How To Control Clutter Or Hoard No More!

I have a blog about chocolate and I am embarrassed to admit that candy was overtaking my house. I had some in the kitchen. Then some would come into my office. A lot was upstairs where I shoot the photos. All I was missing was Hansel and Gretel! I'm willing to bet some of you have something that is overtaking your house—books, kid's toys, CDs, shoes, candles, beauty products, tools—name your clutter. These steps will even work with electronic clutter—Word documents or e-mail messages.

Here's how I tamed the candy:

1.) Got it all in one place. Do it—gather all your related clutter in one area.

2.) Trashed the expired and the duplicates. Got magazines that are more than a year old? The info is obsolete. Those jackets with giant shoulder pads from the 80s? Please. Do you need 10 yellow highlighters? Or 45 versions of a contract?

3.) Organized it. I grouped all the peanut butter candy, the coconut candy, and on and on. You can group all your e-mail about a project or all your anti-wrinkle creams. Group those dang financial papers. Group things so it makes sense to you and you can find items if you need them.

4.) Contained it. I am not a fan of buying fancy baskets to put stuff in—I'd rather just throw it away. But if you are going to keep things until you can go through them or for any length of time, they deserve a decent container. I got a bunch of cheap plastic see through drawers to put the candy in. Do this with shoes that are out of season or papers that you want to keep.

5.) Set limits on the inflow. Now the rule is—no more candy until there is space in the containers. I also do this with books. No more bookshelves—so if I buy books I have to get rid of books. This is also known as the one in, one out rule.

6.) Go through some everyday. I try to write a blog entry every day—reviewing the candy and then moving it out. You can read 10 e-mails or trash 10 pieces of paper or try on one piece of clothing. Pare it down everyday.

Your reward for all this? Come by my house and get some candy. Please.

About the Author

Denise Ryan, MBA, CSP, is a motivational speaker who gives presentations filled with great real world tips and a strong dose of humor. She is a blogger http://motivationbychocolate.blogspot.com and author. Her website is http://www.firestarspeaking.com where you can see more articles and sign up for a free newsletter.

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