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“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!