7 Ways To Clear Clutter This Week

I love the hustle and bustle of the holidays, but I also love the calm and
clarity that follow. Here are 7 ways I'm clearing clutter this week, give one or
two or all seven a try!

1. Return stuff to other people: Hooray! My kitchen counter is clean again! Last week, it held a roasting pan, a pie pan, an instruction book for someone else's gift, a holiday cookie tin and a few other random items, none of which belonged to me. The tin was the last to go, but as of yesterday, everything is returned!
   
   
2. Donation / Recycling Clutter: Drop off donations and recyclables, or at least put the next charitable donation pick-up date on your calendar and plan to have a bag ready. Then start filling that bag!! We have a couple of bags already filled with donated Christmas decorations, toys and outgrown kid and adult clothes.
   
   
3. Purge cardboard: I feel like we've been swimming in shipping boxes and
   toy packaging. The recycling bin filled up quickly over the holidays, but
   there's more room this week! Collect the boxes, break 'em down and lug 'em out. You'll be glad you did!
   
   
4. Plan a Returns Day. Place a shopping bag by the door. As you go through your home and routines this week, look for the items you intend to
   return and place them and their receipt in the bag. If you can't find the
   receipt, spend a little time looking for it, but don't get hung up on
   perfectionism. Even if you can't find the receipt, a smaller amount of store
   credit or cash back is better than holding on to an item you know you won't use just because you can't find the receipt. Spend an afternoon, and run those errands to return the items. Cha-ching, money in your pocket and the clutter goes away!
   
   
5. Clear the Catalogs: Clean off the coffee table, reading pile and kitchen counter. Call the 800# on the back of the catalogs or go to www.Catalogchoice.org, and remove yourself from mailing lists. Subscribe online, if you'd like, and you may get regular promotion notices and coupons. To avoid email notices, skip the subscription, open your web browser, create a bookmark folder called "shopping", bookmark the
   page in your browser, and add it to your shopping folder, then toss the
   catalog!
   
   
6. Phone clutter: Ugh! I am tired of the solicitation calls on our home phone line! Register all phone numbers (cell, too) with the National Do Not
   Call Registry at www.DoNotCall.gov, if you haven't done so. And this month I will answer all calls on the home line, and request that the caller remove me from their list, which they legally must do if we ask.
   
   
7. E-Mail clutter: I am happy that a few people un-subscribed last week.
   As a blogger and newsletter writer, it should not make me happy, but I was proud of those 4 folks on my mailing list for deciding to let go of something that was not working for them. Good for them. Of course, now that they have un-subscribed, they will never know that I applauded their efforts. And
   remember, I welcome your suggestions and comments for improvement, to keep my content meaningful and useful for you, so that you don't need to
   unsubscribe!
   
   
   Yeah, you!  Pat yourself on the back!  Look around, you're feeling lighter and looking better already! Way to go!