Clutter is more than discarded shoes to trip over and piles of unopened mail and newspapers, it has a way of slowly taking over the quality of life if you’re not careful. Inability to find car keys and cell phones amidst a disheveled home on a busy morning can start what would be a productive day off on a stressful note. However, you don’t have to be a neat freak to benefit from keeping it all together. There are some simple steps you can take today to start living a clutter-free life.

1. Keep your car interior empty. (Don’t panic, you can allocate the trunk or hatchback area for things that you absolutely feel you must keep with you at all times!) Start by giving a look around every single time you step out of the car. Grab paper coffee cups and discard them rather than leaving them for later. If you have a briefcase, banking papers or dry cleaning that you need for later in the day, keep these types of things in one area of the car rather than tossed anywhere they happen to land.

2. Organize your work area. Give your desk a serious look over. Do you really need everything you see there on a daily basis? Put everything on the floor for a minute and start over. Put all equipment you need back and then reconsider every item that remains. Have a “to do” pile and a “miscellaneous” pile and put the rest somewhere else.

3. Create some kitchen counter space. Really rethink that key area of your home and decide what you use often and what you don’t. Coffee pot? Toaster? Mixer? Tea kettle? Spice Rack? Do they all really need to be visible every day or can you tuck them away and reach for them as needed?

4. The laundry room isn’t a dumping ground. Keep the laundry flowing through this area by removing all unnecessary items from it. Allow a space for soiled laundry and an area for folded clean clothes and don’t let anything else pile up there.

5. Remember the purpose of the family room. It’s for the whole family, not only the children and their toys! Are there too many throw pillows and blankets taking up valuable floor space? Is there a mad scramble every evening to find the remote? Dedicate one area for all necessary things in this key area and you’ll actually have a place to relax. Make your family mantra ‘leave the room as you found it’.

Getting back on top of your ‘space’ can be a daunting task, but you can do it! Just start with one area and don’t move on to another until you’re happy with what you see. Even if the process takes longer than you’d like it to, remind yourself that you have to start somewhere. Just start!