need everything .  Sort things in piles – toss, donate, or keep. Organize everything that you’ve decided to keep into drawers, cabinets, and closets, keeping them out of sight, but still neatly organized and uncluttered. Do this one room at a time.Tackle the closets. Closets are a great place to store things that you don’t want out in the open, and can easily become a place where you shove things just to keep them out of view.  Go through your closets – take everything out, clean it, and toss ,  donate as much as you can.  Decided a specific place to store anything you decide to keep.  Keep only the things that you love and use frequently.  As for your clothes, get rid of anything that you haven’t worn in six months.Clean out your drawers. Drawers are prime place for things to get shoved into.  Empty out your drawers, and sorting them by whether you’re keeping, tossing, or donating them.

Decluttering your work area and your home are great ways to start reducing the clutter and stress in your life, but there’s still more than you can do.

Reduce your commitments. Often times, our lives are too clutterd with all of the things that we need to do at home, work, school, in our religious or civic lives, with friends and family, with hobbies, and so on.  Take a look at each area of your life and write down all of your commitments.  Seeing it all written down can be quite an eye-opening experience, as well as overwhelming.  From here, look at each one and decide whether it really brings you joy and value, and if it is worth the amount of time that you invest in it.  Another way to reduce your commitments is to identify a few that you truly love, and get rid of the rest.  Learn how to say no and decline offers. If you eliminate the things that don’t bring you joy or value, you’ll have more time for the things that you love.Reconsider your routines. Many of us do not have any set routines in our daily lives, and simply tackle our obligations, chores, and daily tasks haphazardly.  Without structure, it can lead to chaotic days and a drop in productivity.  Instead, batch tasks together.  Instead of doing your laundry several times throughout the week, do it all on one day.  It’s helpful to write down all of your weekly and daily obligations, chores, and tasks, and then plan out daily and weekly routines.  Hang it up where you can see it and try to follow it.  You might find that having a routine brings a new sense of calm and order to your life.

Once you’ve successfully decluttered, whether it be one area or all the areas mentioned above, clutter will inevitably begin to creep back into your life. You must be vigilant in weeding it out on a regular basis, or it will just take over your life again.

Set up a system to keep clutter in check. Examine the way that you do things and how things make their way into your life, and consider whether you can put together a simple system for everything, from your laundry to work projects and email.  Write down your systems step-by-step and try to follow them as best as you can.  Follow your systems and you’ll keep the clutter minimized.Don’t slack off.  It’s easy to put things off for another day, but it’ll save you headaches in the long-run if you deal with things immediately. Throw it out, donate it, or keep it and put it in a designated area.

Julie McCormick is a freelance writer, and co-owner of The Cleveland Leader, a Technorati Top 1000 site. She married and is the mother of two young children. You will often find her playing around with the latest tech gadgets, messing around with code, or writing up a storm. She holds a Bachelor's degree in visual communications, and spent nearly a decade working in one of the largest public libraries in the U.S.

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