Remember, being a Hoarder means you will have to invest non- stop effort into keeping your house clean. The whole point of these "exercises" is to prevent new stuff from accumulating.

The 4 actions are:
Throw Away (TA) - Recycle (R) - Give Away (GA) - Keep And Put Away (KAPA)..

These 4 actions are at the basis of everything you do. There should be no in- between of "Maybe I could save this..." and "Maybe I could repair this and maybe maybe maybe..."

• The object no longer has a use, by which is meant a direct use.
  EXAMPLE: Broken vacuum cleaner that has been standing there for 3 months. Can you use it right then or will you have to bring it into the repair shop while you may already have gotten a new 1?
  So what do you do, you can't Keep and Put Away so the options left are Recycle, Throw Away and Give Away.
  You think people at the recycle center or a friend will be able to fix your vacuum cleaner? You sure? If so bring it to them today. In doubt or if you can't straight away, Throw Away.
  
  
• The object has a use but is just in a pile of junk right now.
  EXAMPLE: Book on how to cook potatoes.
  This is a useful item, so unless you hate potatoes you may actually still be able to use this book. But there is no logic into keeping it in a pile in the living room. So you don't GA, TA or R, but you decide to KAPA.
  Where should a cookbook go, yes, in the kitchen.

You get the idea, whatever the item you are trying to deal with, 1 of these 4 Key- Actions should be applied. By specifying for yourself that there are only 4 options, you can start dealing with things by the process of elimination.

The rule may be simple but it's effect might be impressive.
Same as with the other rule, this 1 should also apply to everything you do.
Finish what you start.
The key here is to tackle even the smallest of projects but to always finish them.
So what type of things would this rule apply to? Well actually anything and everything. If you started something, THAT is what you should try to finish.

• If you make the effort to buy groceries, finish this off by putting them away. The bag that came with them, throw it out.
  
  
• If you make the effort to do laundry, finish this by immediately folding your clothes and putting them away once they are dry.
  
  
• If you made the effort to set the table for dinner, finish this off by putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher or by at least stacking them on the sink.
  
  
• If you took the time to pick up mail, take some extra time to immediately deal with junk mail, bills and personal mail.

Why is the completion of a project so important? To show yourself the RESPECT you DESERVE. When you are finish things off that you started you are respecting you own efforts.

1 time handling means that when you are tidying a place, you ideally never handle an item more than once. Practically this means that from the moment you pick it up, you deal with it by giving it a place. This place may not be yet another pile though.

When you go through a pile of stuff try to avoid creating smaller piles. While this may seem to break up and restructure the big pile this only leads to losing even more space and into just scattering your belongings in an even more chaotic way.

Once an item is picked up, apply 1 of the 4- KEY ACTIONS to it and make sure you finish by having put it in a practical place.

• When you pick up a letter from the bank from 3 years ago, don't place it down near your bed to deal with it later or to feel as if you dealt with it. Instead pick it up and deal with it then.
  Do you GA? No.
  Do you KAPA? No, this letter no longer has a use.
  Do you TA? Yes or you could also R.

Small efforts may seem futile when facing an overwhelming task like tidying up your home. But it's these small efforts that will help you make this more manageable and to keep things tidy.

This is really is an important part of any HouseHold, make a habit of doing certain every- day things. This is how non- hoarders are able to manage a household and/or keep an area clean.

• Do the dishes on a day- to- day basis, you will be feeling less overwhelmed by the stacks of dishes that you used to have to face when trying to look for a clean plate.
• Put your clothes away in the morning or evening.