31 Days to Bless Your Home, and How to Have Fun Doing It Too!
Week 3: The Glamorous Side of Homemaking: Cleaning, Organizing, and Decluttering
Day 13: Simple Tips to Defeat the Clutter Monster
“She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.” Proverbs 31:27 NIV
Have you ever felt overwhelmed when your house gets messy? Have you ever looked at the pile of clutter and just didn’t know where to start? Well, I sure have!
I grew up with a mother who was the perfect homemaker. Everything was spotless, organized to the extreme, and I was afraid to touch or move anything. Her perfectionism gave me the impression that the Proverbs 31 woman is a woman who was exhausted, unavailable, constantly feeling guilty if anything was out of place, grouchy, and never at rest. That was certainly not for me! Therefore, I went to the opposite extreme!
However, as I adopted the habits of Oscar Madison, I quickly learned that a slothful lifestyle was not the solution. Clutter robs us of peace, is energy draining, embarrassing, depressing, and chaotic. I tried methods of hiding it when people would come over, but the real kicker was when I realized what a poor example I was setting for my children. They deserved to live in a clean, orderly, and comfortable environment, but I was too overwhelmed by this point. I didn’t know what to do! How could I find balance?
I found the answer as a teacher who always felt like I was playing catch up with grading papers. That endless, overwhelming pile seemed to choke the very life out of me, much like the clutter that accumulated in my home. Once I found a principle that worked for school, I began to apply it to other areas in my life.
It began with a simple quote from The Fly Lady, “A load a day takes chaos away.” It was a quote about keeping up with laundry, but basically, I realized that it applied to many areas in my life as well. A little bit at a time consistently will keep the monster at bay. Don’t wait until the pile gets out of control before trying to do something about it. Stay on top of it. However, I had to find balance and not allow myself to veer to either extreme – perfectionism or slothfulness.
Here are some practical tips that have helped me effectively fight off that monster:
1. I do a load of laundry (or several!) nearly every day. When my kids lived at home, it had to be every day. No longer did that mountain overwhelm me again! It’s so much easier that way!2. The dishes are cleaned immediately after every use. I no longer wait until the pile is so high that it becomes a dread, but I enjoy the pleasure of having a clean kitchen every day. A quick 15 minute tidy is so much easier than an hour or two marathon of scrubbing nasty dishes. Something else I learned from the Flylady is that I never go to bed without a “shiny sink.” The kitchen is the hub of our home, so I learned to keep it clean and orderly.3. We all take a few minutes before bed every single day to pick up anything we have left out. When you stay on top of clutter, it is so much easier to maintain.4. If you have spaces that are clutter collectors, set your timer for a few minutes each day and clear away a bit at a time. Don’t try to do it all at once. This will be less overwhelming, and you will more likely keep it up.5. Our paper pile still gets a little out of control. When we don’t have time to sort it, we keep it all in an inbox; or some call it a junk drawer. At least it is out of the way until we have time to deal with it properly.6. Make it a habit of handling things only once. That means to take care of it or put it away immediately. Don’t put it somewhere it doesn’t belong when you are finished with it to put away later. Don’t feed that monster!7. When you are in a hurry to get ready, still make an effort to put things away immediately after use, such as brushes, flat irons, hairspray, makeup, etc. Just don’t leave it out, and you won’t have to go put it away later. Even if you are running late, it is worthy an extra 30 seconds to scoop it all up and put it out of the way.8. When you cook, clean as you go. (My mom’s mantra!)9. Remember that you are creating a home, not a showroom. I am not advocating perfection, nor do I want that! There will be some mess, especially if your children are young, and that is OK! I repeat, it is OK! Remember balance and priorities! Prayerfully consider where you should place your standards.10. I found a great cleaning schedule so I wouldn’t go crazy on some days and let the house fall apart on other days. A good schedule helps you stay on top. I’ll cover my own cleaning schedule on another day, but I have seen an excellent one on Time-Warp Wife.
In other words, defeat the monster before it has the chance to get out of control! It is worth that little bit of elbow grease to give our families homes that they can truly enjoy, relax in, and not be ashamed when their friends come over.
Week Three Challenge: It is time to roll up our sleeves and give our homes some extra TLC this week. What have you been putting off? This is the week to tackle it!
Today’s Challenge: Choose one junk drawer, one paper pile, or one corner of clutter and attack it today! 15 minutes is all it takes!
You will want to join me tomorrow as I will be sharing a video about finding balance and discovering joy in homemaking. We will also talk about how we can glorify God with our homes.
Please follow me at PearlsforLiving.net, and add your email to the right so that you will receive regular email updates. You will not want to miss one day of the fun!
Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter too, for “daily wisdom from the Bible and life experiences to help us all build God-honoring lives, homes, and families.”
And, if you really want to help spread the word and bless your friends, be sure to “Like” and “Share!”
Thank you and God bless!
Shari Lewis
