The habits of organized clutter-free people can not only teach us how to have an organized and clutter-free home, but they can inspire us to pursue those habits!
Do you feel like decluttering is crazy hard and even a bit frustrating at times? I know I’ve felt that way. Honestly, I think we all have those moments when it feels like all our efforts at organizing are failing. We sit there and wonder why we can’t get that Pinterest perfect organized home.
I have a few friends who, no matter when I stop by, have their homes Pinterest worthy. I can remember years ago, visiting these friends and looking around their homes, and just thinking, how do they do it?
At first, I started looking for excuses, well they don’t work outside of the home, they have husbands who help them or they homeschool so their kids can always help.
The problem with my excuses was I also had other friends who fit these same categories and their homes were just as cluttered, if not more so than mine was.
Around this same time, I was in a bible study group and we were talking about keeping our homes. As part of our group, some of these ladies, who had well-organized homes, invited us over. They talked to us about how they organize their homes and lives. They were so awesome, they let us peek into their drawers, closets, and everything.
This was so much fun and such a great learning experience. Not only did I learn the habits these ladies implement to help them keep organized clutter-free homes, I learned it really doesn’t have to be that hard.
It is possible to live clutter-free (well mostly). But here’s the thing, it starts with implementing certain habits. The habits of those that have mastered organized clutter-free homes.
However, before we get into those habits, another thing I learned is that what works for one person may not necessarily work for you. Don’t compare your home to someone else’s idea of decluttering. There are lots of different ideas and ways to declutter and organize your home. It is your efforts that matter!
With that in mind, here are eight of the secrets each of these ladies had in common.
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1. Organized Clutter Free People Make a Plan
When it comes to clutter, honestly the single best way to prevent overwhelm is to sit down and make a plan. Decide ahead of time what area of your home you’ll work on. What days will you work on it and how much time will you spend on the project. Having a specific plan will eliminate any overwhelm and give you a specific goal to work toward.
As you work on your plan and timeline, take your decluttering tasks one step at a time. For example, if you want to work in a particular room, like decluttering and organizing your kitchen, break it down into small areas. Think of one drawer or cabinet at a time.
As you finalize your plan prioritize those smaller areas. You want to start somewhere you will quickly see progress. This will help you stay motivated to keep going!
2. They Don’t Procrastinate
2. They Don’t ProcrastinateA secret of having a well run and organized home includes decluttering as part of a regular routine. To have a successful decluttering routine, schedule specific beginning and ending times for decluttering.
By scheduling times for decluttering and organizing tasks the same way you would any other appointment, it becomes easy to keep a handle on your clutter. Just make sure that the times that you schedule are times when you have the energy to complete the task.
Also if at all possible choose a time where you will not have a lot of distractions or interruptions. A great trick to keep you on schedule is to set a timer before you begin and then quit when the timer goes off.
If you struggle with procrastination, you’ll live these tips to help you stop procrastinating in your home.
3. They Schedule Short Periods of Times for Decluttering
Organized and clutter-free people work on decluttering their homes on a regular basis. No, they don’t spend hours doing this every day, instead, they schedule short times as part of their regular routine.
As you start decluttering, you may feel like your initial efforts of 10 to 15 minutes a day are not making any real difference. However, as you continue your efforts they will build upon themselves.
Have you heard of the snowball effect? Essentially when you roll a snowball down a snow-covered hill it becomes larger and larger as it rolls along. This is the same thing that can happen with your decluttering efforts.
Soon you’ll look around amazed at all that you’ve accomplished. You can eliminate a lot of clutter in just 10 to 15 minutes a day!
4. Organized Clutter-Free People Focus on One Room at a Time
Here’s a simple truth, the more focused we are, the more we’re able to accomplish. This is true with anything, including our decluttering efforts. When you scatter your efforts throughout your home, you prevent yourself from seeing progress.
However, if you stay focused on a single area and fully complete your decluttering tasks before moving on, you will see results much faster.
5. They Start Small
5. They Start SmallWhen you’re ready to start decluttering and organizing your home, start with small manageable tasks. They should be simple and easy to complete. Don’t try and tackle a large project all at once. By doing so, you’ll burn yourself out and create more overwhelm.
Instead, by starting small you’ll complete projects sooner and you’ll notice the progress you’re making. Focusing on your progress keeps you moving forward.
Look for the simplest tasks that you need to accomplish, a junk drawer or the bathroom medicine cabinet are great places to start. These can usually be cleared out in 10 to 30 minutes. Completing these simple tasks breeds motivation to keep your home organized and clutter-free!
6. Organized Clutter-Free People Have a Regular Donation Area
Most of these super organized ladies I know keep a small basket or bin of some type that they use to toss items in they want to clear out. I found this super cute basket that I keep in my living room. Whenever I come across items that I want to declutter I place them in one of the baskets. When the basket starts to get full, it gets boxed up for donation.
I also like to keep a similar basket in each of our bedrooms. This makes it easy for anyone to toss items that they want to declutter. By having a specific donation area readily available you prevent clutter from piling up in drawers, surfaces, or anywhere around your home.
7. They Are Mindful of What They Keep
The habits of organized clutter-free people involve regularly purging their homes of random items that they have no use for.
To be organized and clutter-free keep only those things that are either useful or that you love. As you go through your home, ask your self whether you really use the item and whether you have room for it. If the answer is no to either of those questions, get rid of it!
Sometimes this can be hard when dealing with sentimental items. When you come across an item that triggers some emotions and you’re not sure if you should keep it, go ahead and set that item aside. Then spend some time thinking about it before deciding whether to keep or get rid of it. But, remember it is easy to feel just as guilty for keeping the item as you might feel for getting rid of it.
If you’re really torn over whether to keep or get rid of an item, ask a friend what they think. They’ll be a lot more objective. You might also want to look at this post on conquering the emotions preventing you from decluttering.
The important thing is not to allow yourself to be bullied or guilted into keeping or letting go of sentimental items.
8. Organized Clutter-Free People Invest in Multi-Purpose Items
Clutter collects in our home and organizing evades us because we have too much stuff. Duh, I know, but bear with me. There are times when we think that we need certain things when in reality we already own other things that serve the exact same purpose.
Think about it, do you really need a toaster and a toaster oven? Do you need to have a stand mixer, a hand-held mixer, and a submersion mixer?
Organized and clutter-free people will only keep one item that serves multiple purposes and ditch the rest. They will get rid of the toaster and keep the toaster oven. Or they keep the stand mixer and ditch the hand-held mixer because they know they don’t need both.
So take a look around your home and get rid of all those single-use items, when you have other items that will do the same job!
9. They are Hospitable
9. They are HospitableEach one of my friends that have these habits of organized clutter-free people is also incredibly hospitable. As I talked about above, they happily invited us into their homes. Not only that, but they let us peek through their closets and drawers.
When you open up your home, it creates an immediate level of accountability. Knowing that you could have guests at any time is a great encouragement to keep things decluttered and organized!
Hospitality doesn’t have to be complicated, here is a great article from Joy-Filled Home on how to practice hospitality even when you’re busy and exhausted.
Having a clutter-free organized home really isn’t difficult. All it takes is implementing some basic habits.
But it is equally important to remember that your home is just that, your home. What constitutes organized chaos will be different for you than it is for me. Don’t compare your home to anyone else. Focus on setting up those routines that will allow you to manage your home so that you have time for the things that are truly important.
You got this, I promise.
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