A simple one step solution to a clutter free home!

Are you feeling overwhelmed with the clutter that is piling up throughout your home? Little piles that turn into bigger piles until it all seems too much? Most clutter happens when we put something down because we don’t feel like dealing with it at that moment. It can be called “Lazy Clutter.” When you do that, you end up spending twice as much time dealing with it because you still have to go back to it later. I have come to the conclusion that if we all adopt this one simple step, we will have a clutter free home forever. It’s not rocket science, either. It’s just a habit to get into and once you start doing it, it will become second nature to you. I have adopted this rule throughout my life and also into the lives of my clients and believe me, it really does work!!

It’s called the “One Touch Rule.” Now you may have heard of this before, but if you haven’t, this is how it goes……..

The One Touch Rule means that every time you touch something, whether it is taking off your jacket, putting your handbag down, finishing with your towel in the shower, you put it back exactly where it belongs. That’s it – it really is that simple! You only touch the item once. 

Here’s a scenario for you……. Say you come in the door and put your jacket on the kitchen bench. Then you need to make dinner, so you put it on the dining room table. Then you need to set the table for dinner so you put it on the couch. After dinner you want to watch TV so you put it on the floor. How many times have touched it so far……..? 4 times. It keeps getting shifted from place to place. Now if everyone in your household came in and did that, the clutter would build up. However, if when you took your jacket off the first time, you put it on the coat rack or wherever it lives, you have eliminated the clutter before it has even begun.

Of course everyone you live with has to take part in all of this, but like I said, it will eventually become a habit and it means that everyone has to be responsible for their own stuff. So……. It is really important that every item in your home has a place. If your items do not have a home, you will need to create one for it. You will have to start the ball rolling here, but it will save you time in the long run and will stop the clutter in your home building up and the stress of having it lying around.

Why don’t you start committing to taking items to their home straight away and see the difference it makes? For example:

• Put the mail in it’s intray (or wherever it lives) as soon as you get home.
• Put your supermarket shopping away when you come in the door and don’t leave it on the bench.
• Get the kids to empty their lunch boxes as soon as they get home.
• When you get undressed at the end of the day put your clothes away.
• As soon as you get up, make your bed.
• Put your dirty dishes in the dishwasher rather then on the bench.

To finish with…… when clutter builds up in your home, it causes stress, mess, the inability to find things, disorder, disharmony, unhappiness and more. To get started, take some time to look at the piles and clutter around your home and think about whether they could be avoided with the one touch rule. I know this rule might seem like a no brainer, but I have had many clients get great results from adopting this one simple rule, as much as possible, wherever they can.

 I would love to hear your thoughts on how this works for you and if you have any other tips or ideas you would like to share!