|
|
Clear Your Clutter to Get Organized
By Karen
Porter,
Editor
EasyHomeOrganizing.com
You
can't organize what you use daily, or even store what you use seasonally, if you
can't part with the "useless" clutter first. Having any clutter serves no good
purpose and detracts from most people's peace of mind. But let's assume that you
do have some useful clutter. By that I mean, you have an untidy and disorganized
pile of stuff as well as items strewn about your floors and counters that
includes stuff you do use or love. The problem is that among this "useful"
clutter that you need to organize is "useless" clutter. So just what is useless
clutter? And what do you need to do with it?
USELESS CLUTTER
Useless clutter includes any item in your home that you can't make a logical
argument for keeping. You don't use it. You don't wear it. You may not even
remember you have it. Yet it could be taking up prime real estate in your home.
For instance, maybe you're storing useless clutter in your closet. And because
you have no more room in your closet, something you do use is "stored" on the
floor under the living room cocktail table.
Useless clutter also can be stuff that you don't even have an intangible reason
for keeping. An intangible reason to keep an object might be that it stirs happy
memories. But useless clutter is an object that you're keeping that you don't
love! For instance, perhaps you hated high school and all its memories. Yet
you're still holding onto your high school annual. Or you're hanging onto a gift
from someone you dislike. Why?
Useless clutter also can be unfinished tangible business. Remember all of those
craft projects you started five holidays back? You never finished them. It has
been five years. It's not going to happen. Get rid of that useless clutter
today. It's just taking space in your home and making you feel bad. Every time
you look at it, you think about what you spent on the materials. Perhaps you
feel like a quitter for not finishing the project. Perhaps you feel like a loser
for not being talented enough to finish the project (Don't. We all can't be
great, or even good, at every craft or task.) Perhaps you start stressing
because you start thinking 'I really should finish that but when will I have
time.' Stop that! Just trash that useless clutter. It's not serving any useful
tangible or intangible purpose in your home. If it were, you'd be able to name
that useful purpose right now. Can you?
BORDERLINE USELESS CLUTTER
Clutter also happens when you have too many things stored in a too small space
to hold them. In this case, some of these clutter items may be perfectly useful.
The problem is that you don't have space to keep all of these items. You just
don't! So you will have to make some decisions.
First decide if you have other places to put these items. Once you clear out
some of your "useless" clutter, some space may become available in your home to
organize and place your "useful" clutter.
Second, prioritize these items. For instance, if you have three exercise
machines in your home but no room to use them because they're positioned in one
tiny space, then they become useless clutter. Choose one or two of the exercise
machines you like best. Spread them out in the existing space so they can be
used. Donate the third one. Get a membership to a local gym to fill in for the
purpose of the third exercise machine that you donated. It takes less space and
accomplishes the same thing.
Now that you've cleared the useless clutter, you can start organizing the useful
clutter that remains. Keep at it over a period of hours, days, weeks or even
months and you'll soon have no clutter and a designated home for all of your
possessions that you keep because you either use them or love them or both.
|
|
|
