How to Prevent Clutter: Simplify
I am starting a new series this week called HOW TO PREVENT CLUTTER! We all need (including myself), so hopefully by the end of the week, you will have a better grasp of what it takes to prevent items from coming into your home.
How do you prevent clutter? Do you feel it is a never-ending battle? I used to ask that question for a number of years, until I realized that there actually ARE ways to prevent clutter from taking over your home.
You may be sick of hearing this word, but when it comes to preventing and even taking care of clutter, simplifying is one of the BEST ways to accomplish this monumental task.
I once heard a quote:
If we spend less, we can work less; if we have less stuff, we will spend less time on stuff. It takes time to buy, manage, and fix stuff.
Have you ever thought about that? REALLY, how much time does it take to maintain something? How much time it takes to obtain something?
Why do we work? Why do we have the jobs we do? Is it solely to maintain a certain lifestyle that we are trying to keep up with? Is it to keep up with the culture? With trends? It seems simple, but how often do we forget, that if we spend less, we would need to work less? Not that that is always an option with the type of job you may be in, but it is definitely something to keep in mind!
Think about if you had less STUFF. What would your life look like? What would your life feel like? Do you feel you would have more time? I think this is especially true when it comes to the size of our homes. The math is simple – the bigger the home, the more time it will take to maintain. The more bathrooms, the more rooms, the bigger the living space, everything. Even your garages. The number of vehicles. These items not only take up space, but they take time to MANAGE, MAINTAIN, and FIX. How many hours a day do you spend maintaining? Doing the dishes, sweeping, vacuuming, picking up, reorganizing and resituating, putting away, and cleaning? Write it down. Are you bothered by the amount of time each week you spend doing this? Then you realize that really, you have to still FIX certain items?
Let’s be frank. It can be overwhelming!
The solution?
Have less of EVERYTHING.
This is the best way to control and prevent clutter from overtaking your home. What does this even look like? Here are a few examples:
- Have only 2 sets of bed sheets for each bed (which already is more than what you need)
- Keep only 1 set of measuring cups and spoons
- Do only 1 or 2 hobbies. We are good at starting hobby after hobby, buying supply after supply for each, yet never finishing any or getting rid of the supplies for the previous. Think about what your hobbies have done to the space in your home, what they have done to your schedule, and how they may or may not have taken over your home.
Preventing clutter is difficult. I will be the first to admit it. Thinking about what each item in our home requires, what it takes to maintain it, and how having less of everything would do wonders, is a great place to start.
This week, I am hitting on 6 ways to prevent clutter from overtaking your home. My hope is that by the end of the week, that even though the clutter may not “poof”, be gone, but at least the clutter won’t be added to.
What is preventing YOU from dealing with the clutter in your home?
This is such a great way to get started! Something I have been wresting with since I found out I will be laid off in 60 days, just this week… But I keep rolling back to, "do I need to work?" "would I be a better me if I could support my family instead of corporate america 9-10 hours a day?" Thanks so much! Can't wait for next article!
I am sorry to hear of your layoff! That is such hard news, no matter where you are at in life. It sounds though, that in a way you are looking at it with optimism in the sense that it is making you take a step back and look at your own life. How do you want to live it? I encourage you to consider not jumping back in – what difference would it make? Hang in there and thank you for sharing!
Thank you for posting this. It is much needed. These days we have many of the same things and clutter in our homes. We have four children but i am looking forward to doing this. To try and live with what we need and living simply. It will take a while but slowly and cheerfully.
I can only imagine how hard it would be to simplify with 4 children, but I say YOU CAN DO IT! Remember, everyone has to start somewhere and the only way you will get no where, is by never starting. So don't give up and know that a simplified life IS possible! But like you said, slowly and cheerfully, it is worth it 🙂
I am so looking forward to this series! I love your posts always. This one sounds like what I need. We are in the middle of packing for a move…which has been a long time coming and a prayer answered…but I have decided that we are not moving STUFF…junk we don't need, use or want…we have a VERY small space now…we are moving to a small space…small by some standards…HUGE by ours…about 1500 Sq Ft total. It's time to Declutter and Conquer! I started last weekend by pulling out cross stitch stuff I haven't used in over 8 years. I used to LOVE it…and had a LOT of stuff…but I don't love it anymore…so…off it goes to a new home 🙂 Thanks Kristin for helping put the focus on life 😉
Hi Teresa! Thank you so much for your kind words, Teresa! Sounds like you are in the middle of quite a life change! I love how you said that you don't want to move STUFF – but what you need. That is great and freeing that you are getting rid of projects that you know you haven't touched in years and probably will never. Sending items to a new home, means someone else will appreciate them all the more! I would love to hear more about what has led you to move and where God is leading you – feel free to shoot me an email! Thanks again for your sweetness as always – you are a great encouragement to me! Blessings!