If you’re someone who gets home from work and drops your keys wherever, kicks off your shoes wherever, and leaves your dirty clothes wherever they may land, you may also be the type who dreads the day you inevitably have to clean it all up. Not everyone has a predisposition toward being tidy—but there is a way you can be a little scattered, but not be completely overwhelmed on clean-up day. You simply need a “mess basket” in every room.
What does a “mess basket” mean?
Every area in your house can serve as a series of enormous junk drawers by placing a basket or container there. Totes can be as simple as plain plastic or as fancy as ornate wicker ones, but they need to be large. This is due to the fact that you will be training yourself to throw everything into the trash can instead of letting it land on the floor, couch, coffee table, or any other surface.
Although each room only needs one container, it will probably fill up with a lot of odd and different items. If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably find books, water bottles, clothes, slippers, junk mail, and hair accessories.
Here, it’s okay to have the basket as disorganized as you like. Anything that you would typically dump on the closest surface goes directly into the basket, freeing up room and allocating a location for the mess.
How and when should it be cleared?
Every month or so, dump each basket onto the floor. Sort everything Organize everything into five groups: garbage, dishes, clothes, items with a place, and items without a place. You should also make a sixth group for anything that you genuinely no longer use or need. Something was effectively placed in a purgatory where it was forgotten and out of sight if it was in that basket for a month and you didn’t think about it or go to get it once. Think about whether you truly need to hang onto it, or whether living a simpler life might be possible without it. Donate it or throw it in the trash. Then sort the other five categories.