Chaos creates chaos. If you feel like your thoughts or general mindset are a bit chaotic, take a look around you. Are you looking at clutter all day? Unorganized stuff looks chaotic and I really believe it takes a toll on your mind and psyche. If you’re an especially visual person, the effect can be even greater. A chaotic environment creates a chaotic mind and could make you feel nervous, uneasy, closed in upon, or held down.
Don’t make a grand
plan. I highly advise NOT making a plan or schedule to declutter your home.
Why? Because all it takes is one off day and the schedule is out of whack. Then
you feel either guilty or like you’re behind the eight ball. As a result,
there’s a higher likeliness that the plan will get completely scrapped. Just
work on your home when you can and make a sincere effort to do it consistently.
Try one task a week at first. If you feel like you can do more, try two a week.
Do it in workable
chunks. If your entire home needs decluttering, thinking about how to
tackle the whole thing is overwhelming. Thinking about decluttering one closet?
Not as much. And don’t feel like you can’t move on until an entire room is
finished. One day you might feel like organizing kitchen stuff. The next day,
maybe not. Perhaps tackling the bookshelf sounds more appealing that day. Make
it as enjoyable as possible so you can get through to the end result – a
clutter-free house!
It gets messier
before it gets cleaner. Whenever I reorganize and perform my annual “purge”,
it looks like a tornado went through the area. At the end, though, it’s all good
again. If, for example, you’re working on a closet, take everything out of it.
Everything. Lay it all out on the floor. Get boxes or bags and start separating
everything into four categories: keep, give to charity, throw out, and not
sure. Once everything is in a box or bag, go back through the “not sure” and
make a decision. That part might take a while. After that, get the “give to
charity” and “throw out” items out of the area and focus on putting the “keep”
items back in the closet.
The 6 month rule.
As you’re going through your stuff, ask yourself, “Have I used or noticed this
in the past 6 months?” If the answer is no, consider donating it or throwing it
out. This, of course, does not apply to holiday and seasonal items. I don’t
want to see anyone throwing out their Halloween cookie cutters because they’re
reorganizing in August.
Keep your camera
handy. Last year, my mother went through my Grandma’s attic and gave me a
box she found full of trophies I earned or won when I was younger. It was great
going through it and reliving some of those memories, but I had no intentions
of displaying them. Ever. Instead, I took a photo of each trophy so I could
always look back on them if I ever felt nostalgic. I then removed any engraved
personalized plaques and put them in the “give to charity” box. People do buy
trophies at thrift stores. They’ll use them for a work function and give them
away for things like “Ugliest Sweater” at the office holiday party. It’s cheap
for the company and brings smiles to the employees. If you come across an item
that falls in that category where it holds a little bit of nostalgia, but you’ll
never actually do anything with it, take a photo and allow it to get repurposed
or enjoyed by someone else.
Don’t discount
spaces that aren’t conspicuous. Sure, no one but you and your family see
what’s in that junk drawer in the kitchen. That doesn’t make it any less
important than a place that’s more conspicuous. Decluttering a “hidden” area
like a junk drawer is just as important because YOU now know it’s organized.
You will feel the satisfaction regardless if anyone outside of your home ever
sees it.
I hope these tips help inspire you to start organizing
your home. I’d love to hear your comments about your decluttering experience!
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