5 Ways to Stay Clutter-Free
It’s fun time superstar. Friday Video Time is here + I’m kicking things off exactly where we left of seven days ago.
Last week we talked about decluttering. I love decluttering, but here’s one thing I know after almost two decades of practice: There’s no clutter-free environment that can withstand a clutterer – Tweet this!
That why today’s episode is all about maintenance, because it’s one thing to clean up + a whole other story to keep it that way. It’s just like losing those extra pounds. Dieting is hard, but the hardest battle is keeping the weight off.
So what should you do once the mess in banished? I’ll be sharing my top 5 prevention strategies to stay clutter-free, for realz. Expect real life examples that will make you smile.
And before you start drinking or baking cupcakes for the weekend, don’t forget to share your maintenance tips in the comments. Each time you raise your hand I get crazy ideas for new episodes, so never hold back.
You know where I’ll be,
xo,
Mayi Carles
34 Responses to 5 Ways to Stay Clutter-Free
Spill Open
Come on in! Yes you, in your paint stained pajamas if you wish. This is your space to dream up + spill open your splendidly messy life in progress. You're bound to leave here feeling happier + super empowered + most certainly loved.
I wish I had a tip or two about staying clutter free, but my teeny tiny apartment is far from that! But I just wanted to say that you are very inspiring, and since discovering you this week, I have been moved to overhaul a lot of things in my life in hopes to live with my best self forward! I really need to work on my “new in, old out” when it comes to shopping. that would help a ton i’m sure! Thanks for a GREAT vid!
Holly it’s so wonderful that our paths crossed. And you go girl with the overhaul. Don’t forget to report back. We love to hear about overhauls hehehehe!
Mayi – I lose my keys all of the time. I also lose my cell phone + forever find myself searching for my home phone so that I can call my missing cell phone. Maybe these tips will help me organize + define my place for those things
xoxo,
Kim
Phew! Feels good not to be the only one hehehehehe. Sometimes I have to wait for hubby to come home to call myself + find the darn phone. Problem is, sometimes I leave it in silent because I’m shooting videos. It’s a nightmare.
Estamos en sintonía girl!!
Es increíble lo bien que una se siente cuando todo fluye sin acumulaciones!!!
Un tip que implemento diariamente es la noche anterior dejar en mi TODAY BOX (un sobre transparente que tengo destinado a ese fin) todo lo necesario para completar las task del día: si tengo que pagar una boleta en el homebanking, pues además de la boleta dejo mi tarjeta de coordinadas; cartucho por recargar, calendario, factura que archivar, dinero para la compra junto con la lista del mercado….
Ahhhhhh soy una mina organizada y feliz!! jajajaja
Me encanta el nuevo estilo de tu blog y tus videos de los viernes.
Abrazo!
I love the idea of a Today Box to drop all of the stuff you need for the next day. That’s absolutely BRILLIANT Cin. WAOOO! Thank you so much for sharing.
To help with clutter in my home, I have a 3 min rule. Basically, if I see something that needs to be picked up or cleaned, and it will take less than 3 minutes to do so, I do it right then. It takes practically zero time & keeps things looking good.
I also take care of mail the day I receive it. Throw away or put away! I love the item in item out rule too. I try to do this with most of our things, although hubby doesn’t like that rule so much
Hahahahaha I know what you mean. My dad likes to have Sunday Clean Up Frenzies + my mom gets so pissed hehehehe. He throws all her stuff. He calls it clutter. My mom begs to differ hehehehe. It’s really funny.
I love the 3 minute rule, but the way. If it only takes 3 minutes why not do it right away. GENIUS!
That dress is to die for!!!!!!!!!!! ENVY is seeping out of my eyeballs right now
One of my tips for staying clutter-free is to spend 10-15 minutes every evening dealing with the clutter that has accumulated throughout the day. Hang up the jacket you tossed on the chair, throw away the empty bag of skittles sitting on your desk, and pay the bills you received.
HAHAHAHAHAHA dress envy! That’s me most Wednesday Wisdom, on top of hair envy + make up envy + background envy
You are such an inspiration my friend + best partner ever.
I like to set up my bills in automatic because I’m the worst with online banking LOL.
Love this video, have already shared with friends. I am always losing my keys and have tried to Implement a system to leave them in one spot but am failing miserably. I have lots of clutter but you are right the only way to control it is to give everywhere a home. The problem is returning each item to its home each time you use it, hence my kitchen is always covered in spools of thread, scissors and so many other it’s and bobs. I like the 10 minute tidy up. Set your alarm on your pone for 10mins and whizz around the room you want to tidy, being under a time constraint makes you work quicker and you would be amazed how much you get done.
10 minute tidy up…. I LOVE IT! A little each day mean 70 minutes a week. That’s a whole lotta minutes. Little steps create giant change over time
I have always had trouble keeping the kitchen counters and sink clear. When it came time to make dinner, the overwhelm of cleaning first sometimes stopped me from making dinner, opting to eat out. Now While the coffee brews in the morning, I empty the dishwasher. Through the day, the dishes go straight into the Dishwasher, and turned on before bed. I know a tiny simple step, but a HUGE difference. We are now eating in way more, and the kitchen is always spotless.
You know it girl. I’m not blessed with a dishwasher, so during the weekends when I hate doing shores, hubby + I eat out of our bamboo dish plates. That way we keep the post cleaning to the minimum.
I’m seeing an overarching lesson here: don’t do tomorrow what you can do right now
Love it, Mayi! One thing I learned from you a while back was the “touch it once” policy with my email. I only click on an email if I have time to read it and then delete it or reply if needed. SO HELPFUL. And now I do that with the actual mail too!
I like the clutter permission areas!
LOVE your black and pink dress! Cuteness!
Awesome Kristi. That technique definitively can be recycled here. So glad to hear it’s been helping lots
My mother in law bought me the dress, it’s so me hehehehe.
Mayi, thank you so much for these tips.
They seem do-able, except for the last on ofcourse…
I really should start implementing those ideas like right now!
Ugh, my small house is a mess and I hate it!
Everytime I clean up, it’s still a mess. I just don’t know where to leave all the stuff I have.
Any tips on how to organise a closet as efficient as possible? Or are there somewhere secret spaces that I’m not seeing to put all things that should have a place?
But I’m gonna give it a try, a cleaned up house sounds so amazing!
Oh yeah the last one it’s tricky + challenging. Start gradually by implementing it 20% of the time + see how it goes.
Right now is a good time to start. YAYYYY for you Jacolien.
Jacolien, I just wanted to jump in here real quick and let you know that I feel your small house pain! I absolutely know what you mean. You clean for what seems like all weekend, and in the end, it still seems like a wreck because there’s not enough space for all your stuff! and I have ideas for where I could house different things that don’t have homes, but pretty storage baskets aren’t exactly cheap.
hang in there!
I wish I had some sort of tip or trick, but we’re in the same boat, and that’s why I’m here trying to learn from Mayi!
Thank you Holly!
It’s good to know there’s more people dealing with this and it’s not just me being overly unorganised and messy.
I’ve bought cheap cardboard boxes at Ikea to be able to put more in my closet. Like, normally you fill a shelf with on layer of junk. With those boxes I’ll be able to stack up the junk higher than just one layer. I’ll be cleaning up today, Hopefully I’ll feel better about my house at the end of it.
Hi Mayi!
Love your video! You definitely gave great suggestions; it is really hard to keep the clutter monster far away of my studio. It is a small room with tons of items, supplies and tools that I use every day for my small business, even though I have 15.898 containers, drawers and boxes. It is always trying to take control over me and my little space.
To keep it under control I use a magic container or as I call it Mess Box!!! It is a plastic container that I use every time I need to conquer the mess. I take it with me to every room and space picking up all the “homeless” items or the “misplaced” items and then I put them back to their home. The goal is to put them back and keep them there.
I made a post about the mess box in my blog : http://blog.mariapalitousa.com/2011/01/31/creative-business-success-monday-moring-cleaning-and-planning/
Thank you for your videos and good energy every Friday.
MariaPalito
A Mess Box! LOVE IT. This is a little bit like “Make Room of Cheating” expect better because it’s mobile. You are so smarty pants + extra awesome for sharing a link to learn more. Thank you so much!!!
Mayi, your tips make me want to drop what I am doing and clean my house! LOL. My problem is that I have too many bags/purses, and I am always switching them around…I’ve got my camera bag, my casual over the shoulder bag, my clutch, my hobo…hahaa. Whenever I go to find my keys, cell phone, or lip balm I always have to scramble through three different bags I used that week…and my husband, too, is always scolding me as we walk out the door because he has to wait for me to find these things. It’s too funny. I love all of your tips, especially the ‘boundry’ idea:)
LOL so you totally identified with the clips of me walking outside the door with keys no were to be found right? HAHAHAHAHAHA! Do you think is a girl thing? It must be. I blame the purses actually. Too many cute ones to pick just one.
I’m thinking, and this is just a suggestion, that you can have a Purse Box where you dump the insides of your purse every single day after using + then the next day you dump everything back inside the purse you decide to use. It’s not perfect, but it can help you keep everything in one place.
i thought that i was the only one with a ‘junk chair’ in my office.
amazing. it actually works pretty well and somehow… because it’s a chair… i feel the need to clear it off and put stuff away pretty quickly. just in case we have company over who need a place to sit. a junk table or junk shelf just wouldn’t work as well for me. they would likely never get cleared off.
a personal tip, – rather than just taking the trash out each day, i’ve also started collecting anything recyclable every day and taking it “out” with the trash.
here in thailand, there are people who come around to sweep the street outside our home and we pay them to pick up our trash each month (no city of govt company that does so effectively). rather than collecting our recycling for a few months at a time and taking it to the recycling shop to sell on our own, i’ve started leaving the recycling (already sorted and in bags) out for the trash collection people. they love it! it’s like a tip for them – since they can go sell it, and it helps me clear out things from my home a lot faster.
LOVED today’s video! Now I need to go clean up. lol I’ve been feeling the clutter close in around me lately. Its not good!
PS It was so fun to see the different clips in your video, with sneak peeks into your home.
OMG1 Mayi! You are the cutest!! This – by far is my favorite video!!!! I love the little clips!!! SO entertaining!!!! I can totally relate with you, and other ladies about forgetting or even worse – loosing my keys!! LOL You and your hubby make the most beautiful couple!! <3
xoxo
What a great video, Mayi! And so many great ideas on how to declutter your space. I’m currently living in a tiny apartment, and so although I have quite a bit of stuff, I can’t go overboard because there’s literally no place to put it!
My own tip is, before you go to bed, just have a little tidy up around your space (room, apartment, house) tidying up everything that can be done quickly. I also write my to-do list for the next day and even set up my pilates mat for the next morning, as it means that I will always do it! Things like this help me to stay on top of things a little better.
Oh, I love the cheating part! *lol*
In order to declutter I try to do something little each day/week … like sort through a drawer, sort through a shelf, sort through a box … so you do not get totally overwhelmed but do something to reduce clutter.
xox
Ursula
Another great and inspiring video! Thanks Mayi! It seems like I’m always trying to declutter, but what has worked the best for me is decluttering FlyLady style (flylady.net). I do at least 15 minutes a day and set a timer. When the time is up I am free to go play or do whatever! Then I can come back and do another 15 minutes and eventually I can free my home of clutter. It helps to have 3 boxes with labels for “throw away”, “give away” and “put away” so that way you aren’t just organizing the clutter but putting it where it belongs!
<3
I thought I’d share this here too:
My reaction on this FVT.
About cleaning up and keeping it clean.
http://stuff-to-love.blogspot.nl/2012/10/cleaning-up-and-keeping-it-like-that.html
Love it Mayi! Now I need to know where I can get your pink and black skirt??
LOL, I can totally relate to losing the cell phone… in fact, I don’t have one right now for that exact reason. Oops. Some of us might just be naturally clumsy, but your tips certainly help us keep declutter and keep it in control. I love the idea of having one spot to pile things up until we can get to it… because it’s impossible to be picture perfect 24/7! I make sure to clear out that area every night… if I make it a habit to go to bed without piles, it’s just more relaxing! So things don’t get out of hand!
Clutter can accumulate slowly but when it interferes in your life, it’s time to take clutter seriously! When you decide to tackle clutter in your apartment, take time to develop a plan. A plan should include when you will begin, how much time it will take to finish, and motivation.