1. Give away one item a day for 15 days. If you have excessive amounts of something or if something does not serve a purpose, consider a trip to your local donation place. Sift through your clothes, books, plates, pots and pans and decide what you haven't used. Might you know someone who would enjoy them?

2. To combat impulse buying, when you want to purchase an item that isn't absolutely necessary, put it on a list. Write the item and the date. Revisit the list every couple of weeks and decide if you actually need an item. Try to stop buying items that aren't necessities. You'll save both money and cut down on your clutter. Before you do bring an item into your home, make sure there is a place for it.

3. A floor is not a shelf. Apart from safety issues, once everything is off the floor, the room looks bigger, brighter, and cleaner. To help, take five minutes in the middle and at the end of each day to pick things up from the floor. Better yet, put items back where they belong when you are finished using them.

4. If you need help with motivation, pick small projects that will give you the most satisfaction with your organizing. A junk drawer, a coat closet, or a paper stack are things you organize in less than an hour.

5. Don't make the mistake of purchasing organizing products before you understand what you actually need to corral the clutter. Use bins, shelving, and labeling to help organize what you already have to keep things tidy. Once you know what organizing supplies will help improve the way you live, then shop. This way, you won't buy more stuff for your stuff.