Several years ago, we made a life-changing decision. We decided to remove all the possessions from our home that we didn’t need.
Over the course of 9 months, we removed 50% of our stuff. And over the course of a few years, we removed 60-70% of our things and moved into a smaller home.
I discovered almost immediately that the less stuff you own, the more organized and clutterfree your home becomes. Go figure.
We would soon discover 21 benefits of owning less and decide that we’d never go back to our old lives of mindless consumption.
In addition to a significant purge that cleared the space for clutterfree living, we developed simple habits to keep our home clutterfree. They were not obtrusive or burdensome in anyway. Just the opposite, in fact. Practiced daily, they take only a few minutes to complete. But together, they leave our home in a perpetual state of calm (or at least, close to it).
Here are the habits I most recommend: 7 Daily Habits for a Clutter-Free Home.
1. Handle physical mail immediately. Too often, mail is only relocated from the mailbox to our countertop—where it often sits or begins to collect. But the fact is, most mail can be processed in very little time if we make it a habit. Immediately discard junk mail (or use Paper Karma to eliminate it completely) and process the rest. Mail that requires processing but can’t be handled right away can easily be placed in a manila To-Do Folder out of sight.
2. Clean dishes after meals. I used to hate washing dishes—especially right after preparing and eating a meal. But things changed when I read this story. Now, I view cleaning dishes as just the last step of the family dinner. Washing dishes (or filling the dishwasher) immediately takes less time (they wash easier when food has not dried). And the kitchen is clean all evening.
3. Make your bed each morning. Messes attract messes. One of the easiest places to see this is the bedroom. Your bed is the centerpiece of the room and when it is made, it sets environment and the culture. But when it is left undone, clutter begins to accumulate around it. The first, best step when cleaning a bedroom is to make the bed. And the first, best step for clutterfree living is to do it first thing in the morning (or find a spouse who does).
4. Store things off the kitchen counter. Messes attract messes and clutter attracts clutter. The better we get at storing clutter out of sight, the less likely it is to accumulate. The kitchen counter is a good example. When countertops become an acceptable place to store things, more things begin to collect there. But a clean countertop communicates calm and order, promotes opportunity for its intended use, and is probably easier than you think.
5. Return items nightly. When we minimized our possessions, we found tidying up to be easier. Every item has a purpose and every item has a home. At the end of the day, items are returned. This is a daily habit I have worked hard to incorporate in my life and my kids’ lives. One reason is because it allows every morning to begin fresh, new, and clutterfree.
6. Complete 1-2 minute jobs immediately. Clutter is often a result of procrastination—decisions put off or small jobs left unfinished. Counteract this procrastination in your home with a simple rule: If a job can be completed in less than 2 minutes, do it now. Take the garbage out, scrub the pot, return the remote control, or place your dirty clothes in the hamper. Every time you see a task all the way to completion, a source of clutter is avoided.
7. Minimize overfilled spaces right away. Clutter often reveals itself as too many things in too small a place: too many clothes in a drawer, too many linens in a closet, too many toiletries in a bathroom cabinet, or too many items on a shelf. When this occurs, as it often does, minimize the overfilled space right away by removing everything no longer needed. Don’t put it off. It will take longer than 2 minutes, but usually no more than 15. Staying ahead of clutter is the best way to defeat it altogether.
Each of these daily habits are routine in our home and help to keep it clutterfree all week long. Certainly, owning less helps make them possible.
Want a cleaner home? Own less stuff. It works every time.
I must say you’ve done a awesome job with this. Also, the blog loads extremely fast for me
My kitchen counters are always cleared . . Once we finish eating, the dishes go straight to the dishwasher . . No dishes sitting on the counter . . No dishes sitting on the table . . As I cook, I put items back, quickly hand washing if needed . . When the meal is on the table, kitchen is tidy. . . . Everything in its place with a natural process to keep the everything in its place . . . .
Same for the rest of the house . . I go through the house at night “putting the house to bed “ . . Straightening, . Tidying . . A restaurant has to close with everything in place for business the next day . . A family home ends the day with everything ready to start the new day . .
Just wanted to thank you for an awesome article. I just printed it out and hung it on my fridge! One of my goals is to have a clutter-free home so this helped me a lot. I also realized that I really need to work on tackling the physical mail in my mailbox since there’s been stacks of junk mail piling up lately.
I have practiced this at my works & home.
The biggest benefits are
A) Search free place saving time spent to search the needed item in cluttered place. Less anxiety. Less fights in family as no one likes searching for the needy.
B) freed up & organised space makes you feel better & breath easy.
C) easy & speedier cleaning & tidying up.
I do every one of these things. I make the bed the minute my feet hit the floor, before I move away from the bed. I hate things out on a counter top, so I have only a Keurig and a toaster oven out in our kitchen that has 3 counter areas. Mail is opened immediately, near a trash can. I can never leave a dish in the sink. We clean as we cook, and eat dinner only when all the dishes and tools used to prepare the meal have been washed and put away. Dinner dishes are put in the dishwasher as soon as we are finished eating. Anything used during the day or night is put back as soon as it has served its purpose. I don’t understand how anyone does not do these things. It keeps life a lot simpler and definitely more organized. Clutter makes for clutter minds!
Love these tips! Shared them on my blog :)
De clutter me please
:0) surely
Great tips to take away, thanks, I have been spending lots on tables. I have not been happy with the tables built and their measurements. Recently ordered another one from Amazon, and although very pleased with it, I have to know what to do with the rest of the tables in my house. This may sounds silly but I have been really hooked on having the best fit table, and having it tidied up after using it, always make me feel ready and fresh for a new start doing my office work. I love your tips, and the one making bed only after being up for awhile helps very much. Thanks for your post.
I keep everything I own in my condo and I rent out my locker.
Something new coming in means something going out.
My rule is ” if you bring 1 square foot of junk in, you must take 2 square feet of junk out.
My husband’s hoarding just cost us almost half a million dollars. I’ve gotten rid of my own stuff for over 40 years to make room for his growing stash of junk. We were at the point of either buying a new home with a gigantic ‘shop’ or getting a divorce. So we’re moving for the first time in 40 years. The cost of his stuff, things to store the stuff in, etc. has been phenomenal. The moral of this story is that you need to get counseling early in your marriage if you marry a hoarder and you are a minimalist. I wish I had.
Hi. Wow, I’m intrigued to file up on how you and your husband are going. Hopefully on the minimalist journey ?
I love this article and trying to make it my habit
I enjoyed the article and tips especially items 5,6 and 7. Thanks.
I hate going to the mail box more than anything in my day. Junk mail and rarely anything of value, other than bills. For the last year, I have been using a virtual mail box. My mail (important stuff) goes to a remote mail box with a real address. When something arrives, they scan the outside, email me a pic and I tell them what to do…..shred it, open it and scan the documents. If they scan the documents, you then decide…download it, shred it or…..LOVE IT !!!! I never touch it and it is simple and secure. They will even deposit checks you receive. Great for the nomad lifestyle.
I tried the ‘baskets on the counter-top/bedside/living room to minimize clutter’ thing recommended to me by my cousin and guess what? They became clutter themselves. Baskets are a good idea if you can keep them organized and pretty much cleaned out. Otherwise they are just clutter themselves and another handy place for JUNK. Out they go! jh
The trick is containing this is to make time to review the contents and sort through. You are right about this quickly becoming just some more clutter
I must say I have never heard of such a service. They would have your personal banking information to deposit checks for you. Not sure I would trust them to do this honestly. How do you know they are actually shreding as well?
I love these tips.
That is still “making” the bed. Leaving it neat and less messy.
Indeed!!
I can see the attraction of having a made bed, but it really isn’t healthy. The average person sweats a pint of water a night, and by making your bed immediately after getting up, you’re creating a moist, damp environment in the bed, ideal for dust mites, mould and bacteria, which can cause skin and breathing problems, including eczema and asthma. See lovely BBC video here.
An unmade bed doesn’t have to look a mess – plump up the pillows and fold the duvet back neatly over the end of the bed, and it’ll air well without looking untidy.
YES! I keep trying to tell my BF this, but he refuses to listen. I will send this web site to him. Thanks!
Since th same goes for what ones wears to bed, any suggestions on how to let bedclothes air and dry without making the bedroom look cluttered?
I wear bed clothing one night only for that reason.
I hang mine in the closet.
I grew up in Germany where “airing out” of all kind of things is commonplace. So I feel the same about not making the bed right away and fold the covers back to be made the next time I enter the room. I do the same thing with my clothes when I change.
Me too, but I will implement the tidy it up method. I swear too much, and my Mother was a fanatic about germs, the bed has to be aired to kill them off, and I’m 72yr
I grew up in England just after the war ( WW2) and an old family friend had been housekeeper to a doctors family during WW2 … she always stressed the importance of “airing the bed” and would roll the bedclothes to the bottom of the bed til later in the day when she would re make it
Thank you!!!!!
One of the clutter issues I’ve been struggling with over the past 9 months is clutter created by my grandson. He came to live with us 9 months ago & because he never learned to pick up after himself at home, he often just leaves things wherever they land. Picking up after himself is such an unfamiliar concept to him!
Tell him if he leaves his things on the floor, it means that he doesn’t want them anymore, so they go in the bin. And do it! He will soon learn to put things away.
It Def works, ???
I recently asked my husband why messiness follows me wherever I go. He said, starting new things are more fun to you than finishing what you already started. Since then I tell myself, I don’t have to start this but if I do I am going to finish it. That philosophy has really helped. I don’t create new messes and the old ones are slowly cleaning up. Best of all I haven’t felt behind and overwhelmed like I always did before.
I’ve made it a habit to make my bed immediately when I get up. I make it before I walk away from it. Because we wanted to move we’ve been decluttering for a few months. It can be hard to give up things you”ve enjoyed, but I heard somewhere to be thankful for what that item has meant in your life and then let it go to make room for something new. Because I’m moving into retirement it’s been emotional to let go of things I used in my work, but the above thought has helped me. Now I ask my children to give me things that are consumable. As we’ve been living in our home staged for showings, I’ve realized how little I really need to have to live comfortably, and how easy it is to maintain a clean house because you’re not using much. Thanks for the pointers to get even better at living simply with order.
I have found that often taking a photo of a prized possession makes it easier to let go. Sometimes, printing & framing makes such a statement of liberation it is appreciated by others who would have never seen it! It works.
I’m really impressed that you were able to get rid of 60-70% of your possessions and downsize your house. It sounds like a great idea to me, but I think it would take me a month of cleaning and a couple of skip bins to get rid of that much of my stuff. A daunting task. I will try to start by keeping my house clean like you suggest. Maybe if there is less clutter it will be easier to start downsizing.
Don’t use skip bins. Donate! Most of the stuff we let go off, was still in very good condition and went to thrift stores. Or to my sisters who could put it to good use. We only threw away what was no longer functioning or broken.
James Bergman,
That is exactly what we did when we sold our 3400sqft house last summer…we filled a roll-out dumpster 30ft × 10ft. We still had far too much stuff, so even after moving twice, I am still purging.
I worry though, about so much stuff going to landfill. If its plastic or plastic-related, it won’t degrade for hundreds of years, if ever. I try to donate or sell things I no longer need – this is more effort, but will leave the planet a better place for our descendants. The problem is though, I always think I may use it/repair it/give to someone in the future, and until then, its hanging around.
I’ve taken to counting how long it takes to do some of the smaller jobs rather than leave it till later – clearing worktop after lunch – 20 seconds, rinsing plates, washing cutlery and rinsing empty food tins – 30 seconds. Am definitely moving in the right direction and realising just how little time these chores can take is mind blowing :-)
Thank you for posting this article.
To quote Aristotle “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
One of the things I have been struggling with is not tracking daily goals but being committed to them. Based on this we developed our own spin on daily goal tracking at Non Zero Day (https://www.nonzeroday.com) where we not only track daily goals but set daily monetary commitments to stay accountable and turn your daily goals into habits.
I would to talk if you have any questions about it!