Granted, we all have individual busy hubs in our homes, but if I had to guess, I would presume the kitchen and family room/den are the most congested. Whether or not these spaces are on the first floor, they’re still considered prime real estate in a typical home. Ask yourself if there are things living in these zones that don’t belong in those spaces?
These highly trafficked spaces do not merely accommodate people but multiple activities. As a result, they often end up looking more like a dumping ground than a manicured living space!
Think about it. The kid’s sports equipment, the newest toy, latest technology, all usually come along for the ride and invade the common spaces. Let’s not forget about the daily incoming piles of mail and magazines, and latest kitchen gadgets and supplies that you never got around to unpack.
So do your most active spaces look like a bomb hit it?
It’s understandable how easily it can happen. If there are no designated zones for all your things to return to, and if you’re not inclined to put them away ASAP, you will be left with highly cluttered areas. It’s unavoidable. More importantly, if the incoming exceeds the outgoing, you will be living in a perpetual traffic jam.
So if we can’t control the pedestrian traffic, how do we manage our cluttered spaces? What’s the secret?
Here’s my take. First we need to determine the culprit. Evaluate your source of clutter;
- Is it that you are over-acquired?
- Is it that you have not assigned designated homes for your things?
- Is it that you have no organized systems at all?
- Are you a procrastinator?
Hey, you could be guilty of a combination of any one of these, you are not alone. Admittedly, we all have a need to acquire new things. Of course, there are extreme cases of those who suffer with chronic disorders, but the rest of us are still struggling to discard the old stuff. Too much incoming, with little regard to significant outgoing. In a culture that is drowning in possessions, our homes are overflowing with excess.
We try to manage our things, but life gets busy. And if space permits, we don’t have to deal with it immediately, right? We can avoid bidding farewell to the old, we can just “move stuff around.”
Finding proper and permanent homes for things will reduce your urge to move things around to accommodate the new item. This will help to eliminate owning multiples of the same item. I’m not talking about duplicate office supplies because I love the idea of keeping extra scissors, tape, pens that write, reading glasses, etc. in more than one room. But the real baffling question, (myself included) why do we all have so many extra staple removers, lol? I don’t know how that happens. But this I do know…there’s only room for one new printer, PC monitor, keyboard, video camera, et al, not all that came before it.
So if your home is crowded with people, things, and clutter, consider moving the mess by either removing it altogether, i.e. by donating,tossing, or organizing and creating consistent places for them. Don’t just move your stuff around. Trust me, you will eventually run out of room.
Seriously, heed this advice and you can control the chaos. It’s viable solution, and it works! I’m not just messin’ with ya.
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