A cluttered home will only make you feel that everything is out of control. You may have legitimate reasons for why your home is in the state it is. Once you understand why the clutter has occurred, the easier it becomes to find a solution.
Here are four reasons why you might have a clutter problem in your home.
Too much stuff
This may seem like the most obvious reason for clutter, but you’d be surprised to know that is where the most trouble is. You have nothing to wear even though your closet is overflowing, so you go out and buy more. There was a great sale at the store which you just couldn’t let pass. You have sentimental attachments to things and you don’t want to get rid of them.
While you feel that bringing in a few containers to organize your stuff is the best solution, the more obvious yet painful process is to eliminate the excess stuff. You really can’t and shouldn’t try to organize the extra stuff in your home. If you are emotionally attached to things, find creative ways to preserve the memories associated with the item, instead of keeping every single thing in your home.
Here is a list of things that you start removing from your home right away:

  • Old magazines and newspapers
  • Old and small appliances that you don’t use anymore
  • Expired grooming items such as makeup, creams, and medicine
  • Anything that is broken and just waiting to be fixed
  • Old technology like VHS tapes, CDs and DVDs

You’re in transition
Every time your routine changes, clutter increases. For example, when you go through a stressful period in your life, change jobs, move houses or fall sick, your home gets cluttered. The mentality during transition is that you will take care of it and organize when things settle down a bit.
Life is nothing but transitioning from one state to the other so waiting to settle down will never work out. Find simple ways that can help you get better organized. The best to approach this problem is to find the thing that most annoys you, perhaps your closet or working table. By spending a few minutes arranging a space you use every day can destress you.
Here are a few tips for you to get started:

  • Walk through your house with a box in hand, picking up things that are out of place. You can put them back where they really belong as you continue walking around your house.
  • Declutter section by section. Instead of looking at it as an entire room, take one area of the room and organize that first.

You need a proper organizational system
One of the fastest way to fill your house with stuff you don’t need is when things don’t have their own place. When you don’t know where to put things, you don’t know what to do with them and you set them down anywhere. This is how clutters begins to crawl into your home.
Try to stop and notice when a particular spot is getting crowded with more stuff. Maybe you set your keys and bag on the coffee table because you don’t have a designated place to put them away. Maybe your kids just leave their school bags and other school stuff lying around the house because they don’t have a designated place or routine to keep their stuff.
Here are simple systems that make a huge difference:

  • A designated spot for your bills, mail and keys
  • Hooks to hang your handbags and coats
  • An organized kitchen and refrigerator unit
  • A laundry system that is convenient for your family

You are a perfectionist
I know that it is hard to believe that a perfectionist can have clutter. But it is true. The biggest problem with perfectionists is their need to have everything done perfectly. So although they know they have clutter, they don’t do anything about it because they feel unequipped to deal with it perfectly.
Learn how to get through the rut. Tell yourself that it does not need to be perfect, it only needs to be better than it was before. This could help your mind wrap around the fact that tackling an entire room at once is frightening. Spend 15 minutes a day organizing one area of the room and making it better.
Here are a few more ideas to help you clear the clutter:

  • Scan a room in your house and imagine how you want it to look. Then work to make that a reality and remove any item that was not in your image. If the room is too big or it is completely out of hand, you can start by visualizing one corner at a time.
  • Create a to-do list. Start with the tasks that you can complete immediately and work your way into the more tiring tasks. Remember the satisfaction you’ll get as you cross off each item on the list one by one.
  • Make sure your family is on board with your decluttering process. You don’t want to declutter only to have your family make it a disaster for you.

Decluttering your home is all about decluttering life and some proper daily habits for you and your family will help you eliminate clutter from your house for good.

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