5
Solid Rules of Clutter Busting
by Karen Henke
1) Start small. There are a million ways to say this-take
baby steps, break it down, take it in small chunks, break
it into bits-but they all mean the same thing. If you tackle
too much at one time you will probably become overwhelmed
and discouraged.
“Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small
jobs.” Henry Ford
2) Keep only what you love or is useful to you. The words
of William Morris always ring in my ears, “Have nothing
in your homes that you do not know to be useful and believe
to be beautiful.” Evaluate each item. Do you love it?
Do you use it? If not, donate it, recycle it or throw it away.
3) Store like items together…or like with like. Think
about your flatware for a minute. Do you ever wonder where
your forks are? Of course not. That is because you keep them
all together in one place.
It is so comforting to be able to put your hands on the item
you are looking for, when you are looking for it. This is
much easier if similar items are kept together. You won’t
have to look all over the house for the latest pack of photos
if you keep all of your photos together.
4) One-in one-out rule. If you purchase something new, eliminate
the old. If a new catalog arrives, recycle the old. If you
buy a new pair of pants, donate the old. Think in terms of
replacing rather than stockpiling. Try to avoid duplicate
items unless they are disposable products like paper towels
or cereal, that you will continue to use.
5) Keep it Simple. Many people fail when they set up systems
that are too complex or have too many steps to follow. If
a system is too complicated, or if something is too hard to
put away, the system won’t work. Simple systems get used!
Copyright
2006 Come2Order
Karen Henke is the owner of Come2Order in Minneapolis, MN.
Visit www.come2order2day.com
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