Clutterbugs: Easy Daily Clutter Maintenance
Sometimes I think one of the biggest challenges in keeping a nice house is to deal with the daily clutter of dishes, mail, shoes, newspapers, backpacks, etc. If you can just get this one habit until control, you would be so surprised at what a difference it would make in your home!
One simple thing you can do is to just get in the habit of taking a few things with you every time you leave a room. It would literally take a matter of seconds to pick up a couple of glasses or dishes when you're heading for the kitchen, a pair of shoes or a coat when you're headed for the bedroom - how easy is that?
Eliminating the clutter in this way will make your room look so much cleaner and will make it so much easier to keep a room looking nice. Part of the problem is you get to the point where you don't even notice the clutter. Once you remove the constant clutter from a room, you'll notice even one thing out of place. It's like the peace and quiet of the country after a few weeks of being in the noise and bustle of the city. It's very refreshing.
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| Photo credit by SRABurton at stock.xchng |
The trick is to remember it. You know the old saying that it takes 28 days to build a habit. I don't know if that's true or not, but building new habits is definitely a big challenge for me. However, there are some little tricks you can use to help get yourself into a new habit.
Here are some ideas:
- Put a rubber band around your wrist or a brightly colored bracelet.
- Reward yourself. If you do better with the habit than you did the day before, reward yourself with a little extra TV time or a special coffee or some other small, easily repeatable reward.
- Stick up Post-It notes everywhere to encourage yourself.
- Engage your kids or your husband. Have them levy .25 cent fines on you when you forget.
- Try the don't "break the chain" technique. Get a calendar and some fun stickers. You get a sticker for each day you remember your habit. When you get a chain of 3 or 4 days, plan a special treat for yourself and then you won't want to break the chain.
4 comments:
Adrian, yes! It was Sandy Nails. That's really the only place I go. That's too funny.
Oh man, my problem is I wait until I'm too tired to do the dishes at night. I just have to force myself to do it!
Hi, found you on SITS.
Clutter is everything that is wrong with my house! I will try these techniques for sure :) But I think I'm going to need way more than 28 days for this habit to stick!
Hi, found you on SITS.
Clutter is everything that is wrong with my house! I will try these techniques for sure :) But I think I'm going to need way more than 28 days for this habit to stick!
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