Organizing is finding our perfect balance of stuff-to-storage.  It’s almost like balancing an equation.  You can either take away stuff or add more storage to solve for organization. Much of the advice we see in the media is often more focused on adding storage or buying the right container.  What to do when it’s the stuff that is throwing your home out of balance?  The one in, one out rule is great to maintain balance, but it’s not going to help when we have the need to edit more deeply. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a rule that helps us achieve fast, visible decluttering results?  How about four rules that get us back in balance FAST when too much stuff is the problem?

1 out of 5 Rule

For every grouping of 5 things, let go of 1.  How does this work in action?  Let’s say we have 5 casserole dishes. Pick the least ideal one. Maybe it’s chipped, or the cover is missing, or we don’t love the color...it’s usually pretty easy to decide that one is just not as great as the other 4.  Let’s put that one in a box for donations and congratulate ourselves because we just reduced the number of casserole dishes in our home by 20%.  Now imagine if we reduce every category of stuff in the home by 20%?  From t-shirts to Tupperware, this rule makes it easy to eliminate by deciding on our least favorite of a group of like things. The power of the 1 out of 5 Rule is big results from relatively low stress decision making as the focus is on sorting and then picking the least loved item in a group.

Eliminate the packaging

We are a nation of bag and box savers. It’s nice to have a bag or a box when it’s needed, but we don’t need more than we need. I often see valuable space in garages, mudrooms, and under sinks taken up by piles of boxes and bags of bags!  These are often the areas of the home where every inch counts so don’t waste that precious space on packaging.  Determine the right number of extra bags to have on hand and use a container to hold that number.  The container gives us a great visual that we have ‘enough’.  Cut the empty boxes down to a few—literally.  Cut them down on the tape seams so they fold flat and take up less room.  Repurpose/recycle the extras. This rule also works well for paper overwhelm--eliminate the envelopes, junk mail and catalogues.  Suddenly the remaining pile of paper won’t look so intimidating. 

Eat the Frog

Productivity experts advise us to tackle the least enjoyable task first.  The idea is by doing the most difficult task first, we eliminate what’s blocking us and all remaining tasks will feel easy in comparison.  This tip works for decluttering when there is one large thing in a room that seems to make the whole room feel overwhelming.  Maybe it’s an oversized piece of furniture or outdated technology like a huge TV or printer that has been replaced (or that doesn’t work).  It’s almost like that large thing is acting like an anchor to hold clutter in place. Eliminate that large thing, and the whole room will feel easier to declutter.

Save the Photos Not the Frames

September is Save Your Photos Month!  As far as I know, there is no special month for saving photo FRAMES.  If you are storing photos in those frames from decades past, it’s ok to let them go.  You will save a ton a room because frames are bulky.  They are also HEAVY and letting them go reduces the weight of those photos, both physically and mentally.  While you are taking those photos out of their dated frames, why not celebrate Save Your Photos month properly by digitizing and saving backup copies.

Summer is winding down and the days are getting short.  Decluttering a little deeper this time of year will pay off big with a home that’s easier to maintain and feels more spacious before winter sets in.