Tip: Our Best Decluttering Solution

This week we have been tackling some of the clutter in our own home while we've been reading our homework assignment for The Fall Cure (Psst, look for a Week 1 post tomorrow!).
When decluttering an area it's easy to get sidetracked. So click through the jump to see how we keep ourselves distraction free...

When cleaning a space that has been overwhelmed with clutter it's easy get distracted. After all, many of the things we have kept around in small piles "to be sorted later," are things we really do have interest in. It's hard to keep on task when you stop to flip through some old pictures that might be in the pile or to hang that artwork that has been leaning against the wall for a month.

To stay on track try these small tips to make things go smoothly:

Work clockwise around the room. Don't try to tackle anything our of order, just go around in a circle and you'll deal with everything in it's own time.

Set a Timer. Often times we use the timer on our oven for this purpose, but set it for 15 minutes.... and then go! Do what you can in the short time span (make it shorter if you need to) and then stop and assess and start the timer again. If you get off doing something else (the phone rings or you really have to stop and sort something before it can be put away) the time will end and you have a natural starting point to get started again. Plus racing yourself is fun and gives you a sense of accomplishment.

Turn on Music. Make it something fun that you happen to know the lyrics too, it goes a long way to getting lost in your cleaning work!

Do you have a tried and true cleaning method? Let us know below!

(Clock featured is from Target for $29.99)

Comments (12)

I have saved this link about 6 months ago as I loved this clock so much :)
http://www.sonrisafurniture.com/details.php?prodId=193&category=7

But it is even more beautiful in red. Where is it from?

just do it.

get home from work. dont turn on the tv. dont potter in the garden and definately don't put your feet up. for 10 minutes before you allow yourself to have free time to relax, pick up that pile of mail you have been meaning to sort and just sort it!

but seriously the BEST way to get rid of the clutter is to stop making it while you start clearing the rest. the most fun is when you get to come up with ideas, strategies and best of all STORAGE for all your stuff!

I like to designate a spot as a "collector" (usually the sofa), and dump EVERYTHING from all the rooms there, then sort and replace as needed.

I also love timers, but if I need to really dig in, I find a baseball game on the radio is very soothing--helps occupy my easily-distractable "monkey brain".

Agh, thanks for posting this! lol I always get distracted and end up making more of a mess than what was already there! :D

Panka- The above clock is from Target, I adjusted the photo credits above to reflect this... check it out for the link!

My clutter solution is to vacuum. While I leave small items on the coffee table or the kitchen table, larger clutter tends to collect on the floor. (Floating furniture arrangement means its easier to set something against a wall instead of putting it away.) So when I vacuum, all that stuff goes on the sofa or coffee table or someplace in order to get to the carpet. Then I'm force to sort through it in order to sit down or have a place to set a drink. It's a little weird, cause my mom taught me to clean top to bottom, which I still to in kitchens and bathrooms. But in a living room or bedroom where cleaning involves getting rid of clutter more than dealing with dirt, it just makes sense.

Call my mom with an earbud or listen to an audiobook.

I pile everything not in it's place onto something too (usually bed or couch). Then put everything away, then dust\vaccum\mop. It's the only way I know how to clean and declutter.

I got into the habit of stacking things on the floor: books, baskets, etc. Whenever I needed to clean, it took twice as long to lift everything off the floor and re-stack it later. No more: if it doesn't fit on the shelf or in the closet, its out.

Thanks for the update! :)

These are some of the key decluttering principles of www.flylady.net! Thanks for the reminder :)