A friend recently asked me for some ideas on how to unclutter her house and life. Though I’m not free of clutter either here are a few techniques, some of which have really helped me. They are not ultimate solutions but habits that tend to keep clutter down. Then, it becomes easier to deal with what’s left.
Obviously all these techniques won’t work for you on every situation. But, think a little about each of them and try the few that feel best. If only one or two of them does work for you then you’ve started to make a dent in your clutter problem.
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1. Pick up as you go (PAGO)
As you walk through the house pick up things and move them the next stage forward. This saves steps (saves half a round trip) with little incremental effort and steadily moves the mass of clutter in the right direction. Look at it as creating a steady flow in the right direction with minimal effort.
I also find this approach can be used as a time filler for when I’m standing around and don’t have something more useful to do 
. This habit tends to keep the clutter down enough so that the remaining mess doesn’t psych me out as much and can be finished off much more easily later.
One example of where I use this approach is to clean dishes off the table. If there are some on the table when I walk by I will pick them up on the way and deposit them in the dishwasher.
I also do this with projects by moving the tools & materials into a pile near where the project is going to be done. Then, when I’m ready to do the project everything is already set up which is often a big part of the effort.
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2. Stacks
Roughly group similar things together in either stacks or boxes. Make the difference between stacks simple and obvious so that no tough decision making is needed. Don’t work too hard at it but try to keep related items together enough so that it is obvious later which stack to find them. If you wish these stacks can be split up into more substacks later.
Three obvious stacks you can use in most situations are (1) save, (2) trash, and (3) maybe. Throw away the trash stack and start again later on the maybe stack when you feel like it.
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3. Junk boxes
The real problem with junk is typically that you don’t know what to do with it. It’s a maybe pile which makes decision making harder.. Letting junk age often helps to clarify the answer.
I put paperwork junk in junk boxes and do bother with very little time-consuming organization in the process of boxing it. These junk boxes typically end up in the garage. Then every 1-10 years I’ll clean out the junk boxes, at least partially, which is fairly easy later because a lot of the old stuff is obviously irrelevant and can just be thrown away. I’ll also clean junk boxes the easy “do it as you go” way; i.e., whenever I happen to be looking for something in junk boxes I’ll tend to simultaneously pick out and dump obvious trash in the process of searching through the box for something else.
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4. Clean as you go (CAGO)
CAGO is a concept used by MacDonald’s to keep control of their mess. It stands for the phrase “Clean As You Go.” The more CAGO you can do the less clutter you have to deal with later. When I’m not tired I do a good job of CAGO and when I am tired I still do it, just not as completely.
In any event, what I usually do is to leave the place a little cleaner than when I started. If others have also messed it up then cleaner than if I hadn’t been involved or a user thereof (though perhaps I’ll clean some other aspect than what I messed up). CAGO doesn’t always work for me, depending on my energy level and other distractions, but it usually does. See http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/19980101/STEWARDSHIP/CLEANUGO.HTM .
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5. Stake a claim
Certain places in our house can get messy due to communal use so I have staked out a portion of them which I keep spotless regardless of the mess nearby. One example is my side of the bathroom counter.
This is just a matter of making a decision to do a small thing right … then always doing it. It helps your morale by showing that at least you can control one aspect of your life . And, once an area is spotless it is usually not that much effort to keep it that way if you always stay on top of it.
This approach can even work when others are messing up an area. However, I find trying to keep too large an area spotless that is enveloped by relentless stream of clutter generated by others can be demoralizing. Therefore, I suggest not trying to use this approach to do too much, i.e., the impossible.
VARIATIONS on this theme follow:
5a. The island of sanity defense
Sometimes one needs an “island of sanity” in a world of chaos. This is just another description of the claim staking process.
5b. Focusing
Just keep focused on one little thing until you finally accomplish it, just like focusing the sun on one spot with a looking glass.
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6. The 10% solution
Just do the easiest 10-20% of the job. Look for small crack or some other easy way to start. Do it in small stages. Do the easiest 10% then come back and do the next easiest 10% later.
VARIATIONS on this theme follow:
6a. Baby steps: Basically take baby steps rather than trying to do a big chunk at once. If your motivation flags then reduce the size of the baby step even further. Then do another baby step later.
6b. Round 1, Round 2, etc variation: Just hit the problem for short round 1. Then later do round 2, and so on. This approach is analogous to the editing process some writers use to clean up a document.
One useful angle on this, to get started, is to have NO expectations for round 1. Just get started doing whatever is easy with no plans to push into any further … and call this round 1. I often find that after starting this way I learn that the project was much, much easier than expected.
6a. A little slice
Some kids have been known to slice a very small piece off a pie so as not to make it obvious any is gone. Of course, this doesn’t work well after several small slices.
The same approach can be used with clutter. Just keep nipping small pieces of clutter off the edges. Eventually they accumulate. Works well in conjunction with the CAGO approach.
6c. Find a crack
Look for a crack or crevice that’s easy to start with. Do it then another, and another, and so on.
6d. Function First (aka form follows function)
Rather than try to make something look good just make it functional. Functionality is a good start which will get most of the value you want.
