Several years ago, my family and I decided to pursue minimalism. Since then, we have tried to remove all of the possessions from our home that are not essential. In doing so, we have found new opportunity to spend our time, energy, and finances on the things that are most important to us.
Also, we became far more observant about how our things rob us of our precious freedom. We have learned that just like most families, no matter how hard we try to stop it, stuff inevitably continues to enter our home… nearly every single day.
So we work hard to remove any clutter that begins to accumulate in our home. Along the way, we have picked up (and try to practice) some helpful clutter busting routines to help those who are just getting started with minimalist living.
Here are 15 Clutter Busting Routines we have found helpful in our home:
1. Place junk mail immediately into a recycling bin. Take note of the natural flow of mail into your home. Placing a recycling container prior to your “mail drop-off zone” can catch most of that junk mail before it even reaches your counter. And as an added bonus, you’ll begin to look through less of it too (think advertisements).
2. Store kitchen appliances out of sight. Toasters, can openers, coffee makers… they all take up space. And while it may not seem like much space by looking at them, the first time you prepare dinner on a counter without them present, you’ll quickly notice the difference when you have a minimalist kitchen. If you think it’s going to be a hassle putting them away every morning, don’t. It takes less than 6 seconds to put each appliance away… once you’ve found a home for it that is.
3. Remove 10 articles of clothing from your closet today. Go ahead. If you are typical, it’ll take you roughly 5 minutes to grab 10 articles of clothing that you no longer wear and throw them in a box. Your remaining clothes will fit better in your closet. Your closet will be able to breathe again. And if you write “Goodwill” on the box when you are done, you’ll feel better about yourself as soon as you drop it off. Most likely, you’ll find yourself inspired to do it again.
4. Fold clean clothes / Remove dirty clothes immediately. The way I handle clothes these days is one of the biggest clutter changes I have made in my life. Unfortunately, I used to be a “throw-them-on-the-floor” guy. But now I handle each one right when I take it off. Dirty clothes down the clothes chute. Clean clothes back to the hanger or drawer. That’s it. It’s really that simple. How do the dirty ones magically appear clean and folded in my closet you ask… I’m not sure. You’ll need to ask my wife.
5. Kids’ bedroom toys live in the closet. Not on the floor. Not on the dresser. But in the closet. And when the closet gets too full of toys, it’s time to make some room. Hint, it’s usually safe to remove the toys at the bottom of the pile.
6. Kids pick up their toys each evening. This has countless benefits: 1) It teaches responsibility. 2) It helps kids realize that more isn’t always better. 3) The home is clean for mom and dad when the kids are in bed. 4) It’s a clear indication that the day has come to an end. Gosh, you’d think with all these benefits it would be easier for us to get the kids to do it…
7. Fill your containers for the garbage man. Use every trash pick-up day as an excuse to fill your recycling containers and/or garbage cans. Grab a box of old junk from the attic… old toys from the toy room… old food from the pantry… old paperwork from the office. If once a week is too often, do this exercise every other week. You’ll get the hang of it. And may even begin to enjoy trash morning… okay, I won’t go that far.
8. Halve decorations. No seriously, I mean it. Grab a box and walk through your living room. Remove decorations from shelves, tables, and walls that aren’t absolutely beautiful or meaningful. You may like it better than you think. If not, you can always put them back. But I’d bet my wife’s old high school yearbooks that you won’t return all of them.
9. Wash dishes right away. Hand washing some dishes takes less time than putting them in the dishwasher. This applies to cups, breakfast bowls, dinner plates, and silverware. If hand washed right after eating, it takes hardly any time at all. If however, hand washing is just not an option for you, be sure to put used dishes in the dishwasher right away. Nobody likes walking into a kitchen with dishes piled up in the sink or on the counter… and it’s even less fun eating in there. Practice kitchen counter organization to have a clutter-free countertop.
10. Unmix and match cups, bowls, plates, and silverware. Uniformity makes for better stacking, storing, and accessing. If there is a souvenir cup or mug that is so important to you that you can’t live without it, that’s perfectly fine. Just don’t keep 5 of them. Mom, any chance you are reading this?
11. Keep your desk clear, clean, and minimalistic. Drawers can adequately house most of the things needed to keep your desk functional. And a simple filing system should keep it clear of paper clutter. The next person who sits down to use the desk will thank you.
12. Store your media out of sight. Make a home for dvd’s, cd’s, video games, and remote controls. They don’t need to be in eyesight, you use them less than you think. And if you remove them from your eyesight… maybe you’ll use them even less.
13. Always leave room in your coat closet. There are two reasons why coats, shoes, and outerwear keep ending up scattered throughout your home rather than in your closet. The first reason is because your coat closet is so full, it’s a hassle to put things away and retrieve them quickly. Leave room on the floor, on the hangers, and on the shelves for used items to be quickly put away and retrieved. The second reason is because you have kids… but you’re on your own with that one.
14. Keep flat surfaces clear. Kitchen counters, bathroom counters, bedroom dressers, tabletops… After you clear them the first time, keeping them clean takes daily effort. Receipts, coins, and paper clutter just keep coming and coming… it’s just easier the second time around.
15. Finish a magazine or newspaper. Process or recycle immediately. If you’ve finished the paper product, process it and rid yourself of its clutter immediately. Good recipe in there? Put it in your recipe box and recycle the rest. Good article that your husband will enjoy? Clip it and recycle. Article that your friend will enjoy? Clip it, mail it, and recycle (or better yet, search for it online and send it that way). Coupon too good to pass up? Cut it out and recycle. Stacks of magazines and newspapers serve little purpose in life but to clutter a room.
Alexis says
We used to have a bunch of coffee cups, too many. So a number of years ago I designated a shelf for coffee cups. I let everyone in the family pick their favorites and once the shelf was full that was it. When we get a new mug (my husband gets these often from suppliers at work) I will ask the family if anyone wants to keep it and if the mug won’t fit on the shelf something has to go. No more matching coffee cups but everyone has their favorite and my cabinets aren’t full of unused mugs.
Sandra Lucas says
Wonderful absolutely wonderful
Kristine Galarza says
My family is so unorganized this really helped.
Johnny says
About kids toys: one plan I know of is to allow the child to keep toys received as gifts (birthday, Christmas) for one month along with the others. Then the child must select something to remove. This is a replacement approach. Books and musical instruments can be excluded.
Janice Grek says
Great idea! You might even want to have your kids go through their things prior to Christmas or their birthdays in anticipation of new toys. Just before Christmas, parents that can’t afford much could be relieved to find used toys in good condition to put under their trees.
Sue says
When my sister and I started working one morning a week at the local food pantry we decided to bring some things that we no longer needed.
That was over a year ago and wow, what a great motivator it has been!
We now bring something almost every week. For example, knick-nacks, nail polish, anything in good shape that we just don’t need or want. One time my husband and I cleaned out the whole kitchen and found no fewer than 10 spatulas (just one example of how much stuff we can’t possibly use) and brought them to the pantry. They flew off the free shelf.
It’s so gratifying to see people who have little get so happy over Christmas ornaments, towels, things we take for granted. We’ve also brought books and they flew off the shelves as well.
Gabe says
If you have an electric can opener, there’s a good chance you have WAY more clutter than you think.
carol havener says
I tried so many different products to keep my kitchen bench top organised with all our everyday essentials. The Space Cube keeps everyone organised, plus it’s a docking station!
Laith says
This is Laith from Novi Michigan, I guess I am a minimalist without me knowing as I believed not get the things unless I really need it. Teaching kids this message is not been easy. I tabulated “The 10 Most Important Things to Simplify in Your Life” and wrote down what we do now and I have hit every item. Rather than buying turtle shell for my daughter’s theater class, I decided to make one from old t-shirt and aluminum foil from dollar store, and paint, she had to make it.
We do have reasonably big house, but we run at minimum. Unless we need it, we don’t buy it. I am really trying to get the wife to reduce decorations – even Christmas tree. I love Christmas but hate shopping and Christmas tree is the concept to buy more stuff to put under. In past years, I would send emails to all family members not buy our kids gifts (yes, I was labeled Mr. Scrooge).
I still think I need to do more to make kids understand the value of life is not from things but rather from family… I don’t know if I’m succeeding though. My kids seem to want to have something to buy everytime we go out… I’ve already over used the “we did not come here to buy this – but we can here to buy that” and most of time it works – where is the balance?
Alina says
I think this message may be late 4 years later, but have you ever heard of the 5 love languages? One of them is giving gifts/recieving gifts. To an extent some kids may feel loved when you buy them things and unloved when you don’t. A way to buy something for them without creating a bunch of clutter is buying a small candy bar for them at the checkout counter, or you could tell them that if you do buy something for them then they need to get rid of a toy that they currently own and immediately put the toy in the car to drop off before the child opens the new toy box.
Sue L says
Thank you Joshua for this article. It has made me look differently at some of my lifestyle choices and what it could potentially mean down the road for my children to clear up. I will be going through your archives to read up on more tips and advice to move towards a clutter free life.
Jasper says
great issues altogether, you simply received a new reader. What may you suggest about your post that you just made some days in the past? Any certain?
Jocelyn Harte says
Hi Joshua Sorry if someone else has mentioned this but can you suggest people get a no junk mail sign for their mail box that is a move towards stopping junk mail being produced.
Jo Cook says
Today I delivered one sixth of my kitchen things to a local charity and the people there were so happy to receive them. I have been decluttering for a few years now. It becomes much easier to do when you see for yourself how much simpler life becomes without the complications of too many things. The more we dispose of the more we seem to find to get rid of . Thank you Joshua !