Rules to Live By #4: But sort through stuff often!

This goes hand-in-hand with Rules to Live By #1 and #3, but I think it's good for it to have its own post. Because there's a certain strategy that I've found to sorting through things that doesn't land me too badly in overwhelm, feeling like de-cluttering is a never-ending, impossible task.

Lately, I've really been re-learning the value of scheduling things. Everything from vacuuming behind the sofa to spending time with my husband. I schedule monthly calls with my grandmother, bi-weekly trims of the cats' claws (good times!), and daily going through at least one chunk of our STUFF to see what can be weeded out, given away, used more efficiently, or quietly returned to its little home.

Some tasks I actually put on the calendar, like calling my parents and date night with my hubby. Other things I go with standard practice (spring and fall deep-cleaning just makes sense, and I can't believe I'm just now getting that!) or I do because there is an actual link (such as sorting through our games, etc. at the beginning of every football season when I go to find the football). These are good triggers that keep me feeling efficient, not burdened.

I'm still developing my routines for cleaning and clearing. New things get purchased, old things get given away, habits change and needs change. Until we have a baby living in the house, I don't need to develop a routine for disinfecting the diaper pail or sorting through clothes to see what the little one outgrew in the last five minutes. And once we have saved up for a new entertainment center (oh, I dream of the day), keeping our DVDs and other multimedia equipment clean and tidy will be much easier. So I won't have to be quite as vigilant about dusting and tidying as often.

For now, we have our little schedules. The cat box gets scooped every other day, our closets get sorted through when the seasons change, and the schmutz on the fridge door gets weeded out before we have people over for Thanksgiving, 4th of July, etc.

And don't let this post fool you. I forget, often, about when I'm supposed to sort through this or take out that. Our house is not pristine (anyone who's been over knows this, and is laughing). But I find that having goals means they at least get done most of the time, and keeps the clutter at a bare minimum.