The picture shows grass against a green background with blueberries pierced through it

Three concrete tips to prevent piles of stuff

As a professional organiser, I find both my clients and myself struggling in the midst of a merchandise overflow, even if we have already done the decluttering and built up our goods skills. Once the increase in belongings is stopped, the direction can be changed. In this article, I list three concrete tips for preventing piles of stuff and starting to tame the chaos. With these principles, you can successfully tackle the piles of stuff in your home, even in the midst of busy work and peak years.

Take one tip at a time and try it for a month, and it will become a habit. The tips are simple, but work when you stick with them. To read more about the reasons why piles build up in your home, read article about the reason for counter piles.

With these three concrete tips from a professional organiser, you can stop the levels piling up and your home becoming an obstacle course:

1. Buy only what you need, not what you want

It's an absurdly simple method, but it's almost impossible to follow in the age of modern marketing. Unless you consciously decide to do so - i.e. buy only for genuine needs.

A necessity purchase is something you simply can't do without. A want purchase is something extra, nice or plus on top of the necessities (read more about the difference between want and need). This principle will remove around 90 % from your purchases, as long as you are strictly honest with yourself and keep your head above the marketing fray.

But we are social creatures, so we would like to do and look like others. We want to buy same as others and belong to a group through consumption.

If you're up to your eyeballs in clutter, unnecessary shopping and dodging piles of stuff in your home, here's your key to happiness: stop buying on impulse.

The picture shows a wish list written by a child with a beautiful doll's bed, a safe and a surprise golden egg.
Every member of the family can play a part in learning something new: it's also good for children to practise delaying the purchase.

For example, you can use a shopping list to stop the shopping spree. In this technique, you write down everything you can think of to buy on a shopping list that you carry with you. After 30 days on the list, you have permission to buy it. That is, if you still want to!

The idea is that desires die out in less than a month, leaving only the real buying needs. Limiting your buying will stop the build-up and you'll be able to unwind.

2. There is a place for everything and everything is kept in its place, so make a home for everything

With this everything must have a home -rule, we inevitably come to think about things a little more emotionally. Does each of your belongings have its own designated home? Is there enough storage space for all the stuff we have? Is it easier to get a bigger home or make do with less stuff?

This principle ensures that you are obliged to think in advance about where you will store the goods in question. If there is no room for it in advance, it cannot be acquired. You will also have to declutter if your cupboards are already full.

The picture shows grass against a green background with blueberries pierced through it
A home cannot hold more than its fair share. At the very least, designating your own place for your belongings reveals this and shows your natural limits.

Each item is also returned to its home after use, for a well-deserved rest. It should not be left anywhere to get lost.This, like other limits, works when you hold on to it.

This tip is annoying, even infuriating, when you have a lot of stuff. But therein lies its evocative power - is there something to give up if you have a lot of homeless stuff in your home?

3. One in and one out - If you bring something in, you also roll something out of your home

Again, the advice is really simple, but powerful. If something comes in the door and is shown a home, what in turn goes out, so that the status quo is maintained? Do you recycle the removal or does it stay in a reusable bag on the floor, rolling around and waiting?

Would it be possible to reverse this process by first removing - out the door for recycling, and only then would new goods arrive? Could you even try going without for a while? Then you would see if you could even manage without it.

One in, one out is one of the most effective ways to manage stockpiles. If everything already has a home, then piles can only occur because of a momentary rush. Even then, you know you'll fix the situation as soon as you have time to put things back where they belong.

Three concrete tips to prevent piles: the one out, one in principle helps to keep the amount of goods intact and prevents the situation from getting worse.
Wondering what you could give up before buying more? With a child, learning this limit is easy, as there will be little clothes left over at regular intervals. It's also a good time to schedule conversations about "what's going to go, so you can get a new one?"

Try this tip to prevent piles for a month

Many times we are so caught up in our own situation that we miss the obvious solutions or are too tired to even think about the keys to change. Often we also wish the solution was a new interior box, so that we don't have to think or struggle to change. It is then easier for someone to directly suggest what to do.

I hope you will try one of these concrete tips for a month, because they will change your life.

Get a friend to join you and practice together. If you used to go shopping together, why not arrange a trip to a café and change direction together? You can share this post below. I'd love for you to come back and let me know how the tip went!

You can also send me a message immediately and take advantage of a free consultation. How would you feel six months from now if together we found the cause of the biggest problem in your home and solved it once and for all? I give a satisfaction guarantee on my work, contact me!

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Who writes here?

The blog is written by a marketing pro-turned-professional-organiser, a mother of three, Henna Paakinaho. Welcome to the hearing!

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