We’ve got a great bonus audio prepared for you on this page. (For the accompanying podcast audio and lesson summary, click here!)
“Clutter is anything you don’t like, use, need, want, or have room for. Clutter is a space-waster, a time-eater, a morale-sapper, and an energy-drainer. Clutter is, indeed, all the things in your home that don’t matter.”
Alice Fulton, It’s Here…Somewhere
The following audio is pulled from a past interview with April Perry and Alice Fulton, author of “It’s Here… Somewhere”.
The first 6 minutes outline 8 steps to streamlining the decluttering process, and then the remainder of the podcast goes over 10 principles and tips on maintaining a clutter-free approach to the home. (They’re outlined further down the page, too!)
8 Streamlining Steps
- Prepare Your Family (discussion, meals prepared in advance, etc.)
- Collect Containers
- Work in a Clockwise Pattern
- Evaluate and Assign
- Ask the Right Questions (Do I like it? Use it? Want it? Need it? Have room for it?)
- Group and Store Like Items Together
- Use Memento Boxes
- Enjoy the Empty Space
10 Clutter-Free How-Tos
- Get clear on WHY you keep things you don’t like, use, need, want, or have room for (this helps to avoid the time-wasting on-going debate over whether or not to let go).
- Make Keeper Questions your homemaking mantra to maintain a balance between ‘stuff’ and ‘available space’.
- Live the Law of Household Physics (to maintain balance between stuff and space and to make it easy to find things).
- Live the Law of Household Ecology (to maintain balance between stuff and space—the best avoidance method to recurring clutterage).
- Keep a charity bag in laundry area and fill it on regular basis (another way to keep balance and to avoid wasting time and energy).
- Avoid single-use items (hot dog cooker, Panini maker, meatball cooker, for instance); they are expensive space hogs and clutter-makers.
- Create “clothing bundles”(to free up precious drawer space, to keep clothing to a quality-over-quantity basis, and to save time and energy).
- Store only keepers; inventory all storage areas; keep storage “at your fingertips.”
- Store under beds using “4 Quadrant Principle” (to save time and energy when looking for things).
- Keep a cleaning bucket with professional equipment under each bathroom sink; teach children to clean bathrooms using professional techniques
Enjoying this lesson topic? Here are some related links to explore:
The Three-Box Method for Organizing Your Space
If you’re looking for a simple, step-by-step process to streamline your “stuff,” this is an incredibly doable way to get started.
The “Clean-A-Drawer” Challenge
Do you have a ‘junk drawer’ that drives you crazy? Would you like some help getting it clean – in a way that will KEEP it clean for good? We have a special challenge for you this week: to clean at least one drawer using the step-by-step instructions outlined in this podcast. Come join us in this quick win, and experience a boost in confidence, motivation and energy!