10 Minutes A Day Keeps The Clutter Away

Do you have clutter? Are your kitchen counters cluttered? Is your kitchen sink full of unwashed dishes? Is there stuff piling up on the desk, the table, the couch, the floor? There’s a simple solution: Just 10 minutes a day keeps the clutter away:

Getting uncluttered is a process. The first part of the process is getting rid of stuff you don’t need. That might actually be the easy part. The second part of the process requires a greater change: creating new habits.

See my post: It’s As Easy As One Less Teaspoon Of Sugar A Day.

Chances are good that your home became cluttered due to your existing habits. You might have a tendency to buy more than you really need. Or you might have a tendency to procrastinate. This post tackles the the procrastination problem. In order to keep clutter at bay, you need to create healthy cleaning habits. But once you get started, it’s not as hard as you might think.

Get Clutter-Free In 10 Minutes Or Less

I spend anywhere from one to three hours a week cleaning my house. Most of that time goes to the deep cleaning of the kitchen, the bathrooms, the floors, etc. Keeping the clutter at bay only takes me a few minutes each day. It’s really quite simple once you get started. Here are 4 simple tips:

Make you bed every morning: My mom drilled this into me. Thanks, mom! I was required to make my bed every morning. I’m not quite as strict on my daughter, Annie, but by making your bed in the morning, you teach yourself to keep things tidy. A neat bed will spread to other parts of your home.
Do your laundry as soon as you have a full-sized load: It only takes a minute to start a load of laundry. Do it! Don’t let it stack up. It takes five minutes to fold and put away a load of laundry. I do laundry for two. About three loads a week takes 15-20 minutes of my time.
Do your dishes immediately after eating: Occasionally, I let this rule slide. But in general, I clean up my dishes within a few hours of eating. Again, it’s only a 5-minute job. If you let it go for more than one meal, things start stacking up. That’s what you want to avoid.
Take two minutes each morning and evening to tidy things up: Annie is 11 years old. She doesn’t always think about picking up after herself. I’m working on that, but I can keep our home clutter-free in just a few minutes each day. Every morning before we leave for school, I pick up anything that’s out of its place. If it’s Annie’s, I ask her to put it away. I do the same thing in the evening, before bed. If you put things away twice a day, your home never gets a chance to get cluttered.

Get Your Kids Involved In Cleaning

Make fun activities a reward for helping with the housework. Annie loves to go out bike riding with me. She likes to play games on her tablet. She likes to play with the neighbor kids. Before she can do any of these things, she must complete the following:

School work: Any homework for school gets first priority.
Piano practice: Practicing a musical instrument builds discipline, so music practice is second. It doesn’t have to be a long session: 5-10 minutes is better than nothing.
Household chores: I don’t make Annie do things that I don’t do. I don’t make her work alone. I help. I don’t make her work for a long period of time. We usually spend a few minutes in the kitchen, the bathrooms, or the yard. Once we get the chore done, it’s all fun.

That’s my secret: Just 10 minutes a day keeps the clutter away. If you struggle with clutter, this simple habit will change your life. I encourage you to get started right now. Take a few minutes to tidy up the room you’re in. Tomorrow morning, choose another room to tidy up. Make it a habit. Soon, you’ll be living in a clutter-free home.