A cluttered home could stress you out like no other. When you go home, you might expect to be relaxed and feel comfortable, unless it’s messy and unorganized. Even when you put things away regularly, it’ll be harder to keep things tidy if you have way too much stuff.
If you’re struggling with the mess, it might be time to declutter your home. But understandably, this is easier said than done because it’s easy to get overwhelmed in the process. To keep yourself calm and focused, here are some tips to help you out:
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Set The Date
Decluttering might be a massive project, depending on how much stuff you have to go through. So, you may have to take the whole day. Dirt Cheap Rubbish Removal notes that setting aside an entire day to declutter is a good idea so you can stay focused on the task. Besides, it’s going to be a tiring job, and you might not have the energy to do it if you only decide to do it after a busy week.
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Take It One Room at a Time
One of the worst ways to go about decluttering is to do your whole home in one go. This is going to leave a trail of messes in different rooms. This will overwhelm you and stress you out, so it would be more practical to clean up and go through your things one room at a time. This way, you can also set different days per room to work it into your schedule.
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Prepare Organizers and Garbage Bags
Before you decide to lay things out on tables or the floor, you might want to come in prepared with boxes and garbage bags. This way, you’re not just dumping items into piles. Keep things organized as you go along. This way, you could worry less about cleaning up afterward.
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Have A Goal on How Much to Keep
As part of your decluttering plan, write down a goal to keep you grounded. For instance, you could decide to keep only half of your clothing pieces or get rid of all broken items. It might be easier to think that you’re going to throw out things. But when you’re decluttering, you’ll realize that it’s harder to decide what to keep or toss.
With a clear objective, it’s easier to stay resolute and disciplined so that you could feel better about your choices. In the end, your reasoning for decluttering will be your north star. So, remember that it’s for your lifestyle and getting your home to look better.
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Donate, Sell, or Throw Out
Aside from the things you want to keep, you’ll also have to set aside items you want to get rid of. You could either donate, sell, or throw away some of the things you find, but remember to decide carefully.
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Donating
Donate things that are still usable, and you think other people could find a better use for them. It’s not a good idea to send stuff in terrible condition to charity. You’ll also have to consider safety and hygiene when donating. Used makeup products and cleaning products might not be a good idea to bring to give away.
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Selling
There are also things that you could sell in a garage sale or up on social media. It’s best to talk it over with your possible buyers to make sure they can examine the items better before deciding whether or not to buy them.
However, selling does pose the problem of keeping things in stock for way too long. Setting a limited time to sell the item would be a more practical solution, so you don’t end up stuck with it in your home.
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Throw Out
Finally, there are things that you’ll have to throw out, such as items that are completely broken. But there are also other items that you could instantly toss out to make it easier. Here’s a list of what you could put in the rubbish:
- Old makeup, perfume, and nail polish
- Old paperwork, mail, takeout menus, magazines, coupons, etc.,
- Anything expired
- Anything broken and worn down
You’ll probably need to throw out other items, but these are only some of the things to give you an idea. It’s important that you decide according to your standards, too.
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Do Regular Maintenance
Once you’ve gone through all your things and have gone through most of the decluttering process, the next step is to decide how you want to organize. There are different systems you could try, like organizing by month, alphabetically, or by function. Either way, it all depends on your lifestyle and what you’re comfortable with, so you might have to try out different ways.
The key thing to remember is to find a method that’s easy to maintain and follow. Moreover, while you’re maintaining it, it’s also a good idea to do smaller regular decluttering projects so it doesn’t get out of hand. Avoiding buying too many things that you don’t need would also be an effective way to stay on top of a clutter-free home.
Conclusion
Decluttering gets overwhelming when you feel like you’ve completely lost track of all your things. There might be things that you’ve forgotten you’ve had, items you haven’t used in years, or broken stuff you never got to throw out. Many strategies could help you out, but the best advice is probably to get started.