Heading Away From Entropy: How Cleaning and Decluttering Saves the World!

Sometimes you have these little flashes of genius and wonder “Why didn’t I think of it before?”  Now that I’m thinking of housecleaning as heading away from entropy, it’s getting much easier.

First, an explanation.  Entropy is a concept in thermodynamics.  The aspect I’m focusing on is that over time in nature, things tend to head away from order into disorder. Even if you organize it up, it will start to fall apart again.

I find this HIGHLY evident in the state of my household 🙂  I’ll clean up in anticipation of a visit or simply because I am desiring to have a cleaner place.  However, things creep back to their old places and soon I’m back to where I started.

Want to help save the world from getting too chaotic? Do your part to fight entropy by decluttering and cleaning!

Some Regression is Natural

I get frustrated easily with my house. Clutter seems to pile up easily, especially with 2 small kidlets bopping around the house. Entropy means that this process is natural and it takes effort to combat it. For me personally, it can be difficult. I am a packrat. I dream up uses for things, so keep them around longer than I should, especially since I often never end up using them. There are also the items with sentimental value. So much stuff, too little time! If you don’t try to head it off, entropy will rear its ugly head and keep undoing whatever housecleaning you have performed.

However, I finally started letting go. Taking pictures of some things helps me remember them without them having to live in my house. I tend to pick up new hobbies and projects constantly, but don’t get around to them since there are so many. I bucked up and picked out some that I really wanted to do, then gave away a lot of the rest.

What Helps Me Head Away From Entropy

Try Just 15 Minutes a Day

I bought a Kindle eBook that a friend recommended – The Staying Organized Survival Guide: Organizing Your Home & Getting Rid Of Clutter In Just 15 Minutes A Day (Home Organization Books).  The author says you should make cleaning a habit by setting aside just 15 minutes a day.  It doesn’t matter what it is or where…just make the habit and do it. I’ve already done my 15 minutes today and I might even do some more since I’m so excited by it all.

Ahhh…so much nicer when it’s clean and set

5 Minutes Per Room Per Day

I have also found that another helpful method is devoting just 5 minutes to each room daily. With my ADD, I can get distracted easily. Sometimes I go into a room and it’s overwhelming, making it seem impossible to get anything done.  However, I can use this way to cut down on the problems. It’s amazing how much you can get done in such a short time. If I find myself in a room where I don’t know what to do, I only have to try for 5 minutes before I can feel like I can move on to another area. Before, I would fret and get frustrated with myself for not getting anything done.

Use HabitRPG to Make Cleaning More Fun

If you don’t like to clean (not many people do, I think), why not try making a game out of it? I wrote before about how you can keep on task with HabitRPG. This site allows you to create a character and level up by doing your tasks. You can also join with others to battle monsters and win. If you use a system like this, it doesn’t feel quite as much like work and helps to keep you going.

Now that I’m thinking in terms of entropy, I’ve found a greater desire to declutter and clean. If I have less stuff, there’s less to get disordered! Makes sense to me! It also makes the world just that much less disordered.

I’m probably a science geek for thinking of cleaning this way, but whatever works, right?

What helps you declutter and clean?