{Guest Post} 5 Tips To Reduce Clutter In Your Home

One of the most common “life energy” blockers in our home and workspace is clutter. Whether it be your closet or office desk, excess things in your surroundings can have a negative impact on your ability to focus and process information.

That’s exactly what neuroscientists at Princeton University found when they looked at people’s task performance in an organized versus disorganized environment.

The results of the study showed that physical clutter in your surroundings competes for your attention, resulting in decreased performance and increased stress. A team of UCLA researchers recently observed 32 Los Angeles families and found that all of the mothers’ stress hormones spiked during the time they spent dealing with their belongings.

Similar to what multitasking does to your brain, physical clutter overloads your senses, making you feel stressed, and impairs your ability to think creatively. For those who are overwhelmed by their clutter, here are some great ways provided by Elizabeth from www.thehomemakersjournal.com to get started:

Dirty dishes should never wait for a proper cleanup

The first one of the 13 habits of people who never have to clean their homes has everything to do with dishes. Just how many times have you allowed your sink to fill up with dirty dishes because you would take care of them “later”? Well, if your goal is to struggle with the remaining clean dishes and even risk growing a new ecosystem in your sink, you can leave your dirty dishes in there for days. But if you want to keep your home clean without actually having to spend hours on the task, wash your dishes the moment you’re done eating! That way, this particular chore will take up 5 minutes of your time the most.

Dust and vacuum weekly

If you want to become one of those people who never have to clean their homes, it’s very important that you create a chore schedule and stick to it. Of course, this doesn’t have to be an overly complicated schedule. Especially if you take the time to wash the dishes right after the meal and make your bed every morning. What’s important is that you do your dusting and vacuuming as scheduled, on a weekly basis, so that you don’t actually have to think too much about it or put more effort into the task than necessary.

Clean up your creative mess as soon as you’re done playing

If you have kids, then you know that keeping your home tidy can be a real struggle. However, it’s always the small steps that can make everything possible. For example, when you play with toys or draw together, or do anything playful that makes a mess, make sure to clean all that up once you’re done playing. Of course, as your kids get older, you can encourage them to do the cleaning themselves.

Where do you keep your coats and shoes?

Messy hallways are not a pleasant sight. Moreover, leaving your shoes all over the place can lead to an accident, especially when it’s dark. Therefore, one of the best habits that you can learn from people who never have to clean their homes is to always organize coats and shoes. You can even play with DIY hooks for your coats and jackets. An open shelf can serve as a shoe holder. The important thing is to keep them at one place so that you don’t trip over them and know where they are at all times.

Clean as you cook

Washing the dirty dishes right after you’re done eating is essential in keeping your home clean with minimal effort. But what about your sink, stove and other appliances? Well, this particular habit is fairly easy so definitely try to incorporate it into your daily routine. Namely, try to wipe the surfaces of the appliances you use for cooking as you cook, to make sure that everything is nice and clean.

Now that you know the magical habits of people who never have to clean their homes all you have to do is become a wizard yourself. It’s true that it may be a bit difficult to apply this particular mindset to your own lifestyle if you haven’t been really tidy over the years. However, all you need are baby steps and a strong will. You might be surprised, but there’s a small trick that can encourage you to become tidier and neater on an everyday basis. Basically, what you can do is leave sticky notes for yourself everywhere you think you’ll need some special encouragement. You can stick these on the cabinet above the sink, on your wardrobe, etc. You can also mark the dates for cleaning on your wall calendar. This way you always know when the time for some quick home maintenance is.

Thank you to Elizabeth for providing me with this guest post. You can find more from her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.