Declutter Kitchen in just one Sweep

Treat your kitchen like your office, a place which should be kept organized always to impress your boss, to get respect from your colleagues and to get business from your customers. You should have a space and place for everything and that thing should only be kept its pre-designated place.  You should ensure that the kitchen has a place for utensils, a grocery cupboard, and space for pans, plates etc.  If you have pre-designated place like this it will not only give a neat look for your kitchen, but also will save time to pickup things when you require.  You need not run around your kitchen to pickup things when you require.

In a de-cluttered kitchen it can be guaranteed that more than 50% of the items will be items which were not used for more than 6 months. So you need to segregate what are needed to have items and what are nice to have items. You should start your de-cluttering exercise from space which is difficult to reach, may be from the top.  You shall be shocked to see the quantity of clutters which you have accumulated over a period of years.

There is no hard and fast rule to declutter your kitchen.  Keep some meaningful logic when de-cluttering like cleaning from left to right, top to bottom etc.  Any item which you have not used in the last 1 year can be easily given away or can be trashed and it does not deserve to be in your kitchen.  Check each and every item individually and just decide whether you require Yes or No.  Do not spend too much time in deciding trying to justify yourself that you may require it when you prepare this, or it may be required for your next festival etc.

De-cluttering is not a one time activity.  Thereafter, you need to maintain your kitchen so that it does not get cluttered once again.  It normally happens that a person spends so much time in declutter kitchen and making his kitchen neat and clean and within one week the clutters starts getting accumulated.  Keep cleaning on a regular basis, may be before you close your day, and ensure that your kitchen is clean. Develop a passion in keeping your kitchen organized and clean, and once a while invite your friends to your home, which can really help you to keep your place clean.  If you get any kind of criticism from your friends or well wishers you should take it in a very positive way.

By doing this you not alone increase your kitchen space, but will definitely create a positive energy and you can enjoy a stress-free and uncluttered kitchen. So just declutter kitchen in one sweep now.

Declutter kitchen or uncluttered kitchen is a peace of mind.

Here are some very simple tips which can guide you to reduce or get rid of clutters from your home.

1.  Do not procrastinate: – One of the main reasons for accumulation of clutter is procrastination. It is human nature to postpone things thereby papers, files and all unwanted items get cluttered without your knowledge.

2.  Make de-cluttering your habit: – Keep 10 to 15 minutes of your time daily for de-cluttering, and just ensuring if everything is in order.  Remember not clearing your clutters for ages is like not shaving your armpit for ages.  You will be stinking. Before you close your day in office, just check if everything is in order. Before you go for sleep, check if your room and house is in order.

3.  Keep a place for everything: – One of the mantra to keep your house in order is “Keep a place for everything and everything should only be kept in its place”.

4.  Manage by Exception: – If you keep your house in order, anything which is not in order will stand out from the ordinary.  You can immediately fix it, and you should immediately fix it. Managing things by exception is more easy and simple.

5.  Learn to be Ruthless: – Half of the world’s clutter is created mainly due to emotions and procrastination.  Every item which is stored will have an emotional history attached to it and because of which, getting rid of it becomes a major problem. Be ruthless and get rid of clutter if you have the slightest feeling that it is not required.

6.  Keep your storage space small:- If you have more space then you will naturally have more junks. Keep your space small to have less clutter and anything exceeding the storage space should be attended immediately, decision quickly taken, action immediately followed.

7.  Clean the clutter magnets regularly:- What I call a clutter magnet is your clothes, shoes, Kids room, magazines, book cases, kitchen etc.  These items and space need to be relooked regularly to ensure that there are no unwanted things hiding from your attention. They attract clutters more than thing else, so you need to keep special attention to these items.

8.  Learn to Gift and Donate: – Anything which you have used, and do not require anymore should not be kept in your home or in office.  You should gift or donate to someone who deserves it.

9.  Just do it:- If you see anything cluttered just correct it then and there.  If you find a piece of paper lying on the floor, a mail lying unattended, a shoe lying below the bed, just attend to it immediately.

10.  Do not spend too much time: – Think it is a simple task and do it.  Do not spend too much time in planning and even more time in execution.  It just need a simple decision Yes or No, throw or retain.  So do not spend too much time planning.

Remember de-cluttering is not an instant fix; it is a long term problem and you need to make it a habit.  De-cluttering your home and work place can not only make you mentally strong, but can increase your confidence and performance level.

Get Rid of Clutters

1.    Papers and Magazines are the easiest things that get cluttered.  You will always have a tendency to pile up your papers for future references or thinking you can read it when you are free.  But remember, you are never going to be free.  So do not have a habit of cluttering magazines, if required just have a quick look and remove pages which you need and try to read it in your car when you travel to your office.  Rule is complete reading it that day itself; do not defer it for future.

2.    Clothes are next possible thing which gets easily cluttered.  If you have not used your clothes for more than 6 months you can donate it or thrash it.  You may think that you shall be using it sometimes later, but believe me, that day is never going to come.

3.    Keep your storage space very limited.  The more you keep it; the more clutters you will start creating.  If your space is limited, you will be forced to relook at things, the necessity to retain and that may make you decide to de-clutter your things fast.

4.    Decide then and there.  One of the main reasons for things getting piled up is due to laziness and procrastination attitude.  Your decision making skill need to improve, decide then and there whether you need it or not.  Retain only if it is required, never keep nice to have things with you.  These nice to have things will just get cluttered over a longer period of time.

5.    Keep last 10% of the time for your task to organize and clean your things. Do not leave your papers, books just like that on your table after a meeting.  It may sound to be funny, but the real thing is, it saves amazingly huge amount of time which you are going to spend in future.  You will always have a peace of mind and sense of accomplishment that you are an organized person.

6.    Relook at your room at least twice a week.  There may be things which have got cluttered without your knowledge.  Do not show mercy or laziness or emotional attachment when de-cluttering things.  Just simply clear it off from your sight.  You may not spend too much time on this task, as you are regularly clearing your things then and there.

7.    Keep a second person whom you trust, who is genuinely interested in you to review your room and things, may be your spouse, or your friends.  Some things may be right from your perspective may not look right in others perspective.  This way you can really clean up your things to a considerable extend.

Keeping your place organized is the simplest thing you can do in life.  Since it is so simple, we tend to overlook the importance until it becomes very damaging, and starts projecting your character and what kind of person you are.