4 Clutter-Busting Daily Routines to Keep That Clutter Away

A busy home and busy life tend to accumulate clutter. Here are 4 clutter-busting daily routines to keep that clutter away with minimal stress and hassle!

HOW TO DEAL WITH CLUTTER ON A REGULAR BASIS

Each of the following clutter-busting routines have been specially chosen to tackle clutter hotspots within your home. These clutter hotspots are areas, or types of clutter, that are notorious places where clutter builds up, even in the most clutter-free, minimalist style family homes.

My home is pretty minimalist but even I have to be vigilant against the build up of stuff in these hotspots! They’re common dumping grounds for the clutter of everyday life and, as clutter tends to attract more clutter, they can become full of clutter surprisingly quickly!

I’ve found that if I keep on top of these areas on a daily basis (even if I don’t get a chance or choose not to do any other housework or tidying that day) then I know my home will be pretty much clutter-free with just a little effort and time from me.

In turn, this means that I have more time and energy for other things in life than managing my home and the stuff in it. These are just a couple of the amazing benefits of a decluttered home.

4 CLUTTER-BUSTING DAILY ROUTINES TO KEEP YOUR HOME CLUTTER FREE

So, if you don’t have much time, energy or motivation to declutter the rest of your home, why not try out these 4 clutter-busting daily routines to keep your clutter in check! Hopefully they’ll give you some tips on where to prioritise the resources you do have to stay clutter-free quickly and easily.

1. The laundry basket sweep

This first routine is how I always begin tidying my home. It doesn’t matter whether I’ve got just 5 minutes or a couple of hours to get my home in order, I always start with the laundry basket sweep.

I take an empty laundry basket and go round each room in the house collecting up all the things that are in the wrong room. I then return each item to its proper home. Dumping it all in a laundry basket is quick and easy. It removes the main and obvious clutter from each room before I move onto the next 3 routines.

I try to do the laundry basket sweep before every mealtime (more if needed). Doing a little bit and often (one of my favourite mottos!) means there’s never lots to clear away.

2. The surfaces

Horizontal flat surfaces are notorious clutter hotspots. If you have a table, work surface or shelves etc, you’re bound to put stuff on them! I try to cut down on the number of tables in my home to the bare minimum for this very reason!

The kitchen counters should just have kitchen-related stuff (not random paperwork or toys strewn across it). My desk should have what I need for my work but nothing more, the book shelves are just for books. I have a couple of window ledges for photos and ornaments and that’s it.

Making sure that everything has its own specific storage or space to live is a helpful strategy to keep your home clutter-free. Not only does it also keep your home tidy, but you know where to find things, don’t waste time looking for them or being distracted and side-tracked. Here are some other ways to organise your home and life so they function well for you and your needs.

At least once a day I do a quick swipe of all the surfaces to make sure they’ve only got on them what they should have. Everything that’s in the wrong place gets returned to its proper home. It’s amazing what a difference clear surfaces can make to the look and feel of a room, even if the rest of the space isn’t quite as clutter-free!

3. The floor

If you have too much stuff and/or not enough proper storage space, it’s easy for your stuff to spill out on to the floor. The clutter creeps from a small corner and spreads itself!

Make your home appear more spacious than it is, neater, tidier and with better flow from room to room (not to mention being able to walk across your floor and up your stairs without having to step over anything!) by making sure that there’s nothing on the floor.

If you find that you’ve always got toys piled up in the corner or stacks of paperwork on the floor, for example, then it might be time to 1) declutter 2) find more storage space after you’ve decluttered. Remember not to organise before you declutter though, otherwise you might just end up organising clutter!

4. Paperwork

I think most households, even minimalist ones, struggle to keep paperwork under control. The post arrives daily, the kids love creating artwork, there’s a million and one letters from school, some of us work from home – there are plenty of reasons why paperwork builds up. And, unless you’ve got some quick, simple and straightforward systems to keep it under control then it’s easy for those papers to pile up quickly.

Every day I go through the paperwork that’s come in that day. I choose a time when I can deal with what’s there, whether it’s letters from school, letters in the post, my child’s drawings. Once I’ve dealt with or actioned anything that’s needed, I file the paperwork straightaway.

I have filing systems with separate labelled folders for each area of my family’s life. I take photos of my children’s drawings that we’re not keeping and I have a small box for those that we are keeping which I sift through regularly. Read more about my paperwork filing system for how I organise my paperwork.

Everything has a proper home and I make sure that the piles of paper clutter are sorted and put in their proper home regularly. That way it never gets a chance to build up, the surfaces stay clear and clutter-free and I can find everything I’m looking for quickly because it’s all filed and organised.

Bonus Tip 5. The Evening Reset

I hope you enjoyed these ideas for clutter-busting routines for your own home. Before I finish, I did just want to offer you one more bonus tip and that is the magic of the evening reset!

After the kids are in bed and before I wind down to relax for the evening, I do a quick sweep of the house. I make sure everything is put away, the school bags, lunches and uniform are prepared for the morning. I give the counters in the kitchen and bathroom a quick wipe-over, put away any laundry and make sure the dishwasher has finished its cycle and the clean dishes are put away.

By doing these few jobs in the evening, it saves me time in the morning. I can come downstairs tomorrow knowing that I won’t be greeted by the clutter and mess from yesterday. A fresh start to a fresh new day!

Take a few minutes to think what you could include in your own evening home reset. No need for it to take ages, just a few minutes of concentrated effort to put your home to bed and then you can put yourself to bed too! For more ideas, try these tips on how to reset your home and keep it clutter-free.

GET YOUR FREE WORKBOOK

If you’re keen to declutter your home and keep that clutter away then you might enjoy my free Declutter Starter Kit. It’s packed full of tips, projects and strategies to help you clear clutter from your home, schedule, heart and mind. Pop your details in the box below so I know where to send your copy!