7 Spring Cleaning & De-Clutter Tips
Spring cleaning has a way of making you feel like your clutter has suddenly bloomed along with the season. Suddenly you're faced with taming the paper. Instead of dreading the time to clean de-clutter, embrace it as an opportunity to reorganize your home and de-stress your daily routine. Here's how to get started.
1) Categorize Your Clutter
Paper clutter quickly spirals as bills, receipts, notes, and reminders flood your desk and the nooks and crannies of your home. Before trying to de-clutter, you need a method to tame the paper trail. Start by organizing paper into different categories, including "Toss," "Keep," or "Upload Online." Now you can clearly see where your priorities are and what you can keep, store, or toss.
2) Create a Paper Filing System
Once you've figured out your categories, ruthlessly purge your paper clutter and find a place to store the rest. You will likely need to work on your filing system several times a year and see what you can throw away. You can also use a similar approach to de-clutter everything else in your home, from electronics to clothing. Instead of 'upload online,' you can donate or recycle tangible items.
3) Take It Online
One of the benefits of taming paper clutter is the ability to take it online. Before you spend the time scanning and uploading, figure out if it already exists online. Your financial statements are likely stored somewhere already. Check to see if your smartphone and computer automatically back up or store your files with a service like Mozy or Dropbox.
You can also take personal items you're having difficulty parting with and put them online. Take a photo with the item and a few for prosperity purposes. Next, create digital folders including household, keepsakes, family, friends, and anything else that helps you stay digitally organized.
4) Designate a Place for Everything
Preventative de-clutter management is far easier than tackling a mountain of it each spring. Designate a place for everything that comes into your home, from mail to receipts. Not only will you reduce clutter, but you'll also spend less time looking for paperwork and other items.
5) Avoid Investing in Bins and Organizers
We love organization and organizers, but there's no need to invest in a new set every time you need to do some spring cleaning. You're likely to fill up bins with paperwork and keepsakes to tuck them out of sight. The only issue is you still don't know where anything is and have just put your clutter into organizers instead of sorting through it.
Instead, look for bins, organizers, and drawers you already use in your home. Look through them to see what can be cleaned out and what can be kept. Next, repurpose them for your de-clutter control system.
6) Schedule Time to Maintain Your Spring Cleaning
Spring cleaning can extend beyond the season and become a year-round mentality. However, you need to make time for organization to prioritize it as part of your yearly routine. Set aside a few hours a month, or 30-minutes a week, devoted to clutter control and cleaning. As you get accustomed to the new habit, you'll find your clutter practically becomes non-existent.
7) Make It Fun
There's no rule that says de-clutter and cleaning need to be a tedious snooze chore. Instead, make it fun by investing in a daily planner to keep tabs on your scheduled cleaning time. Make a cleaning playlist with all your favorites, and think about rewarding your hard work. Dinner out, a bottle of wine, or a hike at your favorite out-of-the-way trail are all ways to look forward to spring cleaning and clutter control.
Ready to get on top of de-clutter and dive into spring cleaning? Get inspired by browsing our collection of planners, notepads, and other resources to help you stay organized and tame clutter before it spirals. Browse our entire selection here.