4 Helpful Habits of People Who Have a Clutter-Free Home
Inside: Discover 4 habits of people who have a clutter-free home so that you can adopt them for your space.
For most of us, a clutter-free home is an aspirational goal – not our reality.
While we try our best to keep things in order and dedicate hours after work or on weekends to addressing our clutter problems, achieving the goal of a truly clutterless home is difficult – if not impossible – to achieve.
It might feel that way – but a clutter-free home is actually possible. And it’s easier than you might think to achieve.
How?
By embracing the right habits.
Habits are powerful tools that can transform virtually every aspect of your life, from your physical health and mental well-being to the state of your home.
By embedding effective habits into your routine, those little actions become automatic over time, enabling you to make a big impact without spending a ton of energy making them happen.
If you want to keep a clutter-free home, consider leveraging some of these helpful habits of people who have already figured out how to make it happen.
4 Habits of People Who Have a Clutter-Free Home
Discover four habits of people who have a clutter-free home so you can adopt them in your space.
Habit #1: They put things back where they belong.
Many of us have a dedicated space for everything in our home. Our television remote control, books, the clothes we take off at the end of the day, our favorite water bottle – all of them have a “home.”
But, in many cases, our stuff doesn’t always make its way “home” when we’re finished using it. Instead, we set it down wherever it’s convenient for us at the moment, walk away, and forget to revisit it until we’ve reached our breaking point.
If you ever find yourself hunting for your phone charger, your keys, or a particular shirt you want to wear, you’re probably guilty of dropping items wherever they land instead of putting them where they belong.
This is a huge differentiator for people who keep a clutter-free home. They know the importance of putting things back, and they’ve made it such a habit that the action is automatic. They don’t even have to think intentionally about putting their dirty laundry in the basket or hanging the keys on the hook by the door – they just belong there.
This practice is sometimes known as the 2-minute rule or ‘don’t put it down, put it away’.
To start making this habit part of your routine, try to be more mindful of what you’re doing. Notice yourself putting your empty glass down on the counter instead of in the dishwasher. Catch yourself in the act, and take the extra few seconds you need to put it where it belongs.
Over time, the action will become subconscious – and your home will have less clutter as a result.
Habit #2: They spend a little bit of time tidying up every day.
Another effective way to keep clutter at bay? Stay on top of the task instead of letting everything accumulate until the weekend – or whenever you tell yourself you’re going to finally clean up.
By making a daily declutter or “reset” a habit, you can quickly and easily tidy up your space without having to put in a ton of work. Little actions add up quickly here to make a big difference.
Simply find a time each day that you can consistently dedicate to the task. For many, the evening seems to be the best time – before or after dinner, or once the kids have gone to bed. Then, roll up your sleeves and get to work for the amount of time you’ve allotted to the task.
Ten or fifteen minutes is probably all you need to make a big difference. Clear off surfaces, put throw pillows back in place, put jackets and shoes back in the closet where they belong – whatever catches your eye.
Want to make the process a little more fun? Put on a favorite playlist or podcast while you’re working.
You’ll be surprised to see just how big of an impact you can make by doing a daily home reset that takes relatively little effort.
Habit #3: They don’t keep excessive paper records.
Paper is a common clutter culprit in many homes. The stacks of paper clutter that collect over the years can be overwhelming.
Bills and advertisements that arrive in the mail end up in a pile that you promise yourself you’ll get through at some point – but that task never ends up high on the to-do list. They cover countertops and coffee tables and get shuffled around from one place to the next until they become unbearable.
And that’s just the mail. Many of us are also guilty of keeping paper files tucked away in a closet or corner – boxes and bins filled with old tax documents, medical records, and all kinds of other paperwork we decided was important at some point in our lives.
Paper clutter is one of the easiest types of clutter to minimize from your life. Why? Because once you get clear on what types of paperwork you need to keep and what you can declutter it becomes an easy decision.
It’s also possible to maintain your paperwork digitally. People who have clutter-free homes often opt out of paper bills in favor of electronic billing. They put those advertisements, flyers, and other junk mail straight into the recycling bin.
They simplify and organize their paperwork regularly. And they sort through their important files on a regular basis, scanning and digitizing the ones that need to be preserved and getting rid of the rest.
Habit #4: They embrace the one-in, one-out rule.
An effective minimalist habit that can help you keep clutter under control is the one-in, one-out rule. It works exactly the way it sounds: for every new item you bring into your home, you commit to getting rid of something it’s replacing.
It’s easy to justify keeping old stuff around – what if you need it later? Wouldn’t it be nice to have an extra, just in case?
Or maybe there are sentimental reasons that make it difficult to part ways with a particular item. Whatever the case, holding onto all of your old stuff while bringing new things into your home is a surefire way to, over time, create chaos and clutter.
If you struggle with the “one out” piece of this equation, commit to getting rid of something before you buy its replacement. Bring it with you when you head to the store and drop it off at the donation center on your way to the shop, or post it on Facebook Marketplace as you click “submit” on your online order.
One of the key habits of people who have a clutter-free home is that they’ve mastered how to end the cycle of clutter in their home. They gatekeep their space and are selective and intentional with what they bring into their home.
Want to learn more helpful habits to have in your home?
Check out these posts:
- 5 Secrets of People Who Always Have an Organized Home
- 5 Habits of People Who Have an (Almost) Effortlessly Clean Home
- 15 Simple Habits You Should Adopt for Your Home
What clutter-free habit would make the biggest impact in your home? Leave a comment and let me know!
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Paper work is the worst for me and always has been. I’ve gotten good at sorting the mail and quickly putting unneeded and unwanted mail in the recycle bin. My problem is figuring what I need to keep in files. Could you publish a list of that? Thank you in advance.
Hi June. This post may be helpful for you: https://thesimplicityhabit.com/types-of-paperwork-to-keep-declutter/
time management and organization are hard for me because I can’t seem to focus on one area or or item such as clothes, paperwork, kitchen utensils, etc in a ten or fifteen minute period. any suggestions?
Hi Michelle. Do you mean that you aren’t able to complete those tasks in 15 minutes or that it’s just challenging to focus? For most people breaking decluttering down into significantly smaller tasks (one shelf, one drawer, etc) at a time is a really helpful way to make the process feel less overwhelming. Some small spaces may take a bit longer than 15 minutes if they have lots of items in them but as you practice with it, it does tend to go more quickly. I hope that’s helpful!
Paper clutter by far is my biggest weakness. It wasn’t quite as bad before my shredder went kaputt (I have yet to buy a new one). One thing that has helped me with clutter is having a little bin in my livingroom. If I’m in a pinch and don’t have as much time on a certain day to tidy, I’ll put things in there and then sort through it when I have more time. I’m still working on my consistency to tidy up at the end of every day!
I have never been able to work the one-in-one -out rule. I keep several rough outfits for canping, gardening. and heavy housework. These categories allow me to take care of my nicer clothes for trips to town and various ‘occasions’. Although this is a frugal habit, it makes it easy to keep old things I don’t really need. If anyone has worked out this balance, I’d love to hear from you.–Anne
“They spend a little time tidying up everyday.”
The kitchen is the bane of my existence. Morning to night no matter what I do it’s never tidy. Somehow the dishwasher is always full with either clean or dirty dishes. There’s always something in the sink. Garbage overflows in the bin every night, whether or not I’ve cooked. It feels overwhelming to take out the garbage, empty the dishwasher, stack the dishwasher, clean the surfaces.
Most days I meet the challenge, but on many I hear myself say “Not tonight.” The big motivator is mice, so I do what I must. But it’s not easy and it takes more than 15 minutes and there’s nothing satisfying about it when finished, because I know tomorrow it will be a wreck all over again.