Five Steps to Get Rid of Clutter and Organize Your Home

So as someone who enjoys looking at houses, be it on TV, magazines or open homes (if I can), I’m always amazed at how people organise their homes. Honestly, sometimes I wanna say “thanks for tidying up for us”, AND sometimes I wanna say, “hmm, too clinical/sterile for me”. Anyway, I don’t always have to say something, right?

I personally like my house neat and tidy. Of course I’d achieve this all year round IF I lived alone! But with a toddler, and a man in the house, it’s hard to keep up with organisation. 

SO, to keep up with my desire of a clean and organised home, I use the A-PACT method.

Here’s what it means and how it works.

A pact, according to Dictionary.com is, “a formal agreement, such as one between nations.” The A-PACT method goes like this:

A—>ASK

Ask yourself:

·        What do you want out of the room or area you’re going to organize?

·        What are the goals of the room?

·        What are you aiming for by getting organized?

Digging a little deep into how you want to benefit helps you get motivated and work towards the final goal. Say for instance, you’re going to start the process of organizing paperwork in your home office, the question is “why do you want to organize this space?”

Maybe you don’t ever want to have a late bill again, or you  want to find any document in less than two minutes. You know your answer.

Once you’ve answered the question, then move onto step 2…

P—>PILE

This step is where you pile “similar” items together.

Say you’re working in your closet, you could make a pile of all your shirts, or dresses or whatever.

Let’s say you’re in your home office (or wherever you keep paperwork), you could start with your file drawer, or grab a pile if that’s what you’ve got for a “filing system.”

Put each piece of paper in “like” files. For example, all the insurance paperwork will go together. All of your energy bills etc goes in another. All medical expenses from the present year in another. I recently sorted our home office and on top of files like house (rates/insurance/mortgage), power bills etc, I gave each member of the family a folder for their bits & bobs. For little Tasha, hers are usually doctor’s letters re vaccinations, Letters from places like swimming pool re term end etc. Just that stuff we’ll either bin or keep in future but for now, needs to be kept somewhere.  

A—>ANALYZE

Next you go through the piles and break them down even more, this time into two piles of “treasure” or “trash.”

I like to assign each category with treasure or trash so there’s no in between. No room for maybe or TBC. The trick is to decide right there and then if it’s either staying or going. No in between!

Please bear in mind, trash doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to the garbage.

That step comes next… and remember the saying, one man’s trash (or junk) is another man’s treasure.

SO…..

C—>CASH-IN

This is where you go through the “trash” and break it down once more, deciding what can be donated, what can be sold, and what’s going to the dumpster. 

Next step is where you get organized…

T—>TIDY UP!

This is where, once you’ve gotten all the “trash” out of the area, you organize the items you’ve decided to keep.

When you’re organizing:

• always keep “like” items together whether on a shelf, in drawers or in any other type of storage you’re using.
• Have items you use more frequently be more accessible and within reach too. 

So, there you go…

Will you have A-PACT with your clutter today/soon? Please share your experience with de-cluttering or maintaining an organized home.