~ Why crackers can drive you crackers and keeping your kitchen bench clear. Hallelujah! ~
So here you are, happily (or frantically!) living your life. You’re busy and you’re managing a home and there’s always SO much to do. You never seem to stop working but the clutter seems to grow all by itself and it’s making you crazy!
Your lovely home, that you adored when you first moved in, is a TIP! (If you’re American that’s a dump – this is a very subjective word by the way. What is a tip to one person is super tidy to another.)
You’re pulling your hair out! You are DESPERATE for an easy way to just stop the onslaught of piles of STUFF!
Luckily this super easy technique works with clutter piles that are just about to grow as well future clutter. You can use it for whole rooms that get full of family clutter or just the kitchen bench.
You can use it right now to stop more clutter piles from stealthily forming. Sneaky little groups of things that seem to attract even more things WILL be thwarted!
Plus, if you’ve recently done a massive tidy and you’re dreading the inevitable mess that always comes back, this technique will stop it in it’s tracks.
Avoid Clutter – Pib-Wib everything!
~ Pib-Wib stands for Put it back – Where it belongs ~
Let’s start right now. What do you have in your hands? Or what did you just put down?
A coffee mug, clean underpants, an onion or a knife with Nutella on it? A box of crackers, the baby’s burp cloth, a dinosaur you nearly sat on? Packaging just opened from a delivery, the cat’s biscuits or a wine glass?
Think about the Final Destination of that thing you just noticed. Not the FINAL final destination – landfill, op shop or recycle centre – I mean it’s Final Destination in your home.
Coffee mug – Squeaky clean in your mug cupboard.
Clean underpants – In the underpants drawer, in a bedroom.
The onion – In the onion basket, in the kitchen.
See right now, it’s just a single thing. One thing to be put away, put into a bin or into the dishwasher. Totally manageable right? Easy peasy.
If you didn’t put it away though, what would happen? Let’s say you didn’t put it away for a few hours. You go on living your life in your home, and everyone else in the house carries on living their lives too. Everyone’s pulling things out of cupboards, drawers, the toy box – using things, playing with things, and leaving the things right where they used them.
Pretty soon that one thing becomes a Small Pile. Then it becomes a Big Pile. Or lots of Small Piles.
And that’s where you are now. Pulling your hair out, yelling at the Mess Makers, overwhelmed and no idea where to even start! You start to dream about being smothered by huge piles of washing, squadrons of Barbies and avalanches of paper.
But, you say, Liz you have no idea! I’m just too busy! Have you any idea what my schedule is like??? I can’t just stop and put things away as I use them, that would take FOREVER! And I just don’t have the time! And as for making the kids put things away HA! That’s never going to happen.
I know you’re crazy busy, I know you have a lot of time pressures, but you have a choice.
Now or later?
Why pick something up and put it down more than once? Who’s got the time for that?
Or lose it because it’s not where you expected it to be? Have you got the time for that?
Or get annoyed or claustrophobic because it’s in the way, cluttering up your space! Have you got the energy to spare for that?
Have you got the time and the energy to invest in feeling overwhelmed, frantically shoving things in the wrong place? Or taking a whole weekend or working late into the night to tidy the house when you could be having some fun or relaxing?
Your time and your energy is precious. I want you to value them. I want your life to be easier than it is now.
Let’s play a game. It’s called, yes, Pib-Wib it!
~ You’re just about to make a yummy snack…
You have a box of crackers in your hand. You have avocado and tomato all ready to go, on the chopping board with your favourite knife.
You pull out the crackers you want and…
Pib-Wib that box of crackers. Put it Back Where it Belongs.
You seal it and put it back where the crackers go, right away. You could pop the knife in the dishwasher as soon as you’ve finished with it too. Wipe down the chopping board as soon as the crackers are on the plate.
Then you go and eat your yummy crackers. You come back to the kitchen to clean up and it’s already done…
The micro seconds that you used to Pib-Wib those things when they were in your hands? They’re a gift to yourself.
~ You’ve just received a delivery, courier bags and packages…
You have an empty box in your hand. There’s a few more very interesting courier bags to open. Exciting!
The nifty thing you’ve ordered is on the kitchen bench, which is still pretty much clear of junk!
You know you want it to stay clear…
Pib-Wib that space. Put it Back Where it Belongs.
You flatten the box and pop it straight into the recycling. You open the courier bags and pop them straight into the soft plastic recycling (or the bin). You put away the new things you bought in the places they belong.
You get busy. Then you come back into the kitchen to get dinner started and the bench is already clear…
You did that. For yourself. Those moments it took to Pib-Wib that rubbish? That is your gift to your future self.
Make life easy for yourself…
Teach your kids to Pib-Wib it. Make it a game, make it normal. Make it just what your family team does.
“Did you Pib-Wib your LEGO?”
“Let’s Pib-Wib your paints!”
“Come on! It’s time to Pib-Wib your ponies with mum!”
Let’s be honest, most of the time it’s going to be you doing the Pib-Wibing. But you’re doing it for yourself anyway. To make YOUR life easier.
~ If it’s in your hands (or was just moments ago) Put it Back Where it Belongs.
~ If it was where it belongs but isn’t now, Put it Back Where it Belongs.
~ If you’ve finished using it, Put it Back Where it Belongs.
Do it now, do it as soon as possible.
Your future self will thank you.
Liz.
The Tidy Lady.
Declutter Coach & Tidyness Expert.
