6 Tips to Keep Clutter from Becoming a Bigger Mess

Have you ever spent an entire day cleaning up your house? Or your garage? Or your office?

It’s not fun to have to dig out of a big accumulated mess.

Those “big messes” don’t create themselves. And with a little discipline and effort you can prevent those large time-consuming clean up jobs.

Messes Don’t Happen Overnight

Your clutter and mess doesn’t “just happen.” They are the cumulative result of your habits and actions over an extended period of time.

Yesterday, I spent over 30 minutes cleaning up my desk. It should have taken me only a couple of minutes. However, I had been negligent with letting papers and clutter cover my work area.

So, instead of taking the normal 3-5 minutes to clean up, I had created a larger task for myself. I spent the better part of an hour cleaning up my workspace so that I could be productive again.

“It takes less effort to deal with clutter now, than to let it pile up for later.”

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Clutter unchecked, creates more work for you later.

But, it doesn’t have to be an endless battle. The key is to deal with it on an on-going basis rather than letting it pile up.

Here are 6 Tips to Help Your Clutter from Becoming a Bigger Mess:

1. Always Be Cleaning – Don’t let clutter build up. Don’t wait until it is a day-long cleanup effort. Instead, always be cleaning, a little bit here and there. It takes less effort to deal with clutter now, than to let it pile up.
2. Clean up immediately when done – Cleaning up immediately after an activity is always easier than doing it later. Whether it is cleaning the dishes or folding the laundry, don’t make a bigger mess later.
3. Always Put Things Back Where they Belong – Make sure that all of your stuff has a home. A place that it belongs. When you are done using something, put it back in its home. Next time you need it, you will know exactly where it is.
4. Eat Elephants Bite-by-Bite – Big clean up projects don’t have to monopolize your time. Chances are, you put off those large cleaning tasks because you are hesitant to attack them. Try “eating” them one bite at a time. Spend 15 minutes a day on the large task. Within a few days you will see noticeable progress. Within a week or two, you will have eaten your elephant cleanup task.
5. Create a Chores Schedule – Some cleaning and maintenance tasks are best related to a chores list. Create a schedule for the chores that you forget to do regularly and hold yourself accountable to checking them off.
6. Make it a Daily Habit – Start and end your day with some light cleaning. Make it a habit to clean your desk before you start your workday. As well, spend 5-10 minutes picking up before you call it a night. When cleaning becomes a habit, your clutter will soon disappear.

Keeping the Clutter Clean

Clutter does’t have to rule your world.

Whether at home, at work, or even in your car, the key to keeping clutter clean is to deal with it daily.

Cleaning daily doesn’t have to seem like a chore. Rather, it can be a habit that makes you more organized in all areas of your life.

Question: How do you keep the clutter at bay in your life? You can leave a comment by clicking here.