Clear Clutter | HER Life Hacks

Taking Back Control of My House – Utility Room BEFORE

by Vicki Peel | Oct 25, 2022 | Clear Clutter, Home, Organize | 2 comments

I am intentionally embarrassing myself with this post. Read on…

Even though I have some excuses – or rather explanations – I won’t list them here. This post starts a series of BEFORE videos and pictures of the condition of my house, which is basically a mess.

My plan for my messy house is to regain control by decluttering, cleaning, organizing and creating a system for maintaining by the end of 2022. And then sharing it all with you.

What you’re going to see is the worst of the worst place in my house. The utility room – where stuff goes to lanquish until I find a place for it. Where the door can be shut, and no one is allowed to enter.

Here is the BEFORE condition of my utility room. Pre-decluttering; pre-cleaning; pre-organizing; pre-establishment of a system for maintenance. Click on the image below and come on in! (The background music is incongruent with the current status of the room!)

While this is an embarrassment, you won’t believe the transformation. Tune in later for the AFTER! I can’t wait to see it myself!

Disclosure: My blog posts sometimes contain affiliate links. This means I earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase, which is at no additional cost to you. Thank you!

I’m Vicki Peel, former home economics teacher and educational administrator. If you are not receiving my emails, coupons, and freebies, look for the Subscribe block (below right) and submit your contact information. I will not share your information with anyone, and all the content you will receive as part of our community is free. I may occasionally promote someone else’s paid content, offer a product for your consideration or share an item that I think might be of use to you. However, you are under no obligation to purchase anything – ever. So, sign up now so you won’t miss anything during our October through December focus on HOME: seasonal home decor and BEFORE and AFTER videos and pictures of me regaining control of my messy house!

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Priority #1 – Declutter Your Mind

by Vicki Peel | Aug 23, 2021 | Clear Clutter | 0 comments

When you start decluttering your home, you just may recognize how so much of the clutter in your house reflects the clutter in your mind. I already know that when my home gets cluttered, I am more distracted, cranky, and prone to brain fog.

If you’re hanging onto to clothes that don’t fit, or the ugly vase your mother gave you for Christmas or the exercise bike you’re using as a clothes rack, you don’t just have a problem with too much stuff. You have a problem letting go.

Chances are you’re also hanging onto a whole bunch of bad feelings, ill-founded assumptions, old grievances and future worries, too.

If it feels good to declutter your house, it feels even better to declutter your mind. These 5 expert tips will help you make some space in your mind.

1. Meditate

You don’t have to do the full sitting on a cushion in a darkened room thing to benefit from meditation techniques. If you’re feeling overwound, some simple breathing techniques can help you calm down and focus. For a few minutes, focus only on your breathing and nothing else.

Check out some meditation apps online. I’ve found some great ones that are so soothing. They really work! Just find one that works for you.

2. Write it Down

You may have heard (or been told!) that you’d lose your head if it wasn’t screwed on tight. Certainly not the best thing to say to anyone, but the point is that it is so easy to forget important thoughts that run through your head. I know I do!

Writing things down not only helps you remember them, but it can also help you sort out worries or concerns.

Check out some free to-do apps. I’ve found several that I like and use them regularly to remember to do or buy something.

Journaling is a great way to sort out thoughts and feelings. More and more people are realizing the value of journaling goes way beyond just writing things down. It can me a kind of personal mental health journey. It can also focus your energy and free up some of that mental space!

3. Live in the Present

I’m sure you’ve heard many famous quotes about living in the present, such as:

“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

“Remember then: there is only one time that is important – Now! It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power.” ~ Leo Tolstoy

“Living in the moment means letting go of the past and not waiting for the future. It means living your life consciously, aware that each moment you breathe is a gift.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

WhiIe they are inspiring, I know that doing these beautiful messages is much harder than thinking about how true they are.

But remind yourself that brooding over the past and worrying about the future take up a lot of space in your mind and precisely achieve nothing. Let go of regret over past mistakes or resentment of past slights and move on. Keep your focus on what you can influence right here, right now.

4. Do One Thing at a Time

Multitasking is not only overrated and inefficient it also leads to greater anxiety and rarely produces the best results

Focus on doing things methodically and thoroughly. As you finish one task, move onto the next. You will be able to do things faster and better.

And even better – finish one thing at a time. This is a huge problem for me. I start so many things and often forget to come back to finishing them. I’m especially bad at having too many tabs open on my laptop! I open something and plan to come back to it, but at the end of the day, my open tabs are ruining my productivity!

5. Control Incoming Data

We talk about being available 24/7 and the 24-hour news cycle, but there is only one person who can control that. You. You can choose to switch off your computer, smartphone, and tv and control the amount of data your brain is trying to process.

Decluttering your mind will pay off in all sorts of ways you hadn’t imagined. You will be more productive, less stressed and more motivated.

The importance of taking care of your mental health is an issue that’s been newsworthy during these difficult pandemic times. From athletes to celebrities to people like you and me, mental health has been promoted as something we should prioritize for our overall health.

So, where are you going to start? Do any of these ideas resonate with you? Leave your comments and thoughts below.

And – if you need a reset of your mind, check out my new course, “Designing Your New Normal Mindset”. It’s a great way to reboot your mind. Designing your mindset is the prerequisite for designing your life. Check it out HERE. Then let me know how you benefitted.

Here’s to the peace and joy of taking care of your #1 priority!

I’m educator and blogger Vicki Peel, Ed.D. I support family members trying to live good-enough, intentional, and simpler lives by sharing life hacks and simple systems in the areas of Home Style, Lifestyle, and Food. Start by claiming your FREE report, Self-Care Hacks at https://HERLifeHacks.com

My shop in https://SimpleSystemsForLife.com continues to grow with products that support a simpler lifestyle and save you time, energy, and/or money. You can download the FREE “My One Thing Habit Tracker” on this site to help you develop and sustain tiny habits that will change your life for the better. Click HERE.

Cluttered House = Cluttered Mind

by Vicki Peel | Aug 9, 2021 | Clear Clutter | 0 comments

Did you know a few bad habits could be keeping your house cluttered, usurping your time, and cluttering your mind? I’m working on some of those bad habits myself!

Letting go of bad habits isn’t easy, but so worth it if you want to keep a clean and organized home, which could save you precious time, which could improve your mindset. So, are any of these bad habits keeping you down?

Never Making the Bed

One of the most important habits you can develop to keep a tidy home, is to make your bed every day. It may seem unimportant, but studies have shown that making your bed doesn’t just keep the home tidier, but it also does wonders for your motivation levels too.

I’ve always made my bed first thing in the morning. Well, at least since I became an adult. It makes me feel good, not only starting out my day, but when I get ready to go to bed at night.

Think about it, the minute you get out of bed you’re setting your intentions for the day ahead. So, if you don’t make your bed, you’re automatically starting the day off in an unorganized and hectic way.

It takes just a couple of minutes. Really! Time it and see if it’s not worth it to start off your day feeling good about something. If you’re not committed enough to do that, you’re going to struggle to keep the rest of the house uncluttered.

Leaving a Messy Sink

The sinks in your home, particularly the bathroom sink, are used daily. Yet, many people choose to clean them just once a week.

When the sinks are messy, it makes the rest of the room look messier too. So, get into the habit of cleaning the sink after each use. Just a quick wipe down will help to keep it looking shiny, plus it removes germs frequently.

Keep what you need for a quick cleaning under each sink, and it will take you less than a minute to do it. A quick spray with a disinfectant cleaner and a quick wipe with a paper towel is all it takes.

Not Putting Things Away

This is a “biggie”. And the key to changing that is to make sure everything has a home – a place reserved just for it. If you don’t know where to put something, you end up just putting it down – anywhere. And then you find yourself moving things around, which ends up being a huge waste of time.

A rule that works for me is to store things at point of use. That means that when you need something, it’s right there for you, because you made space to store it there.

Leaving Tangled Cables and Cords in Full View

A small bad habit that can make a big difference to how the room looks, is to leave tangled cables visible. I know, during the night when no one is watching cables tangle themselves! At least it seems that way! But tangled cables and cords really leave the home looking cluttered.

Start by untangling the cables, then create a way to hide them, like running cords underneath flooring or securing them to the wall. Check out the many inexpensive products that tame tangled cables and cords.

Are any of these clutter habits keeping your home unnecessarily messy? Start with just one that bothers you the most. I’ll bet when you get that under control, you can’t wait to tackle another issue!

An organized home goes a long way in keeping you sane in a chaotic world.

Need some ideas? Have you watched “Get Organized with the Home Edit” on Netflix! I binge watched every episode! This is a good place to start getting you excited to tackle some of your home clutter problems. And you can look forward to Season 2 in the series, possibly before the end of 2021!

And you’ll find yourself talking about Clea and Joanna as if they were your best friends. I have all three of their books! If you really want some inspiration to jumpstart your decluttering mission, just click on the titles to order!

The Home Edit: A Guide to Organizing and Realizing Your House Goals

The Home Edit Life: The No-Guilt Guide to Owning What You Want and Organizing Everything

And as if their first two books weren’t enough, their new workbook guides you through the entire decluttering and organizing process! Check it out below!

The Home Edit Workbook: Prompts, Activities, and Gold Stars to Help You Contain the Chaos

If you’re like me, your biggest problem will be spending more time reading the books and admiring the pictures of organized spaces than implementing the ideas!

But – stay tuned! As I declutter and organize my own home, I’ll be sharing before and after pictures and how I developed and tweaked systems I’ve used to create order and calm. And some of those before pictures are going to be pretty scary!

P.S. If you click on any of the links and purchase a product, I will receive a small commission. But rest assured, I don’t recommend products I wouldn’t use myself. And these books are three of my favorites!

Is Your Clutter Creating and Perpetuating Overwhelm?

by Vicki Peel | Jun 16, 2021 | Clear Clutter | 0 comments

Two kinds of clutter can create chaos in your life – physical and emotional clutter. Both can derail you from achieving the kind of life you want and need. Clutter can create and perpetuate overwhelm in your home and in your mind.

A cluttered home can emotionally overwhelm you, making it harder to tackle the issue. And for me, clutter also makes me cranky! I’m going to be decluttering and organizing my home and sharing my process with you, including before and after pictures. See my featured image above? I didn’t get it from online sources of photos. It is an embarrassing true-life photo of my craft room! So – stay tuned!

There are a number of ways clutter can play with your emotions. Here, we’ll look at some of the most common emotional challenges that can keep you from de-cluttering the home and how you can overcome them.

Sentimental Value is Hard to Relinquish

By far one of the hardest challenges of de-cluttering the home, is letting go of items we don’t need. Just because we don’t necessarily need them, doesn’t mean it’s easy to let them go. This is especially true if the items hold some form of sentimental value.

Consider whether you really do need to hold onto the items with sentimental value. If not, don’t think about it, just let them go. If you’re still struggling, think about selecting just a few sentimental items, the ones that have the most meaning for you. As for the remaining items, maybe they would bring joy or comfort to someone else, which in turn could provide joy and comfort to you. Then the items you selected to keep would have even deeper meaning to you.

Clutter Can Provides Comfort

Although clutter does make the home look messy, it can actually provide some level of comfort. Some people unknowingly use the clutter to fill a void.

Whether you have difficulty letting go of items or find that shopping fills a void, the kind of comfort you find in either scenario is unlikely to be enough.

If you do find yourself buying new things to fill a void, list other ways that would comfort you. Ask yourself whether the items you’re buying are actually useful and how often you’ll use them. Do they bring you joy? If not, ask yourself whether you’re just using them for comfort, and find a replacement activity on your new list.

Find other things that bring you comfort, such as reading, doing yoga, listening to music or cooking a nice meal and add them to your list.

It’s Just Too Much

When there’s a lot of clutter to contend with, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Where do you start when absolutely everywhere needs to be de-cluttered?

If you often just look at the clutter and feel overwhelmed, you’re definitely not alone. However, the common thing to do is to put it off for another day. Then, when you attempt to go back to it, you’re met with the same overwhelming feelings that stopped you doing it in the first place.

When there is just too much to do, it can really help to start small. Break down the tasks into manageable chunks, focusing on things which take just a few minutes at first. Or set a timer for 15-30 minutes at a time. You’ll often find taking care of the smaller tasks boosts your motivation to continue with the larger ones.

Emotional Overwhelm is Real, but Can Be Overcome

If you find yourself becoming emotionally overwhelmed, there are some tricks you can use to calm the mind.

Taking a step back and utilizing deep breathing exercises is a great start. You can also remind yourself you’re in control of your mind and you will tackle the clutter. It doesn’t have to be all at once, and it doesn’t have to be today.

Ensuring you de-stress as much as possible is also going to help. So, take time out for yourself every day to relax the mind and deal with any outside stress you’re facing. The more relaxed you are, the less likely you’ll become overwhelmed emotionally by clutter.

It’s common to get overwhelmed when you start to remove the clutter from the home. However, think through which strategies will work for you, and start there. As your home begins to look clean and tidy again, that alone will boost your spirit and help you continue the process.

Need a jumpstart? One of my favorite new series in recent years was “Get Organized with the Home Edit” on Netflix. Now you can get “The Home Edit Workbook” to help you work through your own chaos of clutter! You can get it HERE!

What’s holding you back from getting control of your stuff? If you have control of your stuff, share your best organization tips in the comments below.

Five 5-Minute Decluttering Hacks to Start Conquering Your Stuff

by Vicki Peel | Feb 10, 2020 | Clear Clutter, Home | 0 comments

“Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein

Do you have a place for all your stuff? Or is your stuff stuffed into places where you can’t find it? Could you describe a lot of your stuff as clutter?

Decluttering has been a popular, or should I say prevalent, term in recent years. If you have stuff that you need to get rid of, then you have clutter. When your home is filled with clutter, trying to tackle a mountain of stuff can be quite overwhelming. In fact, it can be paralyzing. You know you need to do something, but you think there must be a commonly known place to start that everybody knows but you. So, you don’t do anything.

Here’s my advice: start with just five minutes. Baby steps are important. Sure, five minutes won’t barely make a dent in your managing all your stuff, but it’s a start. Celebrate when you’ve made that start!

Then take another five minutes tomorrow. And another the next day. Before you know it, you’ll have cleared a whole closet or a room and then half your house and then … who knows? Maybe one day you will have completed decluttering and you can describe your home as uncluttered!

For those who are overwhelmed by their clutter, here are some great ways to get started, five minutes at a time.

Designate a spot for incoming papers. Papers often account for a lot of our clutter. This is because we put them in different spots — on the counter, on the table, on our desk, in a drawer, on top of our dresser, in our car. No wonder we can’t find anything! Designate an in-box tray or spot in your home (or at your office, for that matter) and don’t put down papers anywhere but that spot. Got mail? Put it in the inbox. Got school papers? Put it in the inbox. Receipts, warranties, manuals, notices, flyers? In the inbox! This one little change can really transform your paperwork.
Start clearing a starting zone. Clear one area. This is your no-clutter zone. It can be a counter, or your kitchen table, or the three-foot perimeter around your couch. Wherever you start, make a rule: nothing can be placed there that’s not actually in use. Everything must be put away. Once you have that clutter-free zone, keep it that way! Now, each day, slowly expand your no-clutter zone until it envelopes the whole house!
Clear off a counter. Your goal is that all flat spaces are clear of clutter. They could still have useful or decorative items on them, such as a toaster or maybe a candle, but not things that don’t belong. Only you can decide what belongs. So start with one counter. Clear off everything possible, except maybe one or two essential things.
Pick a shelf. Now that you’ve done a counter, try a shelf. It doesn’t matter what shelf. It could be a shelf in a closet, or on a bookshelf. Don’t tackle the whole bookshelf — just one shelf. Clear all non-essential things and leave it looking neat and clutter-free.
Pick up 5 things and find a home for them. These should be things that you actually use, but they just seem to be put down anywhere, because they don’t have a home. If you don’t know exactly where things belong, you have to designate a place for them. Take a minute to think it through — where would be a good spot? Put them close to where they would be used. Then always put those things in those places when you’re finished using them. Now they have a home, which is the ultimate goal for everything you own. That is how you can actually end the decluttering process. Do this for everything in your home, a few things at a time. If everything has a home and you put everything in its home, you will not have clutter and therefore will not need to declutter!

This should give you a starting point. Just pick one hack that seems doable to you and get started! Once you get going, the whole process may unfold as you decide what you want things to look like and how you want to live in your space.

Next time, I’ll list a few more hacks that may help you conquer the overwhelming task of decluttering. I also have some ideas for stuff for storing your stuff!

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