Decluttering and organization are a hot topic from Marie Kondo to The Minimalists, people talk about decluttering a lot. This is for good reason. There are many benefits to decluttering your life including the following:
- Less to clean. Don’t need to tell you twice, cleaning can be a pain, but having to clean around things you don’t care for or like, it can be a stressful and tedious ordeal.
- Less to organize. Finding things suddenly become easier. Things don’t just “disappear” anymore. You can actually move around your home and enjoy the space, instead of moving around things that are in the way.
- Less stress. I don’t know about you, but clutter creates stress… at least for me. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to look around and see a home you love?
Ok, so now you know *some* of the benefits of decluttering your life, but you may be asking yourself, how do you begin? Here are 8 Practical Ways to Declutter Your Home.
1. Start with 5-20 minutes at a time.
If you’re new to decluttering, you can slowly build momentum with just five minutes a day.hink you can effectively declutter your entire house in one day? Think again! As strange as this might seem, decluttering takes a lot of effort, energy, and concentration. Not only are you sorting through and identifying lots of different items, but you are also making decisions as to what to do with all of your things. Instead of spending hours upon hours decluttering a space or room, work in small increments of time such as 15 or 20 minutes per session. Set a timer if you need to.
2. Place items in a Bin.
Finding it difficult to get rid of some items like your clothes? Try placing them in a bin. Keep the items in the bin for 1-2 months. If you don’t go get them or forget about them, it is time to give it away.
3. Create a decluttering checklist.
It’s a lot easier to declutter when you have a visual representation of where you need to get started. You can use our decluttering checklist.
4. Get a New Perspective
It’s easy to “forget” what your home looks like to a new visitor. Enter your home as if you’re visiting the home of a friend. When it comes to decluttering, it helps to take a practical look at your belongings and how you are, or are not, using them. Ask yourself some of the following types of questions as you tackle your stuff: Have you used said item(s) in the past year? Are you making use of the item right now? Are you saving an item because you think you might need it in the future? and so on!
5. Have a trash and recycling bag/bin handy.
Make sure to have trash bags or recycling bins handy when you declutter. Once your decluttering session is over, place the unwanted stuff in bins outside of your house or apartment so it doesn’t have a chance to get back inside your home.
6. Declutter one by one
Take one area in your home one by one. Have a lot of clutter in a particular room? Start there. We recommend starting with one section like near the door, and work your way around the room.
7. Let go of useless, broken, outdated and unusable
Have a broken VHS player from 20 years ago? Maybe old newspapers and magazines? Yeah… it’s time to let them go. If you’re looking for an easy way to decide whether or not to chuck something, ask yourself whether it is broken, outdated or unusable and whether you want it to be a part of your life or if it is necessary?
8. Don’t wait for the perfect time
When’s the perfect time to declutter? Spoiler alert, there is no perfect time to declutter. It’s all about learning how to keep things in check and under control. Take time to regularly declutter the rooms of your home so things don’t get too out of hand.
What areas of your home seem to be clutter magnets? Are you looking forward to finally taming the clutter once and for all? Leave a comment below.
