Declutter Your Life
You may think that everything in your house is essential but it’s not! Get rid of clothes you haven’t worn for years, declutter shelves, cupboards and under the beds, take the contents of you attic or garage to a car boot sale and you may even make some money.
Most of us hoard things and stash them away – whether it’s old clothes, letters, newspapers or plastic carrier bags. But you know it’s time to organise or declutter your home when you’re spending far too much time looking for things and realise that you’re living in a chaotic sea of clutter, most of which is of no use to you on a day-to-day basis. In the long run decluttering will save you time and stress and help create a more relaxing home.
Top 10 decluttering tips
- START NOW! Putting off the task off decluttering is the number one obstacle to a more organised home.
- FIX A TIME SCHEDULEeven 15 minutes a day will make a good start.
- START SMALL whether it’s your bedroom, spare room, kitchen cupboards or `wardrobe. That way you won’t panic at the enormity of the task.
- SET A DEADLINE for each room to act as an incentive to get it decluttered by a certain date.
- DON’T EXPECT OVERNIGHT RESULTS decluttering is a slow job and short cuts will be counterproductive.
- BE REALISTIC will it really come in handy one day or is it just gathering dust?
- DON’T TRANSFER CLUTTER to another room – you will only have to deal with it properly another time.
- BE SENTIMNTAL BUT SELECTIVE by choosing to keep the most important items (and memories) but getting rid of the rest.
- INVEST IN NEW STORAGE ITEMS such as a new bookcase, filing cabinet, shoe rack, photo album or letter box.
- PUT UNWANTED CLUTTER TO GOOD USE. Before you throw things in the bin, make sure they can’t be recycled, given to charity or sold at a car boot sale or second-hand clothes shop.
Staying decluttered
Decluttering is a way of life, not a one-off chore. To stay decluttered you will need to adopt new habits such as ‘one in, one out’ – every time you buy something new then make sure you let something similar go. Even simply establishing a routine for when you come home – so that you hang your keys in a certain place and deal with junk mail by putting it straight in the recycling bin – will help you stay clutter-free.
