When we clear the clutter away from our home, we have more time to spend doing things that we truly enjoy. Find out how why I’m setting a goals to spend 20 minutes a day towards a clutter-free home.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a MOPs (Moms of Preschoolers) meeting where the topic was minimalism and clearing out the clutter. I’m not going to lie, I mentally rolled my eyes thinking that I couldn’t learn much more about minimalism. I was a minimalist before it even become popular. I’ve never been one to enjoy clutter. If you were to walk into my home you’d see the occasional daily life clutter from school and meals, but you’d never see real clutter. Clutter makes me anxious, overwhelmed, and even slightly depressed.

Related post: 4 Reasons I Become a Minimalist

Even though I’d rolled my eyes at the topic of the MOPS meeting, I found myself learning a lot and taking notes. Turns out, I have a lot to learn about clutter and minimalism. I instinctually clear out clutter so I don’t spend much time reading about it or learning how to de-clutter. After learning more about de-cluttering, I couldn’t help but research it over the last week. One thing I found is that learning about the effects of clutter is something that really interests me.

Apparently, I’m not alone in my negative feelings about clutter. Psychologists have coined this the “clutter effect” where clutter- both physical and mental- can even cloud your ability to think.

I experience this clutter induced mind fog often. With three kids, a business, and a life to manage, I can’t always find the time to put things in the appropriate place. I end up stuffing items in one of our 10 (yes, 10) junk drawers or literally throwing something into a closet. My hatred of countertop and household clutter has fed into my closet and junk drawer clutter. Sure, one look at my house might have you convinced that I’m organized, but a glance at any of my drawers will tell another story.

Related post: How Minimalism Can Save You Money

For this reason, I am vowing to spend 20 minutes a day towards a clutter-free home. Even on my busiest of days, I have 20 minutes that I can spend to make my house feel a little more organized and a lot less chaotic.

20 Minutes a Day to a Clutter-Free Home

This idea comes from Kathi Lipp who has an amazing website devoted to clearing our your clutter. During the MOPs meeting that inspired this post, we watched a short video of Kathi explaining this method. It was so inspiring that I wanted to share it with you.

A clutter-free home can be yours in as little as 20 minutes a day. Seriously, that is all it takes. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get overwhelmed thinking about how long a tedious chore could take. This method makes it easy to tackle because it’s only 20 minutes of your day!

Follow these steps to get a clutter-free home in 20 minutes a day:

1.  Pick a small target area such as one drawer, one side of the closet, or one cabinet. The smaller the better.

2. Get 3 bags ready: one for donating, one for trash, one to put away in another place

3. Set the timer for 15 minutes.

4. Go through your designated area for 15 minutes and put items that don’t belong there in one of the 3 bags.

5. Set your timer for 5 minutes and spend those minutes putting things away in another place.

Repeat the next day!

Or better yet, keep going if you have the time. Move on to another drawer or area in your house.

Can you ever be completely clutter-free?

I like to think that we all have clutter. It’s a byproduct of living. I absolutely refuse to believe that anyone lives a happy life completely clutter free. I’m one of those people who doesn’t believe anyone’s life is as perfect as it looks on Instagram. Just because someone has a neat home, doesn’t mean they are clutter-free. Pictures don’t show you what’s behind closed doors (or drawers).

As much as I’d like to embrace my cluttered junk drawers, I know that taking 20 minutes a day to work towards a clutter-free house will benefit my mind and my spirit.

What I love most about this method is that it’s a lifestyle, not just a quick fix. Too often I find myself organizing an area of my house only to have it destroyed a few weeks later. With this method I can keep working on de-cluttering my home anytime I have a spare 20 minutes.

What about you? Are you going to spend 20 minutes a day towards a clutter-free home?