- How to Stay Organized at Home -
5 Organization Tips for Preventing a Cluttered Home

Here are 5 tips for how to stay organized at home.

Clutter control is a balancing act between accumulating and purging your stuff.

Without attention to maintaining this balance a cluttered home can easily result.

Don't let inattention, delayed decisions and procrastination lead to a messy house!

Getting organized at home requires effort, keeping your home organized requires vigilance.

A cluttered home does not happen by accident. It results from an imbalance between what comes into your space and what leaves your space.

Do you spend more time and energy on accumulating stuff than you do on getting rid of clutter? If so then you need to pay more attention to the clutter control formula and set up systems to prevent clutter from accumulating.

Your cluttered home is simply the net result of an imbalance in the clutter control formula. The key for how to stay organized at home is to put systems in place to make sure that there is balance between what comes in and what goes out.

You might think that you have a cluttered home because it is small and there is a lack of space but a lack of space is not the reason for your clutter. Many people know how to stay organized and clutter free in small spaces. Living without clutter is not necessarily a space issue it is an issue of personal organization skills and diligent attention to preventing a cluttered home.

You accumulate clutter because you are not in control of the stuff coming into and going out of your space, however large or small that may be. It really is that simple.

If you have invested energy into getting organized and decluttering your space you can maintain control by using these ideas for making sure you do not end up with a cluttered home again. Getting rid of clutter is one thing. Controlling it from accumulating is quite another.

Declutter Regularly

Part of a regular routine in any household has to be getting rid of clutter that has accumulated over time. Many people call this "spring cleaning" but you can do it at any time of the year. If you do not have a regular schedule of going through your belongings and purging, then set one up for each room of the house and put it on the calendar.

Busy spaces like the entryway or the kitchen should be attended to more frequently than rooms that are not used as often.

Donation Box

Set up a donation box and make sure everyone in the family knows where it is. Anytime you need to get rid of clothing or an unused household item simply place it in the box. Make regular trips to the charity stores or drop off centers with your donations.

Fix It Box

If you find yourself saying "I can't get rid of that it only needs a new ....(blank)" then this tip is for you.

Set up a box for items that need repair. Broken items should be labelled with the date and placed in the box. Every six months go through this box and get rid of anything with a date that is six months or older.

Let's face it, if you have not used it for six months it is not an item that is in regular use in your house. Get rid of it! You will never miss it.

Don't Bring it Home

Knowing how to stay organized at home means that you might have to politely decline offers of free lamps, appliances, or other items that family and friends are getting rid of. Simply say "No". You will never miss it if you did not have it in the first place!

Your space is not a station for wayward and orphaned stuff.

The more you accept the more people will offer because they know you will take it and they want to get rid of it! The more you accept the more you will be viewed by others as a personal collection service for unwanted stuff.

There is no rule that says you must accept all that is offered to you! Other people are trying to get rid of clutter by offering it to you. Don't accept it!

Set Priorities

It is hard to stay organized at home if you do not know how to set priorities.

You see here is the bigt secret in setting priorities... Human needs are always more important that wants. Your cluttered home is often the result of paying more attention to what you want than want you need.

You could probably eliminate a full 80% of the stuff in your life and still have a good quality life. Creating a more simple life will prevent clutter from accumulating again.

Human relationships are more important than material goods. It is hard to argue otherwise. Yet humans devote far more energy and time accumulating and managing stuff than creating, accumulating, and managing quality interpersonal relationships.

Knowing how to stay organized at home simply means being mindful of the accumulation of stuff and improving your clutter control ability.

These simple suggestions might just provide you with some room in your life to spend on those more important things like people.