How do you keep clutter from starting?

[Jean in Newcastle]

True confessions here. . . I'm looking around the dining room where I'm typing. I have 5 books sitting here (not even stacked neatly but strewn on various flat surfaces.:blush:) 3 are dh's books that he wanted me to use/review. One is from the library but ds wants me to look at first because it is an adult book. Three are the financial files that I'm working on but am not finished with. There is a Christmas card that I need to respond to because there was a specific (non form) letter inside. There is a small flashlight that I was using to look inside dd's ear. A paper beside my laptop that I jot down various information on. My camera because the cat was doing cute things the other day and I was snapping pictures from where I sit by the laptop. . . You get the idea.

 

So now it is cluttered. Do you get up and finish every single thing you start, down to putting it back in it's place? Do you put everything away every day? Do you invite people over so that you have to tidy? Please tell me your secrets for keeping things from getting cluttered in the first place!

[2squared]

Do you get up and finish every single thing you start, down to putting it back in it's place? Do you put everything away every day?

 

This. Everything has to have a place, and it has to go back to its place. We also have to have a full house pickup every.day. It's tedious, but it's the only way to keep our life from getting cluttered. I am just learning this in my late 30's. It's taking a lot of training to train myself, and I am working on the dc as well. Dh, well, I think he'll follow along at some point.

 

I do great for a while and then I slack off. Like right now. I should be picking up while the baby is sleeping.

[Dawn in OH]

I have found that my clutter problems all began with getting married. Adding children to the mix didn't help any. :glare:

 

We are working on our clutter issues. I'm an "everything in it's place and a place for everything" person living with a herd of "I must keep everything my hand ever touches" people.

[Melinda in VT]

Now that my kids are older, I delegate more of the cleaning to them so a higher percentage of my house-task time is spent straightening and decluttering.

 

I've just come to accept that yes, I am the only person in the house who thinks to periodically sort through the "books we're currently reading" spot to remove the ones we are no longer currently reading.

 

My oldest son sets the table for dinner every night. In order to set it, he needs to clear it. Now, he doesn't actually put things where they go, usually, he sets them on top of the piano. :glare: Since I'm the person who cares if the kitchen counter, the bookshelf, the piano, and the desk are clear, I just do it.

 

Often a distressing amount of the mess is mine. :001_huh:

 

For the things that aren't mine, or that can be put away by other people, I make piles and call the kids to come put them away right then. (Otherwise, oldest son will move the piles to the top of the piano. ;) )

 

Once a week for each clutter spot usually keeps me happy.

[Ginevra]

There are a combination of things, some which you touched on. One - do make every effort to put things all the way back where it is supposed to go once you are finished. Two - have at least one point (preferably two) in the day when you and dc sweep through and return things where they belong.

 

However, I know that I and the family will not always keep strictly to those processes. If they put a puzzle together, for instance, it's a little crass to go, "Hey, that looks great! Now take it apart and put it away." I also don't put things all the way away if I know they are going to be pulled out again within a day.

 

I did have a homeschooling acquaintance whose children were 100% workbook students. Once they finished their work for the day, she threw it in the trash! :eek: I thought that was horrifying and I'm big on keeping clutter down to a minimum! I'm sure she didn't have a clutter problem, though. ;)

[Ellie]

A place for everything and everything in its place. Trite, I know, but it's true. And you have to be rilly, rilly hard on yourself--and everyone else--about putting everything away, every time, all the time: Don't put it down; put it away.

 

In our last house, there was a chair right by the front door (no entryway), and we all got into the habit of dropping things on that chair when we came in. The truth is that our house wasn't very big, and it wasn't very far to walk down the hall to our bedrooms or the hall closet to put things away. We just got into that habit. :glare: A little nagging from me took care of it. Yes, sometimes you just have to nag...er, remind people not to put it down; put it away.

 

I tend to lay things out all over when I'm working on a project. Something that makes it hard to pick up is that I don't really have office hours, KWIM? If I had a day job, I'd be there for a set amount of time, clean up my stuff, and go home. My desk would stay clean until the next day. At home, I'm in and out and in and out and in and out, all day long. There's never a time when I shut the door and walk away. ::heavy sigh:: A few months ago I decided that I was just going To Do It. I have places for everything, and I purposed to put everything in its place every time I left my office (I'm thrilled to death to have an office at all, lol). So far, so good.:D

 

I sort mail on the way from the mailbox to the trashcan. I never file (as in lay stuff on the counter until I get back to it) papers on the kitchen counter. Bills go in the bill-paying filer, each bill with its own envelope but all the other stuff tossed, including the envelope it came in (Mr. Ellie keeps those. Why??? I dunno.).

 

Putting things away instead of putting them down might seem to take more time when you first start doing it, but it doesn't take that long to for it to become habit, and it will sure save you time in the end, and you won't have to invite people over to motivate you to pick up. :D

[fairytalemama]

A place for everything and everything in its place. Trite, I know, but it's true. And you have to be rilly, rilly hard on yourself--and everyone else--about putting everything away, every time, all the time: Don't put it down; put it away.

 

 

 

Amen, my sister! :D I have to remind myself of this advice EVERY SINGLE DAY! I am the biggest offender besides the kids. I always lament that it's so messy, but not a thing out belongs to dh. It's crazy!

 

Another thing that helps me is never let anywhere get more than 15 minutes of clean up messy. After a while, you know what that looks like.

[LazyDazy]

We have a "pick up" time as part of our bedtime routine. Things may be out here and there all day and each of us may go back and forth between schoolwork and books and games, etc. but at the end of the day everything is put away (even if it will be taken out the very next day).

 

It is just so much easier for me, mentally, to only have to face a days worth of mess at a time. The kids have figured out on their own that doing some of the upkeep throughout the day makes the end of day pick up less of a hassle. We don't even think about it anymore- it's just what we do. The hardest part is to keep at it while the habit is new. ;)

[AuntieM]

"A place for everything" is the crucial part. If it doesn't have a specific place to

live, either designate one, toss the item, or toss some other item to create a home for the item you want to keep. I have often been heard to say,"This whatever doesn't live in this room. [child's name], take it home!"

 

I also must confess, like an earlier poster, a distressing amount of the stuff out of its habitat:glare: is mine.