Want to clear clutter from your life forever? Use my rule of touch it once.
If you pick something up off your desk, do something with it. Pay it, file it, throw it away or jot the info down somewhere appropriate, but don’t move things from place to place.
So often we pick things up and put them somewhere they don’t belong, and usually the piles continue to grow larger and larger.
Feeling overwhelmed by existing clutter?
Just pick up one thing out of that pile right now and put it where it belongs. You don’t have to overwhelm yourself with the idea of a huge cleaning project; yet you may discover that once you get started you’re motivated to keep going until the pile is gone.
This changed my life a few years ago and although I still fall off the wagon once in a while (as I gaze at the slow growing pile of paper on my desk) I realize that I’m in less overwhelm if I only consider picking one thing off that pile to put it where it belongs vs tackling the whole pile.
Start to become mindful in little ways.
As you walk through your front door, consider touching your shoes and jacket once and actually put them away instead of casting them aside to be dealt with later.
Grabbing receipts out of your purse or pocket at the end of the day? Why not take a few seconds and throw them away or go file them where they belong?
Unmatched socks? Don’t just shuffle them from laundry load to laundry load, if they don’t match, toss them.
I have a drawer in the kitchen that contains candles, matches, incense, screws, thumb tacks, and birthday candles. Any guess as to what doesn’t belong?
It’s empowering to throw things away that you don’t need and even more satisfying to put them in their proper places.
As you stand there with something in your hand, consider where it really belongs and then consider if you even want it.
I promise that in the end; this saves you time, declutters your life and gives you a feeling of being in control when life gets busy.
And who doesn’t love feeling in control?
xo
Image Courtesy of Bill Longshaw at Freedigitalphotos.net