Clutter Control

Have you ever noticed how cluttered your home seems to get whenever there is a holiday, birthday party, or some other celebration? This is usually do to the large amounts of paper, packages, new items, and other odds and ends that seem to gather at these times. Instituting a little clutter control can go a long way to helping prevent this from happening to you ever again. The problem though is how to do it?

Clutter control is actually fairly easy to do if you have a few basic premises and a little planning in place. If you would like to instill a little bit of organization to the chaos that is often found in your home, let alone at a family celebration, then use a few of these methods. You'll be surprised at how simple some of these methods are, and how much time and frustration they can actually save you.

• Sort and dispose of unwanted items. Prior to any family event where gifts may be given or exchanged, take time to sort through your possessions. Preemptively getting rid of unwanted possessions can be a powerful tool in your quest for clutter control. The rule of thumb is pretty simple: "Anything that you no longer want, get rid of." Whether you want to donate the item, or you simply want to throw it away, get rid of the item so that you can have more space for the new items that you will be receiving.
• Have disposal on hand. A key element for clutter control is to have some means for disposal on hand as you open packages. Usually all you need to do for this is to have a large empty garbage bag nearby as you open your gifts. As your family member opens their gifts, simply throw away the wrapping papers right away. This will help reduce the amount of cleanup later on.
• Remove messes quickly. As you fill up each bag, box, or other means of disposal remove it from the room right away. Preventing build up of garbage, items, or whatever else you have in the room is an essential step in preventing clutter.
• Get everyone to help. Perhaps the biggest factor in successful clutter control lies in getting everyone to help. You can try to do everything yourself, but if you find that you are the only one who is doing the work then you are faced with a losing battle. By getting everyone to help, if only to help fill each bag with the wrapping remnants as they finish, the work will be a whole lot easier. Better yet, no single person will have to do all the work.