Clutter is the enemy of selling your home. As you prepare your home for the market, you will have to deal with clutter. Specifically, you need to figure out how to get rid of your clutter initially, and then how to keep your home clutter-free until it’s sold (at which time you can move your clutter to your new place).

It always seems like some people are just organized by nature, and others are challenged by matching up sock pairs. However, people are often amazed to find that the ability to de-clutter is something that can be learned. Usually it involves a change in lifestyle and a new way of thinking about clutter.

The first step is to make a plan and define a schedule. Pick a specific day and time of the week that you will spend on reducing clutter in your home. It really doesn’t matter when as long as it’s a time you can mark out and do nothing else for at least several weeks.

Then pick your first battlefield. It might your desk or the kitchen drawer, or maybe the top shelf in the hall closet. Whatever you choose, don’t pick something you can’t finish in one session. You want to avoid discouragement. If you can start and actually finish something, you’ll be much more likely to continue your quest for a clutter-free house.

Start by organizing items into one of four categories: keep, give away, throw away or sell. Hint: your keep pile should be the smallest of the four. If you have trouble giving some items up, even when you know you should, then enlist some help from a friend. It may seem difficult, but you’re going to need to do this before you move anyway, so you might as well get an early start.

The joy of having a de-cluttered house will become immediately apparent on the day your real estate agent calls and says they want to show the house in 10 minutes. Instead of rushing around like an insane person, you’ll be able to calmly tell them to come ahead, and then relax until they arrive.