Decluttering is a hefty job that should be handled one step at a time. Do you want a simpler and more peaceful life, free of clutter? Check out our guide:
- Set Aside a Half Hour Every Day
Anything is doable in small steps. Set aside a half hour in your schedule every day. Don’t go over time. If you’re decluttering starts to interfere with your regular life, you are more likely to give up halfway through.
- Make Space
Make space in a corner somewhere in your home that’s discrete, in order to store everything until you find the right place for them.
- Label Bins
Set up a bin for each of the following categories
- Storing
- Dnating
- Recycling
- Trashing
- First Sort
Sort everything in your home that is sticking out or piled up. Use the one year rule: if you haven’t used something in the past year, get rid of it.
- Clean
Spend a dedicated, but limited, amount of time to clean the areas you sort. This will prevent you from procrastinating indefinitely by cleaning everything while sorting it.
- Reorganize Storage
Take a look at items around your house that have a specific place. Although they seem to be out the way, they may be contributing to clutter by taking up storage space. If you use them infrequently, you may want to move them into a storage unit or throw them out.
Work to place like with like. Think about how often you use objects and place them in locations that will be much easier to locate.
- Assess the Need for a Storage Unit
Take a look at the storage bin and any items you don’t use. Look into the possibility of renting a storage unit. Assess what size locker you may need, and whether you will need climate control.
- Deep Sort
Go from room to room, going through all shelves and storage. Sort every remaining item into different bins. When one room is finished, ban your family from adding any more clutter to it.
- Purge
Get the bin contents out of your house. Take any objects for storage to your locker. Call a charity to come and pick up anything for donation. If you can, haul the trash and recycle bins to the dump; if you can’t, contact a junk removal service.
- Final Clean
Clean your home. It should be much easier now that all that clutter is out of the way!
All that’s left is to enjoy your new clean home!
