How to Get Rid of Clutter Even If You Are Really Busy

I work a ton of hours and have a pretty busy life so when I get home the last thing I want to do is start cleaning. Lurking behind the woman whose office is worthy of a Martha Stewart Living Award and a car that is always clean and neat, is a clutter cluster behind the doors of her own home. Even the outside of my house is neat and well-maintained. So what gives.

*shrugs* Honestly I don't know but I do know how to fix-it so that you can again invite friends over and not pretend you aren't home when folks drop by unexpectedly because your house is a mess.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. First set-up a master list of every single thing you want to clean, fix, or organize. This can be fun because this is your dream list. You can even make this a master list of all the tasks you want to accomplish inside and outside the house.

2. Estimate how much time each task in your master list will take in 1 hour or even 30 minute increments. Assume that everything will take longer than you can anticipate so add extra time.

3. Prioritize the tasks if you like. Or you can even organize them into types such as yard work, errands, phone calls, housecleaning etc.

4. Decide how much time you can devote each day to doing something on your list. Remember it is much easier to tackle a task if you know you only have to do it for 1 hour or 30 minutes. However make sure a portion of your day is devoted to strictly maintenance. By this I mean you must maintain what you have organized or cleaned up. Even if you haven't cleaned anything up you must work on not making your situation worse.
   
   It takes me fifteen to twenty minutes to handle maintenance. This means I put things away and clean-up before I start anything new. It means anything that is brought into my house is put away. It means that daily tasks like dishes, taking out the trash etc. are done right away.
   
   It takes about three weeks for something to become a habit so the first month is the toughest.

5. Take your master list and make your working list. If you think it will take you five hours to clean a room and you can devote one hour each day write down "clean storage room" for example on your working list five times. If you can only devote 30 minutes each day write "clean storage room" down ten times. Do this for all your tasks. You will end up with a huge list. You can also decide that although you will work for one hour you will only spend 30 minutes each day cleaning the storage room but you will also spend 30 minutes each day doing yard work.
   
   Use your computer or any artsy or scrapbooking skills you may have to make this list look fun or playful.

6. Each day cross at least one task breakdown from your list. You can even count up all the task breakdowns on your list and decide when you would like to have everything done and give yourself a completion date.
   
   I gave myself a completion date of one year and had over 300 breakdowns on my list. By the end of one year it was all done.

Tips & Warnings

• I always seem to accomplish more on the home front if I'm not working alone so from time to time I did hire help. You should consider hiring someone to help you if you can afford it. But a professional organizer or Jill of all trades can be expensive. I actually hired the 14 year-old cousin of a friend and paid him what he would have earned in McDonald's and he was thrilled.
• Remember you will feel so much better as your home and life become more organized. You will also find that the more organized you are the easier and faster everything becomes. And you will get such a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment each time you can cross off a task break down from your master list especially when you begin to see the results of your efforts. Invite your friends and family over for a party or dinner when you've reached your goal or celebrate by going on a vacation even if it is just a weekend away.