Yesterday I mentioned that I needed to break the habit of putting things on the dining room table, or any flat space really. It has been true in my life that any flat open space will become cluttered within the week. I thought it was just the nature of flat open spaces, but I realize know how ridiculous that is. The clutter must be placed on the table by someone, it doesn’t magically appear. There is some kind of habit going on where I move something from one flat surface to another flat surface, only days later to move it either to the trash or to a permanent solution. Can you see the wasted effort here?

The confusing thing for me is that a clear table is so relaxing to me. A clean computer desk is even more relaxing and makes it so much easier to get things done. I don’t have to dig through stacks of papers or worry about knocking a stack of something over.  I’ve made some pretty good strides towards keeping my computer desk clean, now I just need to expand that to the other surfaces in the house.

New rule time. Nothing comes in the house unless it has a place to live. This includes things like mail in addition to random purchases. New rule two: I’m not touching something more than twice. When I bring in the mail, I immediately go through it and filter the junk from the necessary stuff. The junk is immediately torn in half and thrown away. The necessary stuff is read and then either placed on the stairs to be brought up and filed tonight or thrown away. I do not want stacks of mail on the table that I need to go through “sometime.”

Hope’s schoolwork is a similar item. We look at it and then place it in its permanent location, either a drawer, the fridge, or the trash. What? Throw away my precious child’s work? Yes. She brings home an average of four pieces of paper a day. Multiply that by 200 days in school (a rough guess) and that is a ream and a half of paper she brings home. Add in Sunday School projects and artwork and it get’s even thicker. There is no way we can store all that stuff, nor will we look at the majority of it. The important pieces get saved. The semi-important pieces we actually take a picture of with our camera. That way we still have a record of it but it is stored on a hard-drive, not in a drawer. It is a little tough-love but, we have enough stuff in our house already.

Actually the whole “take a picture of it and then throw it away” has been so freeing for us. Thanks to Peter Walsh for that idea. It allows us to keep an image of a sentimental item without actually having to store the item. After all, it is not the item itself that is important, it is the memories and meaning of the item that is. A picture holds all of those memories and meanings in a convenient location. Plus it is a lot easier to flip through pictures in a book or on the computer and enjoy the item than it is to actually dig it up out of a box or chest.

So as my war on clutter continues, I’m working hard to address the primary creator of the clutter: me. It is my habits that cause these issues and therefore I can make it stop. So take a look around at the clutter in your house and discover why it is there. Do you need to make adjustments to your routine to prevent clutter build up? If so, do it today.