Perhaps you've carried a vision of yourself year after year, a vision of being messy. Your childhood bedroom was trashed from the time you graduated from a crib to a twin, and the only time it was totally clean was the day you left for college, carrying your clutter with you in your old beater car.
You have lived through a messy messy house no matter where you have lived, and you dream of the next house you will move to, knowing somehow that MORE space is all you really need to get your clutter cleaned up.
It's a LIE.
Clutter is a symptom; living messy is a behavior. And behaviors can change in an instant. All it takes is personal choice and a decision that YOU AREN'T GOING TO LIVE LIKE THIS ANYMORE.
Go ahead and get mad enough to change: make that decision to change right now!
Here are a few steps to help you change your behavior right now, this instant. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIVE WITH CLUTTER FOREVER!
1. Always, always, every morning, make your bed. It takes me one minute to make my bed. If your bed takes longer to make, then simplify the coverings. Get rid of some of the fancy frou-frou pillows and wrinkle-free shams.
2. If you don't like some object, and it's yours (not your child's, your roommate's, or your spouse's), then THROW IT AWAY. Get over the guilt; you aren't ruining the environment! Go here and read how your trash can be turned into CLEAN energy. http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2007-03/prophet-garbage?page=1
3. Keep your car washed and free from trash. I can't tell you how keeping your car washed on the outside and the fast food fallout picked up on the inside will give you a daily lift. A car is much easier to keep tidy than a home (smaller square footage). So it's a great place to start learning new behaviors.
4. Quit buying so much. The super stores are the worst culprits for aiding and abetting the shopping clutterer. It's so easy to add one extra little thing (funky bath mat, rice cooker, game for the kids, DVD) to your cart during the weekly grocery shopping trip. Cut down on those little purchases and you will have less clutter.
Following these tips will help you begin to permanently change the behaviors that cause the clutter in your home. Blessings on you today!
