How To Get Rid Of Clutter In Your Home In 3 Simple Steps

We named our first daughter Cindy. My mother kept asking “Are you sure you want to name her Cindy? When she is older do you think she might think that name is too young for her? Don’t you want to name her Cynthia and call her Cindy?” The answer was no we liked the name Cindy and that is what we wanted to call her. I was a believer in calling a child by the name given them. (Two of our five girls go by nicknames now they are adults---go figure).

What a fun name Cindy has turned out to be. I had never thought of it being connected to Cinderella but her first pediatrician would “say how is our little Cinderella today?” As she got older we would sing the Cinderella song to her when she woke up from a nap. And others would ask how was our little Cinderella.

In the story Cinderella she was blessed with a fairy godmother. I always thought that was so amazing. This little woman came swooping in, looked at the problem and set about solving it by turning a pumpkin into a carriage, mice into horses and the crowing magic was dressing Cinderella in a gorgeous dress and glass slippers.

Just like the fairy godmother conjured up magic for Cinderella we can conjure up magic to get rid of clutter in our homes. The first thing she did was to take a look at the situation and addressed what was needed for Cinderella to go to the ball.

In our homes the first step to get rid of clutter is to pick a place or a room where there is clutter and using a note pad write down what is working for us and what isn’t working for us in that room. When we know what the problems are we can then get rid of them. Writing them down is visually rewarding when we can see the progress we make as we get rid of clutter.

The fairy godmother could see Cinderella needed a dress, transportation etc. In our evaluation we may determine we need to get rid of some things. These can be sold, donated or recycled. Something as simple as needing containers for items we are keeping and containers to organize with in the room can help get rid of clutter.

Cinderella’s fairy godmother evaluated the problem by seeing what was working and what wasn’t working and then she set a few goals. As we get rid of clutter and decide what we want our space or room to look like and also decide what we want to use the room for it is much simpler to organize when we have a goal to aim for. “Obstacles are what you see when you take your eye off the goal”. Vince Lombardi a great football coach would say this to his players. When obstacles come up as we get rid of clutter by keeping our eye on the goal it becomes easier to organize and we stay focused so we get what we want.

The last thing “Cindy’s” fairy godmother did was to wave her magic wand and poof Cinderella was dressed in a gorgeous gown and she had everything she needed to go to the ball.

The first step to get rid of clutter in our homes is to evaluate and find out what the problems are. The second step is to set goals and the third step is to get organizing. We can take our magic wand (so to speak) and start organizing. 

There were other problems for Cinderella before the story ended with, “And they lived happily ever after.” As we are organizing we can get distracted and life happens. By using these three simple steps we can get rid of clutter in our homes, get over the distractions and we can be organized.

Marilyn Bohn is the owner of Get it Together Organizing, a business dedicated to developing practical organizing solutions that help individuals and business professionals live clutter-free and productive lives. She is the author of "Go Organize! Conquer Clutter in 3 Simple Steps". 

Marilyn takes the often stressful subject of organizing and breaks it down into a simple, easy to understand system. Her methods are both eye-opening and encouraging! Sign up for her free orgainzing tips http://www.marilynbohn.com