De-Clutter your life

Whether you are a chronic hoarder or someone who likes to keep something for that particular rainy day, EVERYONE suffers from the occasional clutter problem. I myself am guilty of having one too many belongings and it’s only been a recent thing where I have re-evaluated the importance of “stuff / things” in my life. I’m more into activities and adventures these days with friends and spending my money on the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities… like boring phone bills and car costs. Ugh… being an adult is hard…

Instead of standing around and silently crying to myself over how I’m to get rid of all this unwanted stuff with so little time, I got pro-active. I got over myself and my first world problem and annihilated the first step…

Admitting I had way too much stuff.

This was hard, however rewarding.

And that’s it! That’s how you de-clutter your life and physical possessions. Simple… Just kidding.

So you’ve admitted it and come to terms with the 10 white t-shirts with the same neck line are no longer needed. Or the archive of VHS tapes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and ALF that you have racked up over the years praying that your stored VHS player will somehow miraculously work with your non-existent TV… is no longer needed.

Now lets get started… here a some tips that I have found helpful:

1. Give away one item each day. There are 365 days in a year… imaging how much stuff you could get rid of and give to a new and deserving home if you simply got rid of 1 item a day! This could be something as small as a white t-shirt or that random single chair that no one has sat in for years. Better yet! Make something out of that chair! Whatever you want! Turn it into a table somehow… get creative and stimulate that brain! Then give whatever you make away. As a gift… certainly cheaper than buying more stuff.
2. Put out the trash! For one week, when you get home from work grab a large trash bag and designate half an hour to filling it. With rubbish! Stuff you won’t use and stuff that shouldn’t be loaded onto someone else. It’s amazing how much rubbish you can get rid of in one week when you designate some time to it.You could also fill it with stuff that you won’t be using / needing / wearing any more and get it ready to donate to friends, family or for goodwill. Remember though… make sure it is stuff that can actually be used again… think of how offended people would be if you gave them a bag of used diapers…. sometimes someones trash is not someone else’s treasure.
3. Assess your morning and daily rituals… sometimes the bathroom can get clogged up with products and magical potions and therefore have your benches looking like a retail store. See what items you use everyday and keep them out for easy access. The other 68 magical creams and potions that are only meant to be used once a week can go into storage for when you are pampering yourself. This is a great tip to see how much you are overspending and also keeps your place looking neat, tidy and organised. There is nothing worse than spending 1 hour every morning trying to search for a product. It shouldn’t go missing if you use it everyday and you have a specific spot for it.

I thought I would just break up my monotonous writing and mention that you should try and make this a fun activity! Blast music… dance around the house… put a cake in the oven so it only restricts you to about half an hour cleaning time. That way, you have an instant and tasty reward at the end of your 30 minute clean fest! Ohhhhhh yeah….

More De-cluttering tips… continued…

1. Designate a spot for incoming papers. I dont’ know about you all but paper clutter is the worst! Designate some trays or boxes for certain files. That way we aren’t constantly searching for that missed bill or statement from the bank. No body likes late payment fines…
2. Try and keep all bench tops and counters clear. This can be hard I know however, if you have a place for every item including papers there should be no clutter!
3. Even shelves…keep them clear! Just because it is a shelf doesn’t mean it needs a bunch of crud to make it a shelf! Place a single decorative item on it and that’s it.
4. Create a filing system. Purchase a nice filing cabinet and keep all important files in one place. This way… you don’t have an excuse to have papers flying all over the place and random manila folders.
5. Create a “maybe” box. There will always be moments when you are de-cluttering your life and you have no idea whether it’s trash or treasure. This might be something that you don’t use but you’re pretty confident a need for it will come up soon. Put it in the maybe box… 6 months later go back to the maybe box and see if it has become a definite.
6. Empty the drawers. Pull everything out of the drawer and observe it on the floor. Sort it into the following piles. (1) Stuff that really needs to go into the drawers, (2) Stuff that belongs elsewhere (3) junk. Restock the drawer with the essential items and deal with the other pile straight away!
7. Clear out your medicine cabinet. If you don’t have one spot for all medicines then create one now! This may save you in an emergency. If everyone in the house knows where you keep the medicine and they need to grab it for you immediately they will know where to go! Time can be very precious in an emergency. This will also be helpful for keeping tabs on how much of each medicine you have.

So now… there is no excuse for your clutter people! Take these handy tips  on board and begin the journey to a clutter free life and home.

Happy Cleaning!