Habits are built slowly and over time. If you find yourself gaining traction and getting derailed easily, you need to put some guardrails in place. As our schedules change, I’ve found that this is something that will help me out and I think it might help you too!

If you’re doing the full Clean Mama Routine you can also coordinate this with the Monthly Focus and concentrate your decluttering in that area of your home. January = Whole House Declutter, February = Kitchen, etc.

Go to the free printables page to grab this free printables and many, many more! If you are new to the free printables page you’ll need to enter your email address ONE TIME and I’ll send you the password you can use to access the free printables page. If you already have the password, simple enter it and grab these goodies.

Everyone needs a fresh start from time to time. If you’ve been doing the Clean Mama Routine for years or a few weeks, you know that there are specific tasks we do throughout the year (Daily Tasks, Weekly Tasks, Rotating Tasks, Monthly Focus). These tasks keep our homes clean most of the time! We also know that real life brings messes and clutter. The Whole Home Reset Course is the system that I use when I need to do a reset in the house. I’m so excited to share this method with you!

The post The One Bag Quick Declutter 2023 appeared first on Clean Mama.

Ready? If you don’t have your free printable, keep reading and get started!  Check out this post for how I organize our files.

Thank you for doing the Declutter Quick Start with me!  I hope you cleared some clutter, created some space and feel ready for 2023!  If you aren’t ready to be done, join the Whole Home Reset – we start today! The Whole Home Reset is a course that you can complete anytime – we’re doing a New Year’s version this January and I’d love for you to join us!

Join Me for the Free Declutter Quick Start! If you’re feeling like you need to do a little (or a big) declutter, join us on January 2nd-6th for the Clutter Quick Start!

What’s the Clutter Quick Start? It’s a FREE 5 day challenge that’ll be on the blog and on Instagram next week. Each day we’ll be working together on 5 clutter areas and clearing the clutter together.

The post Declutter Quick Start – Day 5 – File Paperwork appeared first on Clean Mama.

It’s Declutter Quick Start – Day 4 and today we’re going to set a timer for 10-30 minutes and see what you can go through for your paper piles. If you have more than one, start with the worst offender and go from there. When sorting paper piles make 3 categories: toss/recycle, file, and shred.

Paper clutter can pile up so quickly – the new year is a great time to get a handle on it and make a plan to move forward with less paper.

Don’t miss the sale on the Whole Home Reset Course – New Year’s Declutter Edition, we start tomorrow in the group and the sale pricing ends tonight!  Join for $39 today!

Ready? If you don’t have your free printable, keep reading and get started!

Join Me for the Free Declutter Quick Start! If you’re feeling like you need to do a little (or a big) declutter, join us on January 2nd-6th for the Clutter Quick Start!

What’s the Clutter Quick Start? It’s a FREE 5 day challenge that’ll be on the blog and on Instagram next week. Each day we’ll be working together on 5 clutter areas and clearing the clutter together.

The post Declutter Quick Start – Day 4 – Sort Paper Piles appeared first on Clean Mama.

It’s Declutter Quick Start – Day 3 and today we’re going to set a timer for 10-30 minutes and see how much stuff you can find and get clear from surfaces. If you feel overwhelmed, pick one surface and completely clear it (coffee table, kitchen table, kitchen counters, desk, etc.).

Taking that visual noise out of the equation makes a huge difference! Once you’ve cleared one surface, wipe it clean and leave that surface empty for a bit before you put anything back.

Work quickly and notice how you FEEL with a surface or two cleaned, cleared, and decluttered. It’s okay to leave the surface empty for a bit before you decide what you want to return to that surface.

Join Me for the Free Declutter Quick Start! If you’re feeling like you need to do a little (or a big) declutter, join us on January 2nd-6th for the Clutter Quick Start!

What’s the Clutter Quick Start? It’s a FREE 5 day challenge that’ll be on the blog and on Instagram next week. Each day we’ll be working together on 5 clutter areas and clearing the clutter together.

The post Declutter Quick Start – Day 3 – Surface Declutter appeared first on Clean Mama.

It’s Declutter Quick Start – Day 2 and today we’re going to concentrate our time on the floors. This challenge is intended to help you get started quickly with minimal effort. Set a timer for 10-30 minutes and gather everything that you can remove from the floors. This might be clothing, shoes, toys, anything that doesn’t belong on the floor. Quickly remove it and put it where it belongs or get rid of it.

If it’s helpful, just continue what you started yesterday. Add a couple more bags and a little more effort to clear those floors. Ready? If you don’t have your free printable, keep reading and get started!

Join Me for the Free Declutter Quick Start! If you’re feeling like you need to do a little (or a big) declutter, join us on January 2nd-6th for the Clutter Quick Start!

What’s the Clutter Quick Start? It’s a FREE 5 day challenge that’ll be on the blog and on Instagram next week. Each day we’ll be working together on 5 clutter areas and clearing the clutter together.

The post Declutter Quick Start – Day 2 – Floor Declutter appeared first on Clean Mama.

I make my first bag a bag of trash to help me get started. Today we’re undecorating the house from Christmas and I’ll be doing a deliberate and intentional quick declutter at the same time. Ready? If you don’t have your free printable, keep reading and get started!

Join Me for the Free Declutter Quick Start! If you’re feeling like you need to do a little (or a big) declutter, join us on January 2nd-6th for the Clutter Quick Start!

What’s the Clutter Quick Start? It’s a FREE 5 day challenge that’ll be on the blog and on Instagram next week. Each day we’ll be working together on 5 clutter areas and clearing the clutter together.

The post Declutter Quick Start – Day 1 – Whole House Quick Declutter appeared first on Clean Mama.

What’s the Clutter Quick Start? It’s a FREE 5 day challenge that’ll be on the blog and on Instagram next week. Each day we’ll be working together on 5 clutter areas and clearing the clutter together.

Grab the FREE checklist and get ready to join us next week! Want to head straight to the free printables page? Head here!

READY TO FOLLOW ALONG?

• Subscribe in the sidebar for motivational posts and tips to keep up with the Daily and Weekly Tasks.
• Follow me on Instagram for daily reminders and cleaning tips.
• Get ready!  We start next Monday!

Find the Clutter Quick Start checklist on the free printables page. Put your email address in ONE TIME for the password.

The post Join Me for the Free Declutter Quick Start! appeared first on Clean Mama.

You’ll see that in the Homekeeping Planner the One Day Quick Declutter Date is on the ‘This Month’ page. This is a page at the beginning of each month to help bring a little focus to the month, perfect for jotting down important dates to remember, goals for the month, AND the One Day Quick Declutter Date. I love this chance to think through the month ahead, make some goals and progress.

You’ll also notice that all the *new* paper products (and some other paper products) are marked down to celebrate the launch – grab them before the price goes back up 7/15!

If you’d prefer, you can always use the free printable to keep track OR grab the Whole Home Reset Kit for even more decluttering guidance.

If you’re doing the full Clean Mama Routine you can also coordinate this with the Monthly Focus and concentrate your decluttering in that area of your home. January = Whole House Declutter, February = Kitchen, etc.

Go to the free printables page to grab this free printables and many, many more! If you are new to the free printables page you’ll need to enter your email address ONE TIME and I’ll send you the password you can use to access the free printables page. If you already have the password, simple enter it and grab these goodies.

The post One Bag Quick Declutter Check-In appeared first on Clean Mama.

I’m starting a new ritual – a One Bag Quick Declutter every month on the 11th, starting TODAY! I’m putting it on the calendar as a monthly task (look for it in the 2023 Homekeeping Planners) and it will simply remind me to do a quick declutter and look for at least one bag of stuff to get rid of in my quest to simplify our home.  Want to try it or join me? I’ll also share my process on Instagram on the 11th of each month. Follow along here – I’m @cleanmama.

If you’re doing the full Clean Mama Routine you can also coordinate this with the Monthly Focus and concentrate your decluttering in that area of your home. January = Whole House Declutter, February = Kitchen, etc.

Go to the free printables page to grab this free printables and many, many more! If you are new to the free printables page you’ll need to enter your email address ONE TIME and I’ll send you the password you can use to access the free printables page. If you already have the password, simple enter it and grab these goodies.

This pdf and concept is included in the brand new and intro-priced Whole Home Reset. The Whole Home Reset is your guide to going through the entire home in a short amount of time. Once you have it reset, you can maintain it with the Clean Mama Routine.

Everyone needs a fresh start from time to time. If you’ve been doing the Clean Mama Routine for years or a few weeks, you know that there are specific tasks we do throughout the year (Daily Tasks, Weekly Tasks, Rotating Tasks, Monthly Focus). These tasks keep our homes clean most of the time! We also know that real life brings messes and clutter. The Whole Home Reset is the system that I use when I need to do a reset in the house. I’m so excited to share this method with you!

Grab the Whole Home Reset and get started today!  Hurry, intro-pricing ends on Saturday, January 15th.

The post Start a New Ritual with Clean Mama’s One Bag Quick Declutter + free printable appeared first on Clean Mama.

Choose three main topics that are in your existing paper piles and create a folder for each one. We use this system for paper that’s still in process for the family. I use three file folders and each one is labeled as one of these three topics (feel free to use what works for you): Invitations (birthday invites, wedding invites, grad parties, etc), School/Work (field trip forms, school calendars), In Process (anything that’s still in process goes in this folder).

Once you have decided on the topics/titles for your 3 Folder System, it’s time to start sorting. Any paper that falls under one of the three categories you chose, gets housed into the file until you no longer need it.  The key to this system working is that you do filter through the items in the file folders and shred/toss them when you’re done with them.  Looking for sources? They’re at the bottom of the post.

The best part of this system? You can quickly access any items that fall under these often used categories. No guessing or searching, you know where the items are at any given time.

I talk about the 3 Folder System in the *all new* Guide to Going Paper-Less – it’s a printable kit designed to help you get a handle on your paper clutter and set up systems that will keep your paper clutter away for good.

The Guide is Intro-priced at $10 through 10/31/2021 AND all printables are Buy 2, Get 1 Free this week!

The Guide to Going Paper-Less is a 24-page PDF guide designed to help you minimize your paper clutter and figure out systems that work for your home. This guide is designed to take you from paper clutter to paper-less in simple, manageable steps.

Looking for a simpler way to organize or approach an area of your home?  I have a printables section in my shop designed to help you organize and sort through all things home: Cleaning, Decluttering, Menu Planning, Paper, Productivity, Kids Responsibilities and more!

• Buy 2, Get 1 FREE Printables Sale (automatic discount when you put 3 kits in your cart)
• Hurry, this sale is October 25-31
• Grab the new Guide to Going Paper-Less intro-priced at $10 or add it to two other kits to get one kit FREE!

SHOP THE SALE!

sources:

• folders: I love a pretty folder – the ones pictured are sold out but these are similar
• the dishes are vintage – the stoneware one is for my husband’s wallet and lip balm and the green one is for keys
• desk organizer – I found it at HomeGoods, here’s one that’s similar

The post Paper Clutter? Try the 3 Folder System appeared first on Clean Mama.

Here’s my before – clothes that need to be washed, Christmas returns that need to be dealt with, a declutter was definitely in order.

1 – SET A TIMER – This can be for 10 minutes or 2 hours, you choose! I ended up spending about 30 minutes working on this space. As usual, it took me less time than I was anticipating it to take.

2 – CLEAR OUT – Remove all the items from the clutter spot.

3 – QUICK SORT – Do a Quick Sort – put each item in one of these 4 clutter categories (Keep, Toss, Donate, Relocate). I ended up with a donate bag and a toss bag – love that feeling!

4 – WIPE + PLACE – Make sure the area is wiped clean and ‘Keep’ items back.  I used the new All-Purpose Cloth in the Cleaning Kit for this.

I also vacuum a space if necessary – this took about 1 minute and is always worth the effort!

5 – TAKE A LOOK – Assess the area and determine if there’s anything you need to keep this space from cluttering up again. Put your Relocate items in their new spot and take care of your Toss and Donate items.

If you’re looking for help getting started and a group to work on some decluttering together, sign up for the 5 Day Home Refresh – I hope you join us! The 1000+ people that purchased and participated last August loved the method we used and the quick wins in their homes.

I love a good before and after don’t you?

How about you?  Is there a space you can do a quick declutter in today?  Set a timer and get started!

The post How to Quickly Declutter Any Space appeared first on Clean Mama.

Want to make some forward progress? Take smaller steps.

I love the week between Christmas and the New Year. It’s calm, the kids are playing with toys and new things and we have a quiet schedule. I like to take this time to prepare a couple areas of the home for the New Year. Last year I focused on a decluttering a couple areas of the home and reorganizing holiday decorations.

This year I set up a new organizational system in the office, I set up my Homekeeping Planner and went through 2020 paperwork (this is also part of the Monthly Focus for December – you can find the Monthly Focus in the Homekeeping Planner and the Homekeeping Society subscription), and we purged about 1/3 of the things in our basement (and scheduled a donation pick up the same day). The basement purge was something that my husband and I had talked about for a couple months – we spent about an hour and a half and went through items, moved boxes, and the all of us (kids included) hauled stuff up to the garage. Sorry I don’t have any before pictures – it was a flurry of activity, ha! The moral of this story?  We put this off for months and it took an hour and a half. I should know this, nothing takes as long as we think it does. Take some time and do something you’ve been putting off.

Here’s the new organizational system in the office – it’s super simple, but I’m loving it!  I bought this file folder rack for my Homekeeping Planner and Homekeeping Binder, notepads and notebooks. Instead of having these things propped up on my desk or in a drawer, this system keeps them where I use them and keeps them at the ready. You can find all of the pictured paper goods here in my shop.

These three things will set me and the rest of the family up for success as we move into 2021. You don’t need to do these 3 things but they were nagging at me for awhile and I decided to just take care of it before the new year so they don’t have to be my goals again

Want to change what you’re doing? Look for problems and find simple ways to fix them.

My challenge for you is to choose one thing that you meant to do this year and just take care of it. Get it done and off your list for the new year. It’ll feel good and you’ll be giving yourself the free gift of organization and if you do a little decluttering, you’ll free up mental space and stress as well. Then choose something that will help you feel more organized and ready for the new year – planning and dealing with paperwork always helps me with that.

How about you – what 3 things can you do between now and January 1st to set yourself up for success?

The post 3 Things I Did to Get Organized for the New Year appeared first on Clean Mama.

• Completely clear your counters. Remove everything and place it on your kitchen or dining room table.

• Mix up your cleaning solution. Mix up drop or two of dish soap in warm, soapy water. Submerge a clean cloth – my preference is a bar mop towel. You can find the Bar Mop Towels in my shop along with my Lemon Dish Soap – two of my favorite products!
• Clean the counters. Move quickly, wiping the counters, taking care to get the edges and counters. If you have a backsplash, you can use this solution on backsplashes as well.

• Rinse the cloth as needed and re-dip in the warm, soapy water and keep going until you have wiped your kitchen counters clean. I like to keep a dry cloth with me as I’m cleaning the counters to dry them as I go.

• Assess and edit. Look at all your counter goods on your table – is there anything that you don’t use daily that can be put in a different place or in a cupboard or cabinet? Is there anything that you can donate or give away? Before you move everything back, take a minute to edit your counters a bit. If you only use your toaster or blender once or twice a week and you have limited counter space maybe it would be better stored elsewhere. A little space on the counters is a good thing – you don’t need to fill it up!

• Think in zones. Put the remaining items back on your counters and think about zones as you return the items. If you keep baking goods (flour, sugar) on the counter, put them back by where you store your mixer or measuring cups. Put your coffee pot back by the coffee mugs.

Once you’ve returned your items to the counters, resolve to keep them cleared off for a week to see what a difference it makes. Here’s how I keep our counters clean all week long:

1. After every meal put things back where they belong.
2. Don’t pile dishes on the counters.
3. Empty your sink and dishwasher as soon as you are able.
4. If you’re a mail stacker, sort your mail right away and don’t leave it on the counters.
5. WIPE COUNTERS is a Daily Task in the Clean Mama Routine – you can find out more about the routine here. 
6. The NIGHTLY SINK SCRUB is part of the Wipe Counters task – check that out here – if there’s only one thing you try, it’s this!

If you really work at this this whole week, you’ll see how easy it is to keep it up, it’s when you let it go that it becomes a chore and overwhelming!

Head to this post for all the details on our kitchen – paint colors, countertops, floors, appliances and more are included in this post.

The post How to Clean + Clear Your Kitchen Counters (and keep them that way!) appeared first on Clean Mama.

A small win, even if it’s a decluttered pencil cup or a cleaned out purse can feel like a huge accomplishment when we’re feeling overwhelmed and like it’s hard to get anything completed from start to finish.

Here’s an example for you – my office has become a bit of a dumping ground this summer with new product testing (yay!), a major project completed (double yay!), home projects, and the kids using my office for school in the spring which has given them a whole new love for this space.

This past week I decided to up-end the space, clear it out, take everything off bulletin boards and whiteboards and that led to some serious paper shredding and file consolidation – see above image. I intended to just do a quick clean up of the surfaces, but that led to an organized space, ready for this office space to do double duty as a school room too. Once I got started, I just kept going and of course, it didn’t take me nearly as long as I thought it would. I used the worksheet from Clean Mama’s 5 Day Home Refresh, took a couple before pictures of the space to motivate me, and got started using the steps from the 5 Day Home Refresh.

Heads-up: This is an event with a pdf guide – it’s not available now, but will be back in 2021.

What was the key? Just getting started!  Once I made my plan and got started I was well on my way to getting this space in order. I was even able to complete the 3 ‘save for later tasks’. I needed a plan and I needed to finally carve out a little time to just do the thing that I’ve been putting off for weeks.

If this process sounds like one you can handle – I know you can! – you’ll love the 5 Day Home Refresh. It starts next week on Monday, August 24th and goes through Friday, August 28th. We’re going to tackle 5 Clutter Spots in our homes together. We’ll start by walking through our home and writing down all of our Clutter Spots, then we’ll choose our top 5. Every day of the week next week we’ll work on one of these areas, sharing our before and afters and motivating each other in the private Facebook group.

I created a simple system to help us get started and get past the mess to find calm and order. Want to join me? 

I know that those little results lead to bigger results, habits, and a new sense of calm in our homes. When so much feels out of our control, I am so excited to share Clean Mama’s 5 Day Home Refresh with you to help you get BIG Results quickly and with ease.

Clean Mama’s 5 Day Home Refresh is priced at only $15 – that includes a 17 page pdf AND the event with Facebook Lives and a support group.

Think about how you want your home to FEEL – calm, cozy, and tidy? Warm and inviting? No more piles and a system that really works for keeping the clutter away for good?  Let’s take care of the piles and put some order to the chaos before the next season. Let’s clear some clutter together!

GRAB THE 5 DAY HOME REFRESH NOW!

The post The Power of Your Own Before + After appeared first on Clean Mama.

Couple that with kids being at home unexpectedly, staying inside more than usual, different work schedules, new schedules and routines…. it’s a lot. After two months in quarantine, I am finding that I need to do a RESET and I’d love for you to join me!

I follow 9 steps that always get me out of a funk and back on track. I turned my simple reset into a course – Jumpstart Your Routine – if you need a little guidance, check it out.

Here’s something I know – CLUTTER = STRESS

My mission? I want to help you get past that clutter, past that stress, to the place where you can enjoy life, your kids, have time for what matters to you and not stress over clutter. I want you to know that cleaning doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

Maybe you are ….

• just wanting to take the house back
• struggling with a different schedule
• facing a health crisis
• feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where or how to start
• need some support to help you with self-discipline

Through the Jumpstart Your Routine Course we follow 9 simple steps to RESET our lives and homes – one of my favorite modules is Module #6 – Clear the Surfaces. Clutter equals stress and clearing surfaces will help you eliminate the stress that clutter brings.

Today, if you feel stressed out, unmotivated, unsure of where to start, clear ONE surface. Just one. It can be your kitchen counter, a kitchen table, your bathroom counter, the mantle, your desk….any surface.

Here’s how to clear one surface:

1. Identify your surface. It might be a kitchen counter, an end or side table, a coffee table, a mantel, the fridge …. Just choose one surface to start!
   
2. Completely empty/clear it – leave NOTHING on the surface.
   
3. Wipe the surface off with a barely damp cloth and/or your favorite cleaner.
4. Step back and gaze at that clean and empty surface. Sometimes a clean and clear surface can give you a little calm in a room. Leave it empty for a bit if you can.
5. When you’re ready, evaluate what you are going to put back. Do you need everything? Are you using it daily or weekly? Is there anything you can donate, sell, put somewhere else?
   
6. Return the necessities to the space or leave it empty for a bit.
   
7. Evaluate again – how does it look? Any additional edits?
   

You’ll be surprised with how clearing just one surface makes you feel. Clearing one surface CAN help with that overwhelmed feeling. Leave a note in the comments to tell us what surface you’re clearing today!

Ready for more? I’d love to help you get started with a routine that works – come join me and Jumpstart Your Routine TODAY!

The post Feeling Overwhelmed? Clear ONE Surface! appeared first on Clean Mama.

We know this to be true: Clutter takes up space in our homes and minds. Stuff has physical and mental weight. Even if you can’t see it everyday, you know it’s there and it holds space in your home, heart, and mind.

Rule #1: Clutter is different at different times in our lives. Stuff FEELS different in different life stages.

All January I decluttered right along with you guys and followed the challenge. I was clearing spaces, decluttering on schedule right along with you. Then 3/5 of us came down with the flu (myself included) and we pretty much lost the last week of January. I didn’t declutter but I was still contemplating the stuff and what I hadn’t gotten to quite yet. Once I was feeling better we were back to the clutter and our focus turned to getting our house ready for new flooring throughout the first floor. Most things needed to be moved to the basement or other areas of our home. I’ve been sharing this a bit on Instagram if you’re interested, I’d love to have you follow along. I came to a conclusion while we moved stuff, assessed items that we had just decluttered and gave some things a second thought.

Clutter feels different in different stages because it is!  We drag our stuff with us from place to place and when we don’t evaluate it, it can become burdensome. Even if it’s in a box in the basement, it’s extra stuff. We moved into our home eleven years ago. I was a stay-at-home mom to a 1 year old and a 3 year old. It was a different season. I had every intention to go through each and every box in the basement and decide what to keep and put out into our new home, what to donate, and what to toss. But what do you know, we figured out how to live without the stuff in the basement, that season changed (many times over), and here I was last week finding paystubs and credit card statements from 1997.

I used this as a wake-up and my husband and I spent the better part of that weekend shredding paper and going through boxes and clearing ‘clutter’. It feels good and we’re still going. What’s the point? It’s not always going to be like this. Even if you think you’ll get to something when you have more time (you might), take care of the clutter today. Stop putting it off. You’ll have a couple times in your life when you’ll be forced to deal with clutter and I feel like it’s much better to deal with it on my terms but with a little bit of a rush or end goal like when you’re moving or remodeling.

When faced with lots of untouched paperwork found in boxes in the basement, here’s what we did:

QUICKLY SEPARATE BY YEAR – per IRS guidelines, we keep necessary paperwork for 7 years. This is what I was left with after we went through all the old paperwork – just one bin. I had a lot of things in zip top bags – I dated them and separated by year and set this aside.

SHRED, SHRED, SHRED
I recommend investing in a good paper shredder. You can also check into shred days in your community or at your bank. Moving forward, I’m shredding as I go .

STORE IN A SAFE PLACE – I transferred all of the receipts and paperwork to large plastic envelopes and dated them. I put them in order by year and at the end of each year we’ll shred the oldest year and use the envelopes for the next year. I use a different system for expenses now – QuickBooks – and don’t need to save nearly as much as I have in the past, so I can see this filing system getting smaller and smaller.

Come up with a system that works for you!  I keep current files in my office and am updating that now – I’ll share that update with you too.

Rule #2: Clutter doesn’t have to stay clutter. 

If a table is piled high with paperwork, magazines, books, whatever, it doesn’t mean that all those things are clutter. It just means that those things need a home or they need to leave. Deal with the stuff. If you’ve held on to something for sentimental reasons, and you can’t really think of a reason to keep it but you can’t part with it, that’s ok, just don’t save everything. Come up with rules for what you do keep and what you let go. Here are a couple ideas to get you started: anything with a handprint, special baby outfits, family heirlooms, things you’ll need again….

If you are still not sure if you want to keep something or let it go, try putting it in a box and put a date on it – 1 month from now, 1 year from now, whatever works for you and if you don’t go to that box again, let it go.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed with just starting or if you have a large area to declutter, set a timer for 10 minutes and deal with that small area until the timer goes off. If I’m feeling overwhelmed with a cluttered area, I put painter’s tape around the area make myself focus solely on that area. No looking around and getting off task, no moving to something else. If you ever wonder how professional organizers can tackle a cluttered closet or room so quickly, it’s because they have no attachment to what’s inside. Pretend you’re a pro and try to detach yourself from what you’re working on.

Rule #3: Clutter is ongoing.

There is no magic way to have a clutter-free home all the time. Sure if you get rid of anything unnecessary and only have the basics, it’s going to be fairly clutter-free, but you still have to deal with clutter on a daily basis, it’s ongoing. Mail, papers from school, toys, dishes, daily items left out, books, clothes….

Here’s what DOES work: MAINTENANCE

The pre-Clean Mama Becky saved all the stuff and while it was organized, it’s not all needed. If you follow the Clean Mama Routine, you know that CLUTTER is a Daily Task. We deal with it daily to avoid the overwhelm. If you weren’t convinced that I deal with clutter too, you’ll notice that another Daily Task is WIPE COUNTERS – this includes doing my Nightly Sink Scrub on the kitchen sink, well, nightly. I developed the Clean Mama Routine years and years ago and it was born from necessity – I needed structure to keep the clutter from taking over. Simple strategies to help this mom with littles and a house that felt like it was never completely clean. I love sharing strategies with you but I also love encouraging you as well. Here’s my encouragement for you:

If you’re having a hard time letting go of things for sentimental reasons, think about if it will matter in 5, 10, 20 years. Will your kids want this? Will you want this? Is there someone that can use this NOW so I am not storing it for later?

I’m working through the basement – finally and will report back with any other findings and hopefully a lot less clutter.

LOOKING FOR PRODUCT SOURCES?  GO HERE.

The printable collection in the shop is completely overhauled and simplified! Check it out here – The Clutter Handbook is a great place to start!

The post 3 Simple Rules for Decluttering appeared first on Clean Mama.