The easiest way to get rid of clutter is to stop clutter from accumulating in the first place! Of course, stopping clutter can be easier said than done. But by developing the right habits and with a little effort you can finally stop clutter from accumulating and create a home you love.
After all, decluttering is hard work. The last thing you want to do is to find that all that work was for nothing because your home is now filled with all new clutter.
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Why You Accumulate Clutter
Why You Accumulate ClutterBefore we look at the ways to stop clutter from accumulating, it’s important to understand why you accumulate clutter in the first place.
There is definitely a reason your home became cluttered in the first place. For most of us, it’s about the habits we have developed. There are certain bad habits that contribute to your clutter.
To stop clutter from accumulating, you need to recognize those bad habits so you can work on changing them. Without understanding what habits are contributing to your clutter, you’ll default right back to your old habits.
Some common habits for why you accumulate clutter include:
- Making excuses for why you need so much.
- Keeping things you don’t love or use out of guilt.
- Holding onto items “just in case” you need them later.
- Having a hard time saying no.
- You have emotional attachments to your stuff.
- Decluttering is not a priority so you have no time to declutter.
- Being overwhelmed with clutter makes it hard to know where to start so you don’t.
- Not getting rid of the things you have decluttered.
- Shopping mindlessly or for entertainment purposes.
- Being blind to the amount of clutter you have.
These habits don’t just disappear after you declutter. You have to change the habit that caused you to accumulate clutter in the first place.
Look at that list above and determine which of these are causing you to hold on to clutter. Then start working on them one at a time.
Once you do, you’ll be on your way to creating a simplified home and life that you love.
Clear The Clutter You Have Now
The next thing that needs to happen before you can stop accumulating clutter is to clear the clutter you have now.
If you’re still in the decluttering phase consider signing up for the newsletter as all subscribers have access to the master decluttering checklist! Just click the image below.
As you go through the master decluttering checklist, sort the items into one of 4 piles. One for items you will keep, the second for items that are trash, the third for items you will donate, and the final for items you are not sure whether you should declutter.
Set aside sometime each day for decluttering. It doesn’t matter if it’s 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, or an hour, little by little you’ll make a lot of progress.
If you need more help with the decluttering process please make sure to check out the archives. There you will find lots of articles that will address various decluttering struggles you may have.
If you need to get started, start here with “How to get started on a clutter-free home”
6 Ways to Stop Clutter From Accumulating
Alright, now that you’ve decluttered your home, how do you stop clutter from coming back in?
While you may not be able to completely stop any clutter from entering your home, there are simple things you can do to stop clutter from accumulating.
1. Create a Clutter-Free Mindset
It all starts with our mindset, or way of thinking. In other words, you’ll never stop clutter from accumulating if you are not focused on having a clutter-free mindset.
There are various things you can do to create a new mindset, for now, begin by focusing on your priorities.
Think through why you want to stop clutter from accumulating. Do you want to create more space in your home and life, spend less time cleaning, reduce stress, or have a home you love being in? Whatever the reason is for you, focus on that!
Let the people close to you know that you are focusing on keeping the clutter out, it will naturally hold you accountable.
Regularly read books or websites on simplifying your home. Also, you’ll want to follow a few social media accounts with this focus, you can follow my Facebook account.
Print out some quotes or images that support your new mindset and hang them on the fridge or in your office.
These little things will go a long way towards helping you create a clutter-free mindset!
2. Work on Creating Good Habits That Will Stop Clutter
To stop clutter from accumulating you need to have some good habits in place. It’s not enough to just quit a bad habit such as leaving your clothes piled on the chair, you’ve got to replace it with good habits.
When it comes to building good habits, I highly recommend Atomic Habits by James Clear. There is a reason that book has been a best seller for as long as it has.
One of the keys he talks about is having a reward associated with the new habit you want to develop. So when you come home after a long day, before you can change into your comfy clothes (reward), you have to hang up or put in the hamper the clothes you wear. Soon hanging up your clothes instead of piling them on the chair becomes a habit.
Look at the reasons your home became cluttered in the first place. Then start developing good habits to combat that.
I gave you one example above, but perhaps your issue is impulse shopping. To defeat that habit consider planning a dream vacation, and every time you avoid giving in to impulse shopping that money goes into your vacation fund.
The point is to focus on what caused the clutter to accumulate, then create good habits centered around defeating those bad habits.
You can stop clutter for good by replacing your bad habits with better ones.
3. Add Decluttering Tasks to Your Daily Routine
The next way to stop clutter from accumulating is to make decluttering a part of your daily routine.
I have a daily cleaning routine where I focus on cleaning one room each day of the week. By adding in 5 minutes of decluttering I stay on top of the clutter and stop it from accumulating.
Another thing that is a big part of my decluttering routine is keeping a decorative “decluttering basket”. As I go about my day when I come across something that should be decluttered I add it to the basket. When it’s full the contents go to the donation center.
After your initial main declutter of your home, it becomes much easier to recognize new clutter entering. By adding 5 minutes to your daily routine for decluttering, you stop clutter from accumulating.
As you come across things that you are not using or love go ahead and toss them in that decluttering basket. It’s as easy as that!
4. Focus on Quality Over Quantity
For years I was a big bargain shopper. A big sale was hard to pass up and I loved the thrill of scoring something on a huge markdown. I’ll be honest, it took me years to realize that all may great sale bargains in my quest to save money, were actually wasting money. It was also cluttering up my home.
Instead of purchasing several cheaper bargain items, it’s much better to purchase one high-quality item. Higher quality items last longer and you won’t have to worry about replacing the item as often.
Because your focus is on limiting the amount of stuff you have in your home, making fewer purchases allows you to afford quality pieces. Plus, when you purchase quality items, you will love them for years to come.
While it’s tempting to give in to an awesome sale, in the end, they contribute to your clutter and cause you to waste a whole lot of money.
You are better off spending twice the money on one quality piece you love than having five pieces that are just okay. You’ll stop clutter from accumulating and create a home you love!
5. Set Space Limits in Your Home
Setting space limits is one of the best things I did to stop clutter from accumulating.
This is something I first started doing with my kids’ rooms. Their toys, clothes, and items were taking over the entire house. They were given specific space for toys, books, and closet space for their stuff.
When new stuff came in that did not fit within those designated spaces it was time to declutter older items. This kept things from getting out of control and made it easier for them as well.
Before bringing something into your home you need to ask two very important questions:
- Do I have room for this?
- Will this add value to my life?
If the answer to either of those questions is no, do not purchase or accept the item.
It’s important to be very mindful of what you allow to come into your home. I know it’s hard at times, but it is necessary in order to stop clutter from accumulating.
When you do bring new items into the house, try to get rid of something else. I promise the clutter isn’t worth bringing things into your home that you do not have room for!
6. Develop Intentional Shopping Habits
The last way I want to help you stop clutter from accumulating is to encourage you to develop intentional shopping habits.
Being intentional is about being purposeful with the choices you are making. It’s about choosing ahead of time what you will allow into your home.
The key to doing this is developing intentional shopping habits. In other words, you have to stop buying things you don’t need on impulse to stop clutter from accumulating.
There are various ways to develop intentional shopping habits, here are a few that work well:
- Evaluate each purchase you make – why is that item in your cart? Why do you want to purchase that item?
- If it is a sale item, decide if you would pay the full price right now.
- Think about the impact on your daily life if you forego the purchase.
- Determine if the item is worth the space it will be taking up.
- Do you own a similar item you like better? If so, forego the purchase.
Thinking through these things BEFORE you check out, will limit your impulse purchases, which in turn, will stop clutter from accumulating. And if you do make an impulse purchase you later regret, it’s okay to return that item to the store.
Stop clutter from accumulating and maintain a clutter-free home!
No one wants to go to all the work of decluttering their home, just to have the clutter come back. Once you declutter any area of your home, you need to have a plan to stop clutter from coming back and maintain a clutter-free home.
You can stop clutter from accumulating by creating a clutter-free mindset, developing some good habits, adding decluttering to your daily routine, focusing on quality over quantity as you honor your space limitations, and shopping with intention.
When you do these things you’ll stop clutter before it has the chance to accumulate. This allows you to create a home you love staying in.
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