6 Drop-Dead Cool Ways To De-clutter Your Home Without Even Trying

I was a social service worker for 24 years. I worked in an office and commuted to work every day 18 miles one way. Totally out of the blue one day my supervisor came to me and asked if I would be willing to telecommute. This meant I wouldn't have to drive to work every day, I wouldn't have to put on makeup every day, I wouldn't waste time at work with people stopping by my office and wanting to chat any ole time of the day, and I would have an extra 30 minutes night and morning.

I jumped at the chance to telecommute. I started packing up right then and I went home, bought some paint and painted a room that became my work office for over 11 years. I got a phone call from my supervisor after a few days when I first started telecommuting and he asked how things were going. Then he added, "You've probably got a cake in the oven while you are at work".

It had never dawned on me to do something like that but as I thought about it I realized that was a great way to multi-task. Think about it; multi-tasking makes it possible to declutter your home and get more done with energy to spare.

1. You are reading this so I know you own a computer. Set up an anti-virus software to protect your computer. While you are sleeping you can tell your computer to run the anti-virus program. You can also de-frag your hard drive. This frees up space on your computer for things you really need to keep.

2. I love clean carpets. My favorite way to keep them fresh is to sprinkle baking soda on them before I vacuum. I have tried other products but too many have a strong smell so I always come back to baking soda. Give it time to work by sprinkling it on the carpet and while it is working dust and then vacuum.

3. I used to buy the longest phone cord I could find so I could walk around the house doing things while talking on the phone. I think it was a 12 foot cord. Aren't cordless phones great? (As long as you can find them that is). There are so many things we can do while talking on the phone; sweep the floor, wipe off the counter, straighten up a pile of books, fold clothes or empty the trash. I recommend this only as long as the conversation you are having doesn't require a lot of concentration.

4. A great way to declutter your home is to put things where they belong while waiting on a family member to get ready to go with you someplace. Sort through a pile of magazines or a drawer while waiting for someone to get ready to go. Even make a quick phone call. You will be amazed how much you can get de-cluttered in just a few minutes and it will no longer be wasted time just waiting.

5. One of my favorite things to do is to listen to books on CD while I sew or when I am driving alone.

6. While waiting for an appointment or other places you have to wait make it productive by doing something such as cleaning out your purse, writing a note to a friend or balancing your checkbook. I made a queen size quilt called "Grandmother's Flower Garden" while I was waiting at different places. It is all sewed by hand and I did it when I was waiting at a doctor's office, and waiting for my girl's ball games to start. I called it my "waiting quilt". It took hundreds of hours to make the quilt and not one of those hours was wasted because I was actually doing two things at once.

Declutter your home by multi-tasking. You will be so productive and will be having such a great time you'll be looking for places to declutter.