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Our lives are already so busy with our responsibilities of family, friends, homes, and work life, it’s easy for our homes to get overloaded with stuff. But, with some focused effort on our part, we can get a grip on this and start our New Year off right. What is needed is a well thought out plan for decluttering your home.
Sound easy? Well, it’s not. But it is simple. Here are just 3 tips to tackle the process of decluttering your home;
How to Decluttering Your Home
Tackle Categories, Not Rooms
A well-established rule of thumb is to tidy up by a category rather than a room—deal with every single one of your books at once, for example, otherwise, they’ll continue to creep from room to room, and you’ll never rein in the clutter. As clothes are our least emotionally loaded thing, for most of us, we should begin there (books come next, old photographs are much later). Continue with all the categories in your home or workspace until you have dealt with each of them.
Some categories to consider when decluttering:
- clothes
- books
- toys
- children’s artwork
- photographs
- sporting equipment
Nostalgia is Not Your Friend
Don’t start opening boxes filled with letters and old photographs. Serious mistake. Put blinders on and focus only on the category of stuff at hand. Read one old letter, and suddenly you’re down a rabbit hole of nostalgia.
Keep your focus on the task at hand which is to declutter or you could lose a whole day and not be one step closer to decluttering your home.
Purging Feels Oh So Good
I remember when I had a bonfire to purge old project plans, I turned it into a party and invited friends. It felt great to get rid of old stuff and make room for new.
Just trust the process and pick a category. Then, take a deep breath, say a prayer, light a candle, and start. Once you get to work, it was so much easier and more fun than you’d ever imagine. Looking for the joy in purging gives you permission to let go of off-color shirts bought on sale, dresses that are out of style, and skirts that always clung uncomfortably. You’ll soon realize how many things that seemed great in theory but weren’t your style, so let it go.
From experience, I can promise you that Instead of panic you’ll feel relief… lighter and freer. It also promotes good karma: The best stuff went to a consignment shop, and the decent stuff went to a charity thrift store, off to see a new, hopefully, better New Year.
Alas, you are on your way to a decluttered home, living a life of freedom from stuff. You can now spend more time doing the things that bring you the most pleasure. Enjoy, and don’t stop the flow of good karma in your life.
Images by DigThisDesign.
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An Interior Designers Tips for Purging Old Jobs
Tips to Organize Your Small Business for the New Year
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About the Author: Karam Singh
