De-Clutter and Organize Your Home in 7 Simple Steps

Do you have a clutter problem? Do you consistently have trouble finding things around your home? Do you feel overwhelmed by your possessions? If so, you're not alone. The one thing we all seem to have in common is an over-abundance of stuff. Our consumer-driven economy compels us to buy! buy! buy! and we happily comply. Unfortunately, the end result is that we have homes bulging at the seams with stuff, a good deal of which we don't really need. We are out of control, and so is our stuff.The good news is that taking control isn't difficult. This easy-to-follow program will guide you through the steps of de-cluttering and organizing all the possessions in your home in seven steps. Once you get rolling, your initial successes will motivate you to keep going. Seven steps to an organized home can take as much or as little time as you need. Every situation is unique. Making this system work for you is a simple matter of following the steps, one after the other, until you've reached the end result of a clutter-free, well-organized home in which you can find what you need when you need it. By the end of the process, every possession you own will be important, necessary or useful, and well-placed.To begin, consider the root causes of disorder: clutter and poor use of space. What is clutter? Clutter is any assortment of items that is superfluous, misplaced, or outright trash. Clutter can be just about anything, but the key element is that clutter is a disorganized conglomeration of stuff taking up space that could otherwise be put to good use. Clutter might be a mishmash of articles stored haphazardly, such as stacks of old magazines, books, or newspapers, un-used exercise equipment, empty boxes, clothing or other textiles earmarked for donation or set aside due to lack of storage space, craft supplies or hobby equipment that's no longer used, old toys or outgrown child-related items, and anything else that's gotten set aside due to lack of use and/or interest. Clutter is the junk mail and bills and other miscellaneous papers littering countertops. It's the stuff that gets pushed into corners and spreads outward into your living space little by little. It's the stuff you don't even notice any more because it's been sitting around for so long. In short, clutter is all the stuff clogging up and weighing down your cherished living space.When the clutter in your life overwhelms your space it becomes impossible to keep possessions organized. The important things become overshadowed by the clutter and next thing you know, you've lost hours of your life searching for misplaced paperwork or keys.The other issue that significantly impairs an organized state is poor use of space. This often accompanies clutter; however, it can exist independently as well. Examples of poor use of space: piles of sweaters on top of an empty dresser, file cabinets stuffed full of old paperwork that needs to be discarded while current paperwork piles up on the floor because it's got nowhere to go, or objects crammed into closets to the point that it's impossible to see what's inside. Well-organized possessions are easily located and easily placed back where they belong. Existing in a well-organized state means having no unnecessary objects. Being well-organized makes it easy to quickly eliminate anything that's superfluous because said articles will stand out rather than blending into and becoming part of the mess.Getting organized begins with the elimination of clutter and other unnecessary objects. After this is accomplished, organizing is a simple matter of arranging the remaining objects such than they can be easily retrieved. This seven-step plan was purposely designed with no set timeframe because every situation is unique. Maybe you can accomplish it in one week, or one month, or maybe it will take many months to achieve. Continually moving forward through the steps will get you to the goal.