Why I Daily Declutter Our Home

I have had many times in life when someone asks me why I do or don’t do something. For example, I enjoy exercising and going on walks. Granted we live in a small town, but I will walk to the post office or bank if I can, just to combine two things into one – exercise and running errands. So when someone makes the comment about how I find time to exercise, I chalk it up to making the choice. I CHOOSE to make time for it because I feel it prevents me from having to spend time doing other things (like going to the doctor, having to shop to buy new clothes b/c I outgrew them, and even lying awake at night waiting to fall asleep – exercise helps me sleep better). You get my drift.

I view decluttering in the same way – it’s a choice. By all means, we do NOT live the cookie-cutter life. Many of the things we own are used; some things even falling apart. We do not own expensive things – we buy quality when we can so that we do not have to frequently replace them, but will always try to find the best deal. Recently a pair of shoes of mine that I wear everyday in the summer, recently wore out (I’ve had them for over 7 years), so my husband bought me almost the exact same pair because they have been worth every single penny. Quality vs. quantity. That is just how we choose to spend our money.

Choosing to have less things and choosing to declutter everyday, is a task that I put high on my priority list. Why? The feeling of going to bed at night knowing that our home is somewhat in order, the feeling of waking up in the morning to a picked up house, and the feeling of not having to spend days and days decluttering because of my lack OF decluttering before, is worth the effort in my mind.

I have heard people say that our house is always picked up, but I will say it can be a disaster too. Just ask my husband. If I am busy baking, cleaning, or cooking, it can be quite a mess. But after I am done with the task, I always try to make sure that it is picked up and looks like it did before I started. To me, that is an important rule of thumb in life. Pick up after yourself. I am well aware that having a child will change the amount of things we have in our home, but it doesn’t have to change the clutter meter. I can still put things away. An excuse for clutter is, well, just that – an excuse. Making sure that everything has a place and ensuring that things end up in the right place at the end of the day, is a high priority for me.

So how do I accomplish this? Each night before I go to bed (try to do it even an hour before), I pick up what is left on the counters, put papers away, unpack from work, but also prepare for the next day by getting my lunch ready and setting out everything I need. I also try to do the dishes (we do not have a dish washer) and write a to-do list for the next day. This may sound like a lot, but honestly, it MAYBE takes me 15 minutes, if that; often only 5 or 10. I figure if I have time to sit and check what’s new on Facebook, I have time to declutter.

AND, like I said earlier, by keeping up on the clutter (or now lack there of), I am preventing more work later on. It’s those little changes and choices that you can make today, to ensure you have a decluttered home!