If you find yourself overwhelmed by clutter, you’re not alone.A survey conducted by Psychology Today Magazine found more than 90% of respondents say they feel an overwhelming sense of “time-poverty.” 1 Nearly three-fourths of Americans spring clean because they are tired of clutter.2

These get started tips are the first steps on the road from cluttered chaos to organized bliss.

Use these tips to get started.

• Work with 5 piles/bins/baskets in mind
  • Keep
  • Donate/Sell
  • Discard
  • Repair
  • Goes elsewhere in the house.
• Scan and Can
  • Scan documents and throw the unimportant hardcopies in the trash can. Obviously, you’ll want to keep the originals of deeds, mortgages, insurance and the like, but the scanned versions will be there should disaster strikes. Also, can all the extraneous envelopes and bill stuffers that come with bills. Consider switching to ebills and epay. Ask your bank.
• Start Small
  • Instead of saying “Today, I’m going to organize the garage!” say, “Today, I’m going to organize these two garage shelves” or “I’m going to sort the vanity drawer.” Attacking the problem in smaller chunks allows you to feel a sense of accomplishment and will motivate you – or others in your household – to continue the task.
• Toss 50
  • Set a goal to throw away 50 unused, unwanted or broken items in a week. Start in one area and do your best to rid yourself of unused stuff that’s taking up space in your home.
• Use a Go Back basket
  • Use a Go Back basket on each level of your home. If you see an item that belongs in a different area of the house, place it in the Go Back basket and set a time each day to return the items to their appropriate places in the house. It saves time, too.
• If it’s been in the Repair basket for longer than 6 months, chances are it will never be repaired. Toss it.
• Just Eliminate Items in One Area.
  • This is like the “Toss 50” but you’re going to confine your attack on clutter to one area for a specified amount of time, say 20 minutes to 1 hour.

1Psychology Today, Nov/Dec 93, Vol 26, Issue 6
2Chicago Tribune, 04/13/04