Does the quest to keep your apartment organized and tidy feel like a never-ending battle? Rather than ramp up existing efforts to eliminate clutter from you’re life, think about what you’re not doing. This is where the key to your dilemma likely lies. Kick these common clutter-forming habits to live in a truly clutter-free apartment.
1. Having no foundation
Without an effective organization system in place, it’s hard to make a space clutter-free. You need a designated storage space for nearly everything worth keeping in your apartment. You should also have at least one junk drawer or cabinet, for small possessions you often bring out in your pocket or purse and transitory items that won’t be in your apartment for long.
2. Buying on impulse
From the consumer side, impulse buys accomplish two things. They eat into money you budget for unexpected expenses and lead to clutter. If you see something while shopping that you want but isn’t on your shopping list, surely you can live another few days without it. Don’t buy that new-and-improved fidget spinner or those “discount” leggings near the checkout line. Instead, add them to a list of things you might purchase the next time you visit the store. Fight the urge to impulse shop, and think about why you want something and whether you really need it before bringing it back to your apartment. You should also think about whether you have space to store it.
3. Piling papers
For as little space as it takes up, paper can be a real clutter nightmare. Don’t let a mixture of important paper documents (bills, receipts, etc) and meaningless flyers pile up in your apartment. Instead, keep a recycle bin near the front door and sort through papers that stack up several times a week. Consider going paperless to make paper management even easier. Apply the same rules to the accumulation of other objects to promote a clutter-free lifestyle.
4. Failing to tidy up immediately
Once your possessions are properly pared down and organized, you can keep clutter from forming by putting things where they belong as soon as you finish using them. Don’t let clothes sit on your bed or floor. Fold up that shirt you thought about wearing but opted not to and put it back in your dresser. Dirty clothes should always go right in the hamper. It may take some getting used to, but adopting the mantra “everything in its place” works wonders on cluttered spaces. Most people find this sort of ritualized clutter removal effective at keeping a space clutter-free. Should you start to feel like clutter is taking over your space, perform a comprehensive clutter bust.
5. Valuing things over experience
Some things can certainly add value to your life, but experiences tend to be more valuable than things. And when you spend time and money on things you don’t really need (and on decluttering those things), you forgo experiences. Remind yourself the next time you’re weighing whether or not to buy something you don’t need.
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View All Posts by Jason Ernst