Avoid Clutter by Going Against the Norm

There is a gardening quote that of course I don't remember verbatim, or even who said it, but here is the gist: "A weed is just a plant growing in the wrong place." It's very similar to how I think of clutter. Sometimes clutter is useful stuff, residing in the wrong place. There are two big reasons that happens: you don't have a place for something (yet) or it's just not the right place for you. We often have preconceived notions of where we should place things in our house. Writing utensils are kept in desks, aspirin is kept in the bathroom, trash bags are kept in the cabinet, maybe under the sink...right?

In reality, those just may not be the "right" places for you. It makes the most sense to keep things where you use them. If something seems like it's creating a lot of walking around and inefficiency it probably is, and you can do better. Your home should be adapted for how you live, not the other way around. Some examples of placing things in just the right place:

• Every day I would walk to the shelf where I kept brown paper bags, put my kids' snacks in then and then walk to the desk to get a marker to write their names on the bags. Every day the marker would be left on the counter, rarely making its way back to the drawer. Now,  I just keep the brown paper bags and marker all in the same drawer now. Simpler, and that marker is never left out anymore.
• It seemed like every time I needed scissors on the second floor I ended up walking to the bathroom for better lighting. Yes, I could work on better lighting solutions, but instead I now keep the scissors in the bathroom upstairs. Scissors are no longer hanging around on the dresser, floor, or wherever. Neater and safer, after all.
• I keep pain reliever on both levels of my house, which is not that unusual. Upstairs I keep it in the bathroom cabinet, which is also not that unusual.  I keep the downstairs in the cabinet with the glasses.  Having the Advil next to the water and a glass is key when you're in a rush to get rid of a headache...and aren't you always in a rush for that? Maybe that's just me, but I don't think so.
• The "helpers" in my house are pretty good at taking a full trash bag out, but horrible at putting a clean bag back in the trashcan. To make the job easier, I took a trick from our former office cleaning crew and now store extra trash bags on the bottom of trashcan (under the bag, so they stay clean), readily accessible to set up a new one. Happily, my "helpers" responded well to this.

There are tons of opportunities like this to declutter your home and save time. Each item in itself doesn't make a huge difference, but lots of little differences add up.  Pay attention to how you use things, the patterns of movement, and what tends to be left out regularly.  See if you can find a home for that left-out item near where it's left out. Be a rebel. Go ahead and go against the norm if it makes sense for you.


Get free organizing tips from So Squared Away!