Cut Down On Clutter Fast!
If you want to know the easiest, quickest method to cutting the clutter at home it’s this: stop bringing clutter home.
Say what?!
I know.
I realize this rule of thumb doesn’t address the clutter that may already be in your house. That’s okay; I have a zillion other posts aimed at just that.
But Living Simply is a multi-fronted approach; what’s coming in is as crucial as what’s going out and what’s staying. The trouble is that far too many people discount the impact of the things they bring into their homes on a daily basis.
I’m talking about things that from the get-go are little clutter artifacts:
– Paper pamphlets you’re handed at appointments or meetings that actually contain no pertinent information you don’t already know or wouldn’t first think to access online.
– Free hand-outs like pens, stress balls, notepads. Oh dear lord, the notepads. Pfizer gives them to you and your hotels give them to you and your office gives them to you and houses everywhere are drowning in notepads!
– Not to mention the cosmetics samples the saleswoman so generously stuffs in your bag at the point of purchase, at the pronouncement of which you feign, “ohhhh, thank you so much.”
You take all these things, and you stuff them in your bags and then you truck them on home. Like shuttles. You shuttle the shit into your sanctuary. Your sanctuary!
And then one by one by one by one these valueless, purposeless things build upon each other.
A drawer becomes a cupboard becomes a closet becomes a room becomes a house becomes a life and if you think I am over exaggerating you are sorely mistaken.
So if you want to know the easiest way to cut down on your clutter, I’ll tell you: stop bringing clutter home with you.
The less you bring into your space, the less you have to deal with, the less you have to one day feel guilty over wasting or getting rid of, the less you have to sort out and wade through to get to the stuff that actually matters to you.
Let your walls be a boundary. Let your entryway be the barrier past which no clutter shall pass. Keep your recycle bin and your shredder and your donation bag right there and deposit those things immediately. Or, better yet, kindly pass on accepting them in the first place.
Image credit: The Curtis Casa
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So true, I am going to work on this – thanks for the post to keep it in the forefront of my mind! Just moved my shredder from the office (where it got little use) to the kitchen – where all the paper lands. In 3 days I already emptied the basket once! I sit down and shred or recycle everything right away!
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Such true words! I need to detox our place from all of the things mentioned in this post!
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Annie you are hilarious- and absolutely correct. Thank you for the reminder to decrease the middle steps of de-cluttering by simply not bringing junk in. Plus, your picture of the entry way is gorgeous!
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Shuttle the sh*t into your sanctuary.. hahahha. But seriously.. it’s so true it’s really not funny. I am my own worst enemy! Love your blog.
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I have use for notebooks so getting free ones are a bonus in my opinion! I have a designated storage place for stationary so I pop any extra ones in there until I have a need for them. Every person is different. What’s considered a treasure to one may be junk to another. A declutter list is meant to be a general guide, not a rule set in stone. Only you can determine what’s important and what isn’t to you.
My advice: ASSESS EVERYTHING you are bringing home, whether it’s store-bought, personal gifts or freebie marketing stuff. If you KNOW that you would use it or love it, keep it (preferably housed in specific spot so it’s easy to find later). If not, then either donate, give it away, or trash it. On the odd occasion I’m feeling “undecided”, I toss the item into an open (lidless) storage bin and give myself one week to decide what to do. If I can’t come up with a specific purpose for it, out of the house it goes.
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So true, I am going to work on this – thanks for the post to keep it in the forefront of my mind! Just moved my shredder from the office (where it got little use) to the kitchen – where all the paper lands. In 3 days I already emptied the basket once! I sit down and shred or recycle everything right away!
Such true words! I need to detox our place from all of the things mentioned in this post!
Annie you are hilarious- and absolutely correct. Thank you for the reminder to decrease the middle steps of de-cluttering by simply not bringing junk in. Plus, your picture of the entry way is gorgeous!
Shuttle the sh*t into your sanctuary.. hahahha. But seriously.. it’s so true it’s really not funny. I am my own worst enemy! Love your blog.
I have use for notebooks so getting free ones are a bonus in my opinion! I have a designated storage place for stationary so I pop any extra ones in there until I have a need for them. Every person is different. What’s considered a treasure to one may be junk to another. A declutter list is meant to be a general guide, not a rule set in stone. Only you can determine what’s important and what isn’t to you.
My advice: ASSESS EVERYTHING you are bringing home, whether it’s store-bought, personal gifts or freebie marketing stuff. If you KNOW that you would use it or love it, keep it (preferably housed in specific spot so it’s easy to find later). If not, then either donate, give it away, or trash it. On the odd occasion I’m feeling “undecided”, I toss the item into an open (lidless) storage bin and give myself one week to decide what to do. If I can’t come up with a specific purpose for it, out of the house it goes.