Buried under a pile of stuff

As a humble student, I have found a strange problem. My husband and I are pack rats. I mean it. We will horde anything we have a use for... later. Both of us very often say, "Oh I can use that for... uh... something..." and thus we find the cycle begin. We are picky with our stuff, I promise. But with so much stuff, it's cluttering up the house.

Uhhg! Help! Make it stop!

So here's the thing... I've been in spring cleaning mode. I'm tossing so much stuff, I think the garbage men are afraid to come around our apartment every week. So I made a little list that seems to help me remain calm when I feel I'm buried in all my stuff.

1. Free the surfaces!
By this I mean I try so hard to keep items off the tables, side tables, coffee table, kitchen counter, bathroom counters, etc. The clearer it all is, the happier I am and the cleaner things look. This may or may not involve tossing everything in drawers... I am working on that.
2. Keep dishes out of the sink.
I am HORRIBLE at this, but I have had my good friend as well as my sister-in-law tell me to make this a ritual like brushing teeth at night. Before bed, do the dishes. I did actually find I feel better waking up in the morning to get my breakfast munches and feeling happy I didn't have to do the dishes first.
3. Exile the shoes.
Not permanently. Just toss them in the closet and close the closet so I don't see them in my entryway. I was raised in an Asian household and therefore all shoes were removed at the door. So my bad habit has been to just leave the shoes there... and my entire collection of shoes end up at the front door. If I place them in the closet or in the shoe holder in my bedroom, life just feels cleaner!

These are the three big things I'm working on lifestyle-wise. It's a process, people. It won't happen overnight but it's baby steps, right?

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