Collecting clutter happens rather quickly. When you want to declutter your home, on the other hand, you need to move a little more slowly and more systematically. Follow these 12 steps to clear the junk out of your life.
1. Set goals
It may not be practical to commit to completely emptying your home of clutter – at least not at once. It is probably better to set up time-bound, measurable and attainable goals – say something like, remove half the mess in the attic, or clear out one particularly badly cluttered room.
2. Decide on your disposal options beforehand
Before you start, decide what you are going to do with your unwanted belongings. You may decide that some things will be donated to charity, and you will call a junk removal service to dispose of the rest – but then which charity and which junk removal service? Be specific and plan ahead.
3. Take your time
Unless you have some kind of emergency, the task doesn’t have to be completed in a single day. It will very quickly get overwhelming if you try to squeeze it into a short period. Instead, set a time goal – one month, two months, whatever is appropriate to your capacity and the job at hand. Then schedule the time you will spend on it each day. You could dedicate one hour per day, or commit to packing a certain number of boxes. The point is to break it up into smaller, manageable chunks.
4. Set guidelines
It is best to set up some ground rules to help you as you sort through your belongings. For example, you could set a rule that says that anything you haven’t used for the past six months needs to go. If you don’t set rules like this, you end up trying to assess each item individually and get caught up in sentimentality or indecision.
5. Devise a sorting system
You could go with the tried-and-tested ‘three-box’ method, where you have three boxes marked ‘Keep,’ ‘Donate’ and ‘Trash,’ or you could come up with something of your own that makes sense to you. The point is to systematize your sorting that you can move faster and more efficiently.
6. In or out – nothing in between
Sorting needs to be a simple binary action: things you’re keeping and stuff you are getting rid of. No maybes, no third option, otherwise you are likely to slow down the process and end up saving things in a ‘Maybe’ pile that becomes a permanent fixture.
7. Donate to charity
When it comes time to get rid of things, you may have a number of items that are not worth selling but are still usable. Why not send these to your favorite charity?
8. Sell items either online or at a garage sale
If some items are worth selling, then find the best platform to market them. Some things might sell on eBay, while others are best sold at a garage sale.
9. Lose the fear of throwing things away
If you want to declutter your home, you may need to be quite ruthless at times. Remember that if something has not served any useful purpose for months or even years, you can let it go. You are unlikely to miss it.
10. Throw out the trash before you start
Before you even get moving with the sorting process, you will probably be able to identify numerous items that can readily be thrown out: broken items, empty boxes, and so on. Clear these out of the way first.
11. If there’s any doubt…
If you find yourself having any doubts about getting rid of particular items, it’s probably best to let them go. You may feel sentimental about something you haven’t even looked at for three years. Somebody else may have a use for it. Generally speaking, if something doesn’t immediately get consigned to the ‘in’ or ‘out’ pile, it is probably meant for the latter.
12. Hire a junk removal service
When you declutter your home, the final step is the moment when the junk removal truck drives away with your unwanted items. Make sure you choose a good one – contact Junk Boss today.