Does the thought of de-cluttering your home, closet, a drawer or any space in your home make you uncomfortable? Perhaps you feel tired, sad or ashamed so you feel which stands in your way of de-cluttering your home. If you said yes to any of these questions perhaps you are hanging on to beliefs that just aren’t true when it comes to getting rid of clutter.
I was talking with my friend who shared this story with me and I have to say we had a good laugh. We were talking about our belief systems and what beliefs we hold on to even when they are proven to be false.
His wife was on some kind of a diet where she had to use a lot of lemons throughout the day. He noticed she always put the lemon in the microwave before cutting and squeezing it. He asked her why she did this and she said because she had been told she would get more juice out of a lemon if it was heated before cutting and squeezing. He thought that could not be true so he did an experiment to see if it was true.
He took a lemon and carefully cut it in half. One half he heated in the microwave and one half he didn’t heat. He then squeezed the lemons and poured the juice from each into separate glasses. There was the exact amount of lemon juice in each glass—one half having been heated and the other half cold.
Even with proof that heating the lemon did not change the amount of juice she got from it she continued to heat her lemons before squeezing them. Her comment was “we must not have heated it high enough”. That is too funny.
What beliefs about getting rid of clutter are you holding on to? Getting rid of clutter is not rocket science, but sometimes we hold on to beliefs that would make it seem like it is.
Some popular belief about not being able to de-clutter are:
1. I don’t have time. Get up 30 minutes before your normal time and de-clutter one small space. Do this for a few days and you will be happily surprised at how much you accomplish. Before going to bed at night take 10 minutes to tidy up. Teach family members to be responsible for their own clutter.
2. Just looking at clutter makes you tired. Instead of looking at the whole area and thinking it all has to be de-cluttered at once section it out into smaller “bites”. Set a timer and de-clutter for 15 to 20 minutes. When the timer rings take a break. If you still have energy or are in a good rhythm set your timer and de-clutter another 15 minutes. Do not do too much at one time so you don’t get burnt out.
3. I don’t have homes for everything. Take the time to assign homes for everything that has become clutter. Put magazines in baskets and clean them out every three months. Tear out the articles you want to save, place in page protectors and put in a three-ring binder. Be very selective on what you keep as this can also become clutter if you are saving too many articles and never read them.
4. I can’t put anything away because then I can’t find it. When creating homes for everything in your home think about where you will go to find them when you need them—think ahead to what is the most logical place you will look. Make a list of where you put things and tape it to the inside of a cupboard.
Is it time to update your beliefs about de-cluttering your home? Using these tips will have your home organized in a flash and you will be able to keep it clutter free.
Marilyn Bohn is the owner of Get it Together Organizing, a business dedicated to developing practical organizing solutions that help individuals and business professionals live clutter-free and productive lives. She is the author of "Go Organize! Conquer Clutter in 3 Simple Steps".
Marilyn takes the often stressful subject of organizing and breaks it down into a simple, easy to understand system. Her methods are both eye-opening and encouraging!
Visit her website http://www.marilynbohn.com and sign up for her organizing newsletter.