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Is your house a mess? Do you wake up in the morning feeling flustered because you are surrounded by a maelstrom of clutter? Getting organized is a hard thing to do at any point in the year, but during the summer it can be tougher than ever, especially if you have children tearing around the house. Here are 4 easy things you can do to get organized now and immediately start feeling less cluttered!

1. Get rid of stuff you know you don’t need.

If you do not have the time to go through your entire house to get rid of surplus supplies, at least get rid of the stuff you already know needs to go. Even if all you do is go room to room with a donation bag for the thrift store grabbing the obvious items that can go, odds are you will fill it! That’s a lot of clutter gone instantly, and you are helping others by donating to charity.

2. Try not to buy new stuff you don’t need.

Do you have a habit of buying anything and everything that strikes your fancy? Do you always shop for the latest fashions of the season? Try to resist the urge to always get the newest shiny thing that catches your eye. This builds up new clutter faster than any other habit. If you only buy what you really, really want and need, and know you will use over the long term, you will keep your home free of clutter.

3. Corral loose items in storage containers with lids.

Try to resist the urge to go out and buy a huge number of plastic storage bins until you take stock of how many you actually need (see the point above!). If you have obvious areas of clutter though that you know you could take care of quickly and easily, buy plastic storage boxes for those items at least, and get them contained. Later, when you have more time, you can start taking stock of the rest of your storage needs, and then go ahead and buy more plastic bins for storage when you know you need them.

4. Switch everything to paperless that you possibly can.

Bank statements cluttering up your home office? One of the best things you can do right now to feel more organized and less cluttered is to go paperless on as many different types of documents as you can. Bank statements, insurance bills, utility bills … these are all things you can view online, and many companies will allow you to completely cut off receiving paper statements. This will prevent the flood of paperwork from continuing to accumulate on your desk. File the old paperwork and enjoy the fresh start!

While the steps above will not result in a total home makeover, they should make you feel more organized right now, and sometimes that is more important. Once you actually get a foothold above the clutter, you may find that little victory is enough to motivate you to take on a bigger organization task.