Getting organized: 10 tips for keeping the clutter at bay

Reducing clutter in your home is a daily commitment, from being more mindful of what we're bringing into the house to practicing that old adage, "a place for everything and everything in its place."

It's not always easy. Life takes over and we get busy...which is precisely when clutter takes over and we get buried.

But clutter and stress go hand in hand...we need plenty of clean, open space to breathe, to clear our minds, and to feel more motivated and inspired.

According to feng shui expert Karen Kingston... "Clutter is stuck energy. The word 'clutter' derives from the Middle English word 'clotter,' which means to coagulate...and that's about as stuck as you can get."

Here are 10 random tips for preventing some of the more typical clutter from getting too close for comfort:

1.  Place a recycling bin close to your mailbox and immediately toss the daily junk mail and sales ads so they never even make it into the house.

2.  Place decorative trays or baskets in the high-clutter zones as catch-alls...near the house phone, the coffee table, the nightstand, your desk, that table or counter closest to the front and back doors. When they get full, take a few minutes to sort, toss, or put away whatever's inside.

3.  If you have a multi-level home, keep a basket at the top of the stairs and another at the bottom to temporarily hold things that are upstairs but belong downstairs (and vice versa), so you can make fewer trips running up and down to put things away.

4.  Look for interesting recipes for "one-dish" meals to prepare more often to cut down on the dirty dishes.

5.  Save your receipts when you make purchases and don't be afraid of that twinge of buyer's remorse when it happens, even if it's several months later. If you don't need it or you haven't used it, just return it.

6.  Fold and/or hang your clothes right as you pull them out of the dryer. Not only will you have fewer wrinkles, the clothes are more likely to go directly to the bureau or closet instead of the sofa or bed.

7.  Assign one and only one credit card to use for any online, mail order or TV shopping you might do. Seeing all your transactions in one place makes it easier to spot when you're making too many impulse buys (either that or your credit limit will hit faster and shut you off, lol)

8.  Consider paying more bills online to reduce your snail mail and paper filing.

9.  Consider switching to online subscriptions for your favorite newspapers and magazines and save a few trees in the process.

10.  Give yourself just one "free space" in your house or garage to allow clutter to accumulate...the corner of a bedroom, one shelf unit, a drawer, a hall closet. When it gets full, then it's time to sort, toss, put away.