Day 12 of Clutter Cleanse & Zen Habits for a Peaceful Home

I’m on day 12 of my 30 day ‘letting go of clutter’ cleanse, and I’m loving it! I thought it might be hard to let go of something everyday, but I’m finding such joy and freedom in letting go of my stuff. Each day I can’t wait to find a new drawer, shelf, or corner in my house that I can purge the numerous things I have collected over the years. It’s as though because I’ve declared it an ‘official cleanse’, I now have permission to be ruthless in letting go of what I once thought I was attached to. Clutter be gone!

To keep the inspiration going, below is another great article on creating and maintaining a beautiful and peaceful home. Leo Babauta, author of the popular Zen Habits blog shares the habits that support him in keeping a stress free home.

Keeping a stress-free, clean house

by Leo Babauta

Yesterday I cleaned my house a little, tidying up, cleaning the bathroom a little, cleaning the kitchen, and generally making the place look nice.

It is simply beautiful. There is a tremendous pleasure I get in being able to relax in a clean house.

Of course, with six kids, it never lasts long, but there are things I can do to keep it generally clean and tidy.

Here are the habits I will try to maintain to keep a stress-free house:

1. Never leave dishes in the sink. Or counter. Clean up any messes in the kitchen after I’m done. Wipe the counters, keep the sink clean.

2. Tidy the bathroom as I go. After I use the bathroom, clean the sink, the toilet, spray down the shower, real quick. It only takes a couple of minutes, and the joy of a clean bathroom is unmatched.

3. Pick up as I go. There are little things the kids leave around the house. I’ll just pick them up throughout the day, or keep a basket for their stuff and just dump them in there, for them to put away later.

4. Never leave clothes out. I have a tendency not to hang my once-used but still clean clothes in my bedroom, leaving them out to clutter the place up. No more. They either go in the dirty clothes, or they get hung in the closet.

5. Take the trash out every day. It’s cleaner, and even if the trash isn’t quite full, this is a good habit.

6. Tidy up before I leave the house. It’s wonderful to come home to a clean house. Just pick up a little before I leave.

7. Make my bed in the morning. I’ll do this either before or after I shower. I love a made bed.

8. Tidy up before I go to bed. Waking up to a dirty house is stressful. Waking up to a clean house is an incredible way to start the day.

9. Don’t let clutter pile up. There’s a place in the kitchen where we pile books and papers. That needs to go. Piles are stressful. I will clear this counter daily, along with the inbox we have for all incoming papers.

10. Get rid of the papers on the fridge. I can pretty much put all of that info on our calendar. They leave a very cluttered appearance.

11. Teach the kids to put their stuff away. By far the greatest source of stress and messiness. This will also be the most difficult task, and I don’t know if it can ever be accomplished. But it’s worth a try.

by Leo Babauta at Zen Habits

Photo: Laurey W. Glenn, Robbie Caponetto 

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Clear Clutter Out of Your House – and Relax!

When you have a cluttered home, it’s hard to de-stress and decompress. Try these tips to clear clutter from your home.

 
















By Gina Shaw
WebMD Feature

The mind is a terrible thing to clutter. But when you have a cluttered home, it’s hard to de-stress and decompress.

“Think about it,” says Lisa Jacobs, a certified home organizer and the founder of Imagine It Done, a lifestyle consultancy in Roslyn, N.Y.

“When you get up in the morning, if you have clutter right there in your face, it starts your day off on the wrong foot. When you have to start your day by looking for your keys or your phone or your toothbrush, it makes you anxious and you haven’t even left the house yet!”

If you think you don’t have time to clear your clutter, think again. With an action plan from experts, you can bust the clutter in your home in 15-minute chunks every day -- and build yourself an oasis of calm that’s also less of a haven for dust, dirt, and allergens.

Before you de-clutter any space, prepare. You need bags or boxes for four purposes, says Ellen Delap, a professional organizer in Houston:

• Things you will donate to charity
• Things you want to sell at a yard sale, or on Craigslist, Ebay, or freecycle
• Things that belong in another room
• Things headed for the trash  

Now you’re ready to de-clutter any room.

When in Doubt About Clutter, Psych Yourself Out

Many home organization experts say “When in doubt, throw it out.” Colorado psychotherapist and organizing consultant Aricia LaFrance isn’t so strict. “It just slows you down and makes you hate organizing,” she says.

Instead, if you have something you don’t wear or use, but are on the fence about parting with it, stick it in a box. Put the box in your garage or attic, and write a future date on it -- one year or six months from now.

“If you really need something from that box, you can go out and get it,” says LaFrance. “When the date comes -- and you need to write it in your calendar -- don’t open the box. Donate it or throw it away.”

Try 15-Minute Clutter Workouts

Get yourself a timer -- a stopwatch or a classic old egg timer. Don’t just use the one on the stove or microwave; you won’t necessarily hear it in the basement or your bedroom.

Set it for 15 minutes. Choose the worst, most cluttered area of your house. It doesn’t need to be a room. It can be a corner, a shelf, the top of the microwave. Jacobs likes to start with the kitchen counter, where everything from bills to magazines to kids’ school projects often pile up. “If you clean up your counter space, you will breathe,” she says.

Buy Organizing Bins for Clutter

Before purging yourself of unneeded clutter, you may need to buy some needed things: clear plastic bins, of various sizes, along with white first-aid tape.
“These bins are a lifesaver,” says Jacobs. “Proper containers are the #1 remedy of organizing. If they’re clear so that you can see what’s in them, and clearly labeled, you know what you have and where it is.”

Sort quickly: bills that need to be paid and kids’ art to be put in their rooms goes in the distribution basket. Three-month-old baby announcements, party invitations, and pieces of fast-food toys go in the trash.

When the timer beeps, you’re done. Once you’ve done this baby step a few times, you can take on bigger spaces and set the timer for an hour to tackle tougher challenges like closets or basements.

Read more...

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30 Days of 'Letting Go of Clutter' Cleanse

by Margalit Ward

As a way to restart my efforts at writing and posting to our Get Up Girl blog, (I know, I’ve missed you… it’s been a few months) I've decided to pick a theme that will prepare me for the New Year... embarking upon a 30 day cleanse of letting go of clutter. Things, stuff, clothes, books, magazines, emails, kitchen items, and broken pieces of things I don’t even remember what or where they belong. It's amazing how much a person (me) can accumulate. So it's time. Time to purge, release and let go of things I don't need or want or use.

I’ve wanted to try this since I heard about it from my inspirational mentors, Doctors Ron and Mary Hulnick. They’re my teachers from the University of Santa Monica who shared with the class years ago about their 30 day de-cluttering challenge and how much energy, clarity and fulfillment they derived from the process. I thought, what a great idea, I’m going to do that… one day.

So starting today, December 1, I will give away, recycle or throw away at least one item a day. My intention is to get rid of A LOT more than that, but I wanted to make this journey do-able and fun!

I will also post articles from other experts on the subject throughout the month as way to enlighten and inspire you and me! And, if you would like to join me on this quest for clean, please share your comments or email me. I would love to hear from you and how the experience of lightening your load is changing your home and life.

So here we go… ready, set, THROW!

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