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Winning the Clutter Battle (Through Surrender)

September 16, 2014 By Dana White | 21 Comments

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Winning the Clutter Battle (Through Surrender) at ASlobComesClean.com

In my never-ending war against clutter, I win some and I lose some.

And then there are those moments when I realize that fighting IS the problem.

Like that picture above. I’d REALLY like the basket to sit to the left of the TV since the right side borders the path to our half-bath where I send guests.

But even though I’ve moved the random games into the basket many MANY times, they never ended up there naturally. (By naturally, I mean my kids putting them there.)

So I gave up. And did what works. I moved the basket to the spot where the games mysteriously pile.

Going with what works at ASlobComesClean.com

Now they are mysteriously piling up inside the basket.

Go me.

I need to watch for other battles I’m fighting unnecessarily.

Save

Save

--Nony

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Filed Under: duh | 21 Comments

Comments

  1. Carrie says

    September 16, 2014 at 11:08 am

    Awesome! I like that attitude. I’ll be doing my own looking around as well. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Rachel W. says

    September 16, 2014 at 11:27 am

    My guess is the games piled up there because the gaming system is on that side of the TV. :]

    Reply
    • Dana White says

      September 16, 2014 at 11:58 am

      I agree!

      Reply
      • Carla says

        September 23, 2014 at 4:27 pm

        Me too!

        Reply
      • Joan says

        September 23, 2014 at 5:58 pm

        Sometimes it[‘s as basic as… being right handed, I lay stuff down to the right. 😀

        Reply
  3. Ellen says

    September 16, 2014 at 1:29 pm

    I too recently won a battle by surrendering. Hubby likes to pile his stuff up on the bar area when he gets home from work – keys, phone, lunchbox, papers, mail, etc.. The clutter there drove me crazy, as it’s one of the first places you see when you come in our house, and I work at home so I see it all day. Solution? I put a big basket there, and now he puts his stuff in the basket, which to me no longer looks like clutter, and he’s happy because he still gets to dump his stuff in the same spot he’s used to. Everybody’s happy.

    Reply
  4. Elizabeth says

    September 16, 2014 at 1:59 pm

    This goes back to organizing for how you really live… My Library (which I love and have always wanted) is really a craft/art room where various things get stored that I need to keep track of (like ways & means for my group that I haul to various meetings once a month) and out of the way of the cats. In Landscaping, when you have a perfectly good sidewalk, but people cut the corner so much they wear a path in the grass, those are called “paths of will” (I think)… It’s the same in the house… work around where the games get stacked… stop trying to make the Library a “library” and use it for what it really is…

    Reply
    • Ellen says

      September 16, 2014 at 2:11 pm

      I like that… paths of will! I’m going to remember that as I continue my clutter busting!

      Reply
      • Amanda says

        September 16, 2014 at 2:28 pm

        “Paths of will!” Yes!!

        Reply
    • Kelekona says

      September 17, 2014 at 8:55 am

      I like that philosophy.

      Reply
  5. Amanda says

    September 16, 2014 at 2:26 pm

    My homeschool book shelf has always been a pit. I don’t put my stuff away as we move from one activity to the next. I finally cleared a spot for a “Mommy basket” where I keep my school supplies. I also made a pen jar, pencil jar, market jar, and a scissor jar. Open storage may not be a pretty, but it’s less effort which means we will use it. Ta-da! The place looks SO much better.

    Reply
  6. Ti Anderson says

    September 16, 2014 at 3:03 pm

    I was just thinking about how important it is to organize for the way you live. No matter how cool my organization system is, if it goes against what we usually do in a big way its never going to get used. So I’m glad I’m not to only learning to use imperfect systems that work rather than perfect systems that don’t work and become part of the clutter themselves 🙂

    Reply
  7. Shirley says

    September 16, 2014 at 6:47 pm

    I feel your pain!
    Something that I heard years ago that I try to keep in mind as I organize my home is: “Make the *easy* thing the *clean* thing. and vice versa” So if you notice dirty socks always piling up near the foot of the bed, put a small hamper there. If the kids aren’t good at stacking the library books up neatly on the shelf set aside for it, then designate a large basket in the corner instead.

    Reply
  8. Alana in Canada says

    September 16, 2014 at 8:49 pm

    Go Nony!
    You know I say this with total sisterly love, right? I love how you can see where the basket used to be because of all the dust around that spot. #keepigitreal.

    Reply
    • Dana White says

      September 16, 2014 at 9:06 pm

      Yep! I wished I’d have dusted before I took the picture!

      Reply
      • Mary-Margaret says

        September 23, 2014 at 7:09 pm

        No, we need you to continue keeping it real! It makes us feel a tiny bit more understood!

        Reply
  9. Kayla @ Shoeaholicnomore says

    September 17, 2014 at 9:05 am

    Nony, that is a great point that I never thought of before. Thanks for pointing out that sometimes we should stop fighting ourselves and our families’ natural tendencies and just go with them.

    Reply
  10. Carlos C. says

    September 17, 2014 at 9:34 am

    I think That’s the difference between us and the organized kind. They intuitively know where to place stuff. Sometimes, we struggle trying to change behavior..

    Reply
  11. Sally H says

    September 17, 2014 at 9:40 am

    I try to do that for trash cans too — put them near where people are making trash (near the sofa for snack wrappers, near the desk for misprints, near the front door for junk mail) which saves me picking up trash from tables, etc.

    Reply
  12. KellyJMF says

    September 17, 2014 at 9:44 am

    In our house, dirty laundry belongs in hampers upstairs (where the bedrooms are). But we all know that’s not always where dirty laundry occurs. After trying to get everyone pick pick up their socks and bring them upstairs, I gave up and put a wicker basket on the stairs (also near the front door) and suddenly socks no longer had a life of their own, roaming about the downstairs. That worked so well, I gave hubby a place for dirty dishtowels and other kitchen laundry right in the kitchen. I did have to draw the line there, because if I put a laundry basket everywhere people in this house want to drop laundry, I’d run out of baskets and never find it all. The rule now is if it doesn’t get to one of the 3 designated laundry spots, it doesn’t get washed at all.

    Reply
  13. Kristy K. James says

    September 17, 2014 at 12:30 pm

    I’m reading the article and comments and kind of having to laugh. I used to keep all of my supplements – and there are many – in a cupboard in the bathroom … and I’d forget to take them. Then I put them on the bookshelves in my office … and I’d still forget to take them. The ONLY way I remember (consistently) is if they’re in front of my face in the place I spend the most time – smack in the middle of the top of my desk. People think it’s weird to keep them there, but it works for me.

    I need to apply that trick to other things in my house, and this article is a great reminder to see where I can make that same sort of change.

    Reply

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A Slob Comes Clean is the completely honest (and never-ending) story of my deslobification process. As I find ways to keep my home under control, I share the truth about cleaning and organization methods that actually work for a real-life slob. And I'm funny.

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