14 Ways to Declutter Your Home and Your Life

Easy Ways to Declutter Your Home and Your Life

With today’s busy lifestyles, work schedules, school assignments, and more, it can be easy for the chaos to take its toll. This speed of life can become overwhelming very quickly, and before you know it, the house is a disaster and the stress-level is at an all time high. Not only is this state stressful, but it can be downright unhealthy.

The good news is that, with a small amount of organization, we can easily alleviate a good amount of this stress and clutter. A clean home and an organized schedule can help restore some peace to your everyday routine.

Here are 14 great ways to reclaim order in your home and life.

How to Declutter Your Home and Your Life

(14 Decluttering Tips)

1. Categorize.

When you first begin to address the mess and clutter in your home, it is a good idea to break things down into four categories: Toss, Recycle, Donate, and Keep. If it is something that you’ve never used, and aren’t likely to use, toss it. If it is something that you don’t use as is, but it could be useful in another way, recycle or re-purpose it. If it is something that is still in good shape, but you don’t use or need it, donate it.

Only keep those things that you do use regularly or that hold sentimental value.

2. Start Where the Changes Will Be the Most Noticeable.

With busy schedules, time for cleaning and organizing is restricted. It is helpful to begin where the changes will make the biggest dent. Going through clothes, closets, and collections is a good starting point, as these areas are likely to give the most room in your house back to you.

3. Have a Place for Everything.

Have a specific place designated for those things that are definite “keepers.” This will make it much easier to keep the clutter at a minimum. You could even designate a place to store away those things that hold sentimental value but that you don’t really use.

4. Stop Buying Junk.

It is so easy to accumulate souvenirs and trinkets that are never going to be used. If you are going to purchase a souvenir from a special occasion, make sure it is something useful, or at least something that can be tastefully displayed as a part of your home decor.

5. Stop Saving Junk.

We tend to store away things like Christmas cards and bill stubs, things that we need to respond to or keep for our records for a short period of time. The problem with this is that these boxes and files rarely get emptied later. Make sure that you are only saving things that you actually need, and throw them out when you are finished with them.

6. Keep up a Little at a Time.

It is much easier to keep our homes tidy if we clean up as we go throughout the day. Simply completing a few small tasks during the day will keep things clean and organized. Having a specific time of day set aside for responding to emails and phone messages, as well as for scheduling appointments, is also helpful.

7. Create a Routine.

Find a routine that works for you. If your mornings tend to be rushed, then do what you can the night before, such as making the kids’ school lunches, or packing your own lunch for work. If time for meal preparation is an issue, prepare and freeze a few meals over the weekend. These can then quickly be thawed for meals throughout the week. Find that unique routine that improves the flow of your day.

8. Eliminate Activities.

If there are extra activities in your schedule that aren’t adding to your family’s life, eliminate those things. Our time is too precious to give it away to things that aren’t benefiting us.

9. Streamline Your Schedule.

What activities can you streamline? If you have errands to run and an appointment during the day, try to do everything at once. Or if you have more than one appointment, try to space them as conveniently as possible.

10. Streamline Your Beauty Routine.

We tend to invest a lot of time prepping ourselves for the day, and rightfully so. But when time is limited, try streamlining a bit. Try showering the night before. Start the coffee maker and then begin your beauty routine, so it can be brewing while you accomplish other things. You could even try foregoing the makeup and using an exfoliating face wash and an eye brightener, this will leave you looking fresh and ready for the day without spending time on makeup.

11. Use Lists.

Each evening, make a list of things that have to be accomplished the next day. Have a separate list for work and for home. This method will ensure that the most imperative things get done first, so that even when unexpected things do come up, you will have accomplished what you needed to.

12. Take Time Each Day to Think.

With all the things that we need to accomplish each day, it can be hard to slow down and reflect. However, this is a great way to refocus and refresh yourself. Living life in overdrive gets tiring fast, and simply slowing down for a few minutes each day can restore much needed balance to our lives.

 

13. Do Things Mindfully and with Gratitude.

We all have things that we don’t enjoy doing. When those things have to be done, approaching them with gratitude can lessen the emotional strain in our daily lives. Gratitude makes way for a positive attitude, and this helps to eliminate stress.

14. Minimize Toxic Relationships.

Everyone has their good days and their bad days. It is important for us to nurture relationships and be there for those closest to us. However, there needs to be a balance to this. Minimize your interaction with those people who drain your energy or make you feel badly about yourself, as these relationships are unhealthy.