How to Beat the Clutter

Not finding things when you need them or jamming your life with things that are neither useful nor necessary can be stressful. Clutter is a common problem, especially in homes. It makes the house anything but the peaceful haven it ought to be. A box or bag, or anything added to the piles that stuff every space in the house, proportionately increases the stress level of the house dwellers.

Stress may be inevitable in life, but much of it can be avoided. The home is a good place to start. The fact that stress can escalate exponentially by itself should be enough to jolt you into trying to control it. A few simple steps can do a lot in reclaiming the sense of peace and order in your home, and in your life.

Avoid accumulating things. The best way to keep down clutter-and the stress it can cause-is to stop bringing it into your house at all. Consider the amount of grocery plastic bags, boxes, and other containers you bring home each time you visit a store. For sure, you can easily cut it by half without experiencing any significant inconvenience. And these free product literatures you collect everywhere will mostly end up at a corner in the living room, without even getting read. Therefore, you should be careful about taking it. If you're really curious, read it quickly and give it back to the flyer boy.

Discard periodically. Once or twice a week, pick up a drawer, shelf or other small areas in the house where clutter has collected. Then start discarding. There is always an old item you can give to a friend or neighbor, anything you have very little or no more use for-old clothes, utensils, gadgets, books etc. Give them to someone who may use it more, rather than letting it gather dust or rust and take up precious house space. Or you may try the "one-in-one-out" rule: if you bring anything new into your home, remove something old at the same time. There are many other things that we know we don't have real need for but keep just in case we'll need them.

Leave the office behind. Without careful awareness, work is often carried home. This practice can be very unhealthy, especially for those whose jobs are quite stressful. It can cause of both actual and psychological clutter. As much as possible, office work must be limited to the office. Home shall be a prize to look forward to at the end of the day. No work related thoughts or discussions shall be entertained after you have physically gotten out of the office. The travel time from the office to the house can provide a good transition from work to relaxation. It's good to listen to melodious music while on the road home.

Assign a place for everything. Have a place to put everything you use near to where you use it. For example, keep a flashlight near the fuse box or an umbrella by the door or the toolbox in the garage. This can prevent not only frantic searches, but also saves you from having to decide again and again where belongings should go. And of course, it can save a lot of time to gather related types of things close together. The socks bin should be near the shoe rack and the shoe-polish kit and Dad's corn-cushion strips. Books should go with paper and pens and note pads and stapler and scotch tape.

Slay the paper tiger. In an average day, you handle a staggering number of paper items-bills, mail, brochures, magazines, newspapers etc. These can accumulate to quite a bulk. If you must let these potential clutter into your home, set aside a time for dealing with them, at least. Process mails next to a waste basket, where you can throw away anything unimportant. Likewise, assign a cut-off time for newspaper reading, after which the day's papers are to be brought out of the house and piled for disposal. While browsing through mails or newspaper or any paper items, have a notebook for jotting down any important information like significant data, addresses and the like. You don't need to keep a whole thick brochure just for a phone number.

As you decide on the fate of each of the things that crowd your home, ask yourself: Does this item enhance my life now? Do I really need it? Your answer will determine which one stays and which one goes away.