How To Quickly Eliminate Clutter

Labor Day weekend officially marks “the end of the summer.” Sad to say good-bye but I’ve got to admit, I’m anxious for this heat to end!  Season changes also provide a natural time to clear out your stuff. So next weeks assignment is: Eliminate Your Clutter! 🙂

Do you feel like you have clutter in all different areas of your home? Piles of magazines here, boxes of stuff there? It can easily get overwhelming and all this clutter carries a big weight on your shoulders. A strategy to uplift your energy, and your disposition, is to clear all the clutter, one room at a time. Simply use the “out of sight, out of mind” approach. Go room by room in your home and identify the things that you use or are aesthetically pleasing. For example, in your bedroom you should identify your:

• clothes on the floor (that you wear!)
• bed and linens you use
• dresser
• photo frames
• jewelry box
• rug

Here are some things that should NOT be on the list:

• the pile of magazines that you still haven’t gotten to in six months
• the treadmill that’s collecting dust
• the box of clothes that don’t fit you anymore
• the extra nightstand that serves no purpose (except creating a home for clutter!)
• the sofa chair you don’t sit on because it is covered with books and probably those books too 🙂

Basically, only keep the essentials: things you use or things you really like to look at (like the photo frames). Take everything else out and put it somewhere else for now. Like a guest room, garage or media room. Then go through another room in your house and repeat the process. Putting your clutter out of sight and in one collective area is important for three reasons:

1. You will immediately feel better! That weight will be lifted
2. You can visually see how much stuff was overwhelming your life. Seeing it all together makes you realize how much “extra weight” you’ve kept around
3. You can systematically go through your clutter in one area, on your own time and terms, while having the rest of your home clutter-free

Try one room this weekend or over the week and see how it goes. I’d love to hear how you feel!

Hope you have an awesome long weekend! 🙂