5 Organizing Apps and Sites to Clean Up Your Home and Declutter Your Life
If your working area at home is cluttered with paperwork, these sites and free apps will help manage the inventory and keep it tidy. It’s always a good idea to overhaul, especially on special occasions like anniversaries, birthdays or new year.
But how exactly do you declutter your life? Where do you start? These sites and apps will help you declutter what you don’t need and organize your life.
- Balance Through Simplicity (Web)
The “Balance Through Simplicity” blog was created by Antonia, the lead author focusing on how to handle different types of clutter. Writer Antonia has written a series of blog posts on the entire decluttering and organization process. Visit the site and decide what to keep or dispose of and what to do after the decluttering phase.
Check out writer Antonia’s “Declutter Starter Kit,” a workbook and guide to keep your home organized. The kit is a systematic approach that starts with exploring the objectives of the decluttering process. The 19-page guide also has step-by-step tips on managing different life aspects: the physical spaces and things like paperwork and finances.
Antonia’s “Balance Through Simplicity” blog also has a “30-Day Declutter Challenge” for those who prefer doing a little at a time rather than going on a spree. The challenge will allocate a different task for each day, but you might encounter recurring tasks to ensure that you’re in a cleaner space by the 30th day.
- FlyLadyPlus (Android, iOS)
Marla Cilley (The FlyLady) has been popular for her advice about home organization and housekeeping. The FlyLadyPlus app has all that advice structured in different zones and accomplished daily or weekly.
Notably, the app has three active zones for a week, each with multiple tasks suggestions. The zones may include bedrooms, entrances, closets, master bathroom, etc. If you don’t have any of these in your home or life, you can replace them. While you have the freedom to decide when to work on each task, you should finish all of them within the week. Remember you have other three zones waiting for you in the following week, and accomplishing them timely will ensure that you have an organized space by the time you complete the rating tasks roster.
In addition, FlyLadyPlus allows you to edit the list and divide the different series of tasks into morning, afternoon, and evening. You can also track your progress with the app’s statistics. Besides, if you want to get Cilley’s insights, read her thoughts on her blog or visit the Ask FlyLady Q&A column and find advice she gives to readers.
- Get Rid of It (Android, iOS)
The “Get Rid of It” (GROI) app seems to incorporate some seriousness in decluttering your life and organizing your space. It’s based on the “Minimalist Game” formed by the popular organization and decluttering experts called The Minimalists.
The experts note that the process can only work when you involve another group or buddy for honesty. The main idea is to dispose of a thing every day, taking a photo of what you discard and writing a note about it. The notes act as a journal as they help you record your reorganization goals and milestones.
The Minimalists also have a section to help you view every stuff you have from a different perspective. This way, you can easily tell what to keep and what to throw away. They also advise you to share your progress on social media platforms as they believe that making your progress public helps you stick to habits.
- ByeBye (Android, iOS)
It would be a blunder to start decluttering and organizing without knowing what you have. The “ByeBye” app lets you take inventory of everything you have and organize it into clean lists with thoughts and pictures on each. Having the list will help you note everything in your home and avoid duplicate purchases and excesses in the future.
The “ByeBye” app asks you to note the price of each item you add, the number of items, their labels, and the purchase date. The app also has a space for you to write a short story and give it a tag to show its worth. For instance, if you come across an item you don’t like, you can tag it as a “Regret” to schedule it for disposal.
ByeBye is also a social network where you can see other people’s inventory lists. This way, you can swap, sell, make friends with people with similar interests or add items to your wishlist through the marketplace section.
- ClutterBug (Web, YouTube)
Cas Aarssen, a.k.a. “ClutterBug” on YouTube, started providing advice on decluttering and organization after struggling with what was provided online by different experts. She discovered that decluttering and organizing your home solely relied on your personality. In other words, decluttering and the organizational process can only succeed if only you understand your personality. But how do you know where you fall? Cas Aarssen has developed a ClutterBug quiz to determine whether you’re of a cricket, bee, butterfly, or ladybug personality.
No rocket science. The quiz involves simple multiple-choice questions about your preferences. By the time you answer all the questions, you’ll land on any four personalities making it easy to find a working plan. Cas emphasizes the importance of identifying your personality first before trying to implement an approach that doesn’t fall in your category. Doing so would be time-wasting, and most people end up giving up and allowing clutter to take over again.
Other excellent materials on the site include a free 30-minute course on how to be organized. Besides hosting videos with evidence on the YouTube channel, Cas shares an array of printables to organize everything in your life.
The Rule of 5 Rs
The first step in the decluttering and organizing process is knowing what is necessary and what to throw away. It would be best for beginners to use the 5Rs rule advocated by the zero waste movement: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot.