Kitchen Clutter Will Be A Thing Of The Past Once You Start Organizing With One Rule

It's easy to find suggestions about organizing your space in books, magazines, and blogs — and we've covered a wealth of standout strategies for decluttering your kitchen as well. There are dozens of techniques for both organizing and decluttering (which are actually two different but related things). But until you find the key to your particular kind of housekeeping, attempts at controlling clutter and getting everything into the proper place in your home are likely a constant battle. 

If clutter is your kryptonite no matter what you try, take a look at the 1-3-5 rule as a method to tame the piles of stuff your kitchen and other rooms seem to automatically acquire. Both Wall Street and the software industry claim to have originated this productivity strategy, but either way, when you apply it to your home, it boils down to being intentional about your to-do list. Simply put, the "one" in 1-3-5 means that you start with the largest task that requires the most energy and concentration on your part.

Then, determine three additional tasks that take a medium amount of time and effort to complete. Finally, finish your list with five small tasks that don't require a lot of thought or exertion on your part. For example, you might have "organize the pantry" as your number one, followed by related tasks such as taking unwanted (but still good) canned/packaged items to the local food bank. The five smaller items that follow could be something simple like recycling all unused plasticware and grocery bags, or just sweeping the floor and taking out the trash.

The secret to using the 1-3-5 method for decluttering and organizing the kitchen lies in figuring out how to divvy up big, nebulous tasks into achievable chunks. For instance, one of the most important things to stop doing when you're decluttering in the kitchen is don't try to clean and declutter at the same time. Another is: Don't run off and make investing in boxes or bins your priority, when the main task at hand is to get rid of things.

Get clear on whether jobs fall into the cleaning, decluttering, or organizing camp, then break down big projects into jobs you can reasonably complete in the time slots you have available. "Re-organize the kitchen" is too broad, and too big of a task for most people to tackle in one day. "Declutter and arrange the cupboard holding all the mismatched storage containers and lids" is more likely an achievable (yet still sizeable) goal you can accomplish in a day, especially if you plan to add three medium and five small projects after the main job. Remember, the 1-3-5 plan is flexible, and you can apply it to every stage of tackling kitchen chaos. 

Once you've decluttered, you can develop an organization system that designates a specific place for kitchen items, using the same method. Isolate larger organization tasks, whether that's installing organization solutions to make a corner cabinet more functional or creating a designated breakfast station. Then, tack on some smaller jobs to do, like determining where — exactly — scissors or the cutting boards should be best stowed, and returning items that already have homes to their designated places.