The Third (and final) Step to Removing Clutter: Become Efficient and Proactively Keep Clutter Out of Your Life
Now that you’ve systematically decreased the clutter in your home, you have to be proactive about its return so that it…doesn’t return.
It would not be efficient to sort/file/deal with things as they come up, so you need to have a system in place to prioritize tasks as they make themselves known.
For instance, the mail comes every day at 3pm. That does not mean that at 3pm you need to collect the mail and sort through it as soon as possible and address every bill and letter and card that you receive. Collect it every other or every third day and toss the junk mail as soon as you see it. And along those same lines, you should put yourself on the Do Not Call list to further reduce the mail that arrives in the mailbox in the first place.
Then you can sort the mail into bills and correspondence that way when you have the time and inclination, you can just grab a stack and do what needs to be done.
It’s not necessary to save up larger tasks to do in one day like cleaning, cooking, or laundry. If something were to come up on those designated days, then your routine is ruined and you immediately start backing up with clutter. Instead, do short bursts of cleaning, cook a little more every time you do and freeze the leftovers, and start a load of laundry before you start your day so you’ll be more likely to continue the process and complete it before nightfall.
Efficiency and proactivity is not about what everyone is doing. It’s not even about what I’m doing. It’s about what works for you. But you’ll never find what works if you ignore the problem and don’t try out various solutions. Use what works for you to free up the most time to spend with those you love and to pursue your greatest passions in life.
Remember, we are bombarded with media that tells us what we should want and what we should look like, but at the end of the day you are the only one that can make those decisions and you must choose wisely.
Love your life. Live your life. Lead your life. It’s the only one we get.
This has been the Modern Minimalism Series written for The LOVEolution by Brianne Villano
