Do you have areas in your home that are always cluttered? No matter how many times you try to tidy them up, they’re always accumulating more clutter.
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Those areas are called hotspots. In our house, the hotspots are my desk, the playroom, and the kitchen counter. They can go from clean-and-tidy to out-of-control in less than 20 minutes.
I’ve been trying to organize and declutter my home for years now, and I’m always especially frustrated by these hotspots. I used to be a big fan of the Fly Lady’s podcasts, and when she taught her audience about hotspots, I was happy to know that I’m not alone in my frustration.
Hotspots just aren’t going to go away. Instead of wasting our energy being frustrated, here are some things we can do to minimize the destruction of hotspots:
How to Conquer Clutter Hotspots
- Think about the stuff that accumulates in the hotspots in your home. In our house, the stuff is usually things we don’t know what to do with at the moment. Try to brainstorm systems you could set up to reduce the clutter in that area of your home.
- Declutter a hotspot for ten minutes each day. Just a few minutes each day can make a big difference in the overall look of any area in your home.
- Observe your habits. It might be possible to cut down on clutter in hotspots by just taking a few more steps to put something away instead of dumping it on a hotspot. Try to deal with items immediately and put them away. This isn’t always possible, but if you’re trying to be conscious about your habits, you might be able to come up with a new system or organizing solution.
- Accept the hotspots. Clutter is going to be a part of any household. Learning to deal with it, and then move on will make you feel less stressed about the messy areas in your home.
What are the hotspots in your home?
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The hotspots in our home is the kitchen counters, my dresser in our room and the office. The.entire.office! Thanks for the tips! This is what I am working on a lot! I bought different colored plastic tubs ($2 each at Walmart) there are 4 of us in our family so we each have our own color. I take a 20 minute tidy up in the evening and what belongs to each person goes in their tub. There is a separate one for the office. This is working great! But being conscious before setting an item down helps the most for me!
Hi Lauren! I love the idea of everyone having their own tub in a different color. So smart!
I agree with taking a little time each day to declutter.
For me it’s my kitchen table.
One way to combat the paper clutter is for me to sort mail as soon as I bring it into the house. If I want to clip coupons, I do it right and then put them away, recycling the rest. Ads used to drive me nuts until I started throwing them directly into my inside recycling bin. If I wanted them later, I could just pull the out. If I didn’t get ti them before I took out the recycling, I probably didn’t want them at badly anyway (and I could always look online).
I also like to pile things on my stairs that belong on the other floor. When I do go up or down, I just take the stuff up then, instead ofcarrying things one at a time.
Hi Julie! I like the idea of putting ads in the recycling right away. I’m going to have to try that too.
pooh, we have a few but the main ones are a shelf in the kitchen, part of our kitchen counter, and the top of the piano!
My kitchen counter is a hot spot too!
Our hotspots are the kitchen table, China hutch, and bookshelf in the kitchen. I try every few weeks to take things where they belong but it is a never ending task with many guilty parties! It can be overwhelming but we have been buying baskets to at least make it look better
I love baskets! Our kitchen countertop is the same way. It’s a constant clutter hotspot!
Ten minutes a day sure does help a lot. I still have a difficult time accepting that hotspots are going to happen. But, that is the perfectionist in me (which I am still working on). Thanks for another great post, Katie!
You have no idea how much I needed to read this today! I’m grateful for your suggestions. You’ve made by day.
My hotspots are kitchen desk area, kitchen counter and our office in general. We run couple of different businesses from our home. Things have gone chaotic since my hubby decided to retire from his office to our home.
Hi Irene! Those are hotspots in our house too. It’s amazing how quickly they can fill up with stuff. I’m glad the post helped!
Mine is my kitchen island. So I put two cute place mats in front of the stools. Aside from bags of groceries being brought in this has kept my island clutter free!!
Good idea!!
I’ve bought different coloured plastic files from the dollar store & the metal file “holders”. I used my handy dandy label maker, so each file gets labeled on the spine. It’s tempting to be lazy, but too easy to put things in their place.