{"id":4459,"date":"2023-09-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/?p=4459"},"modified":"2023-09-26T09:20:30","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T13:20:30","slug":"organizing-tip-ultimate-guide-tackling-clutter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theorderexpert.com\/organizing-tip-ultimate-guide-tackling-clutter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ultimate Guide to Tackling Clutter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Wondering how to deal with all that excess clutter<\/a> floating about your office<\/a> and home? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you looking for practical tips to help you effectively clean up and clean out your space? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s something you may not have considered before. Clutter will always<\/em> exist in our lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s why it’s so important to learn how to declutter<\/a> and keep things organized on a regular basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this post, you’ll find practical tips to help you tame the beast that is clutter both now, and in future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Clutter Anyways?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Clutter is a bit of a riddle: it\u2019s everywhere and yet seemingly nowhere at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dictionary*defines clutter as: \u201cA collection of things lying about in an untidy mass.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a bit of a generalization really, because depending on your situation, clutter could mean different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clutter could be magazines, paperwork<\/a>, junk mail, travel souvenirs, clothing, pens, cleaning supplies, or collections of seashells and baseball cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can be bits of household odds and ends, canned foodstuffs, clothing\u2026truly, everything and anything can be clutter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem with clutter is that it attracts more and more clutter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What tends to happen whenever you leave a scrap of paper or place a book down briefly on a clean surface?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More and more items appear and soon a tiny pile of stuff turns into a veritable mountain of clotted stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you know? Even the word origins of \u2018clutter\u2019 trace back to a late Middle English verb meaning \u2018to clot.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This \u2018clotting of items\u2019 can quickly become a real problem (and eyesore) at home and at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Should You Clear Clutter?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no end to the list of reasons on why you should clear clutter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s my top four reasons on why you might want to make a clean sweep and get rid of the clutter in your life:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll clear your mind.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Looking at a cluttered room or area can be exhausting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having more stuff about forces your eyes to take in a lot of disparate information and make sense of the situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might feel more stressed out, uncomfortable and frustrated looking at piles of clutter than an otherwise clear surface. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who wants to look at or be a part of an uncomfortable or distressing scene if they can help it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clutter can be a hazard.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Clutter can physically hinder your ability to get things done<\/a> at home or at work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is especially true if items are stacked high and deep, and you are unable to access or reach the items you need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clutter can also be a health hazard to yourself and others when it blocks hallways, entryways, passageways, doors, windows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clutter can severely limit the safety of any other ingress or egress areas in a home or office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Information, time, and money may be lost.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A pile of clutter can innocently house bills, invoices, credit cards, ID cards and passports, medical and insurance records, cash and the like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Problems can quickly arise when you need to quickly locate important information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, a pile of clutter increases your chances of accidentally trashing or recycling an important document or documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clutter is hot.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

No, I\u2019m not talking \u201chot\u201d as in sexy or physically appealing. Clutter can be plain, downright hot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think back to your school days in Science 101 when you learned about the transfer of energy and heat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having clutter about means there\u2019s more things to absorb and radiate heat, which can be especially noticeable and uncomfortable in the summertime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ok, we\u2019re now ready to get down to the nitty-gritty of clutter-clearing. Ready? Here we go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Tackle Clutter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are three keys to tackling the clutter in your home or office:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Make a distinction between clutter and non-clutter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Set up systems to prevent accumulation of clutter<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Practice regular maintenance<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s now take a look at these three points in detail…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Make a distinction between clutter and non-clutter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you want to declutter something, you need to make an explicit distinction between clutter and non-clutter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We often talk about clutter in broad strokes, \u201cOh, this dining room table is so cluttered\u201d, or perhaps \u201cThis room is cluttered with papers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go one step further and specifically identify what it is that is cluttering up a specific area or room.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How should you do this? The easiest way is to use the current setup or function of your living and working spaces as a guide. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, a kitchen is where you store and prepare food, a den is for relaxing, and so on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally speaking, you wouldn\u2019t store a power drill and drill bits in a kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it\u2019s safe to say that hardware and power tools do not belong and as such would be counted as clutter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking this a step further, you can also outline what items should go where in a specific room. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, in your home office<\/a> you might have a chair, desk, computer, filing cabinet, printer and office supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know the chair sits underneath the desk, the computer and printer sit on top of the desk, the files go in the filing cabinet and office supplies are stored in your desk\u2019s drawers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anything that goes against from this setup will be considered as clutter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this case, it might be a stack of clothes sitting on your desk, grocery coupons in a drawer, and sports equipment sitting beside your chair that should be taken care of in a timely fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Set up systems to prevent accumulation of clutter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Keeping an area clutter-free isn\u2019t just about tidying up the clutter that already exists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s about having systems in place to prevent clutter from forming in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clutter tends to falls into one of the three categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n