4 Hidden Clutter Prevention Habits

If you are reading this you are likely in one of 2 places. You might have completed a big decluttering project (high five!) and want to maintain it. Or you are caught in a seemingly endless cycle of decluttering that never seems to stick. In both cases I have good news! There are some very easy clutter prevention habits you can practice that will instantly (and forever!) make a difference in your home. All 4 of these are easy to execute but they do require a change in behavior. Two of them help to prevent clutter inside your house and the other two prevent clutter from coming into your house in the first place!

The 2 Minute Rule

The 2 Minute Rule is very simple. If something takes 2 minutes or less to do, do it now. Once you start paying attention you will be amazed at the number of things that need to be done that you:

A) Vow to do later 

B) Put on a list

C) Immediately forget about

And it is also amazing how many of them just take 2 minutes! The 2 Minute Rule can apply to anything (making an appointment, getting the mail, canceling a reservation.) From a clutter perspective, it’s mostly about putting things away instead of putting them down. Some examples:

• Going through the mail as soon as you bring it in and sorting it
• Taking the dry cleaning out of plastic/wire hangers and putting it away in your closet
• Putting away the pots and pans that are sitting on the drying rack

Many people leave things out as a visual reminder of something they need to do. Forget the visual reminder, just do the thing now. It will take 2 minutes! Of all of the clutter prevention habits, this one is the easiest. And I’ve found it to be extremely helpful to say ‘2 Minute Rule’ out loud when I see something that qualifies!

One-In-One-Out

This one is easy to remember to do but somewhat harder to execute. When you bring something new into the house, something old goes out. When you get really good at this clutter prevention habit you will be able to identify the thing that’s going out before you even bring the new thing home!

Try this with categories like books, water bottles, clothes and beauty products. Those are categories where we tend to pile things up without letting go of the old, unused stuff we don’t need anymore.Another example: You come across a new version of something you use a lot, like a baking sheet. You get excited about the new baking sheet (Shiny! Good quality!) and it arrives the next day. You put it away with the other baking sheets. But wait! Before you shut the cabinet you find some older sheets that are blackened and sort of warped. You’ve still been using them but now you have your shiny new sheet and likely won’t reach for them anymore (even though they are technically still usable!)  Those old ones can go – clutter prevented!

Shop From A List

Some people are not going to like this one! Some folks have a problem with lists, which I totally don’t get because I LOVE lists (blog for another day!) Anyway, this clutter prevention habit is not necessarily about lists, it’s about avoiding impulse-buying. Impulse buying is a huge generator of clutter. We buy things impulsively because of marketing, feeling sad, feeling bored, the list goes on. Those purchases are usually not things we need and they don’t keep our interest for very long. They get relegated to a closet or drawer, hidden and forgotten. Or they take up residence against a wall somewhere and become part of the background.

To avoid impulse-shopping, keep lists on your phone. Lists for clothing items you want. Lists for groceries you need. Lists for home decor categories you’d like to refresh. When you are intentional about what you purchase it’s more likely you will use the thing and keep using it over time. When you are intentional about what you purchase you are saving those impulse purchases from the landfill. There are so many benefits to this particular clutter prevention habit.

One trick I use a lot when I am feeling the impulse shopping bug. I add items to wish lists and favorites when I shop. It kind of feels like I’m buying the thing but I’m not. I usually forget about said item after a day or 2 and even when I get an alert that it went on sale it doesn’t look so great 2 months later so I delete the notification.  It’s a sneaky-good strategy because I get the dopamine hit from adding the thing to my favorites, but no clutter enters my house AND I save myself some money!

Stop Accepting Freebies

Just Say No. To the SWAG bags. And the Free Samples. And the corporate giveaways. That shit is straight up CLUTTER. The marketing teams for these companies keep getting smarter and the products are more relevant. ‘This is a really nice water bottle!’ you say to yourself, even though you have 25 water bottles and use 3. In terms of ranking clutter prevention habits, this one will have a huge impact on your home. Don’t let that shit in and you’ll never have to declutter it!

There is one more clutter prevention habit that’s great but I’m not including it here because I wrote a whole blog on it, you can read it here if you are raring to go after reading this post! Habits are the best way to accomplish hard things. If you want to learn more about habits and how to trick your brain into doing anything you find hard, my two favorite books on the subject are Atomic Habits and Tiny Habits. Both are brilliant and I use them all the time in my own life and in my work. Happy Habit Building, may you adopt preventative clutter health early and practice often!