We tend to hoard up things that may not always be useful to us. Some of these may be expensive family heirlooms or stuff that we are emotionally attached to. The result is that we end up with more stuff than we need or we can manage. The problems of a cluttered house increase manifold when there’s an excited toddler in the house. Pets like dogs and cats can add to the problems too. The chances of knocking over things, spoiling something and spilling liquids over expensive things increase considerably.
Importance of De-cluttering
A cluttered house not only adds to the discomfort, but also makes many areas of the house dysfunctional and can make the residents more irritable and cranky. The condition of the house not only affects the residents from a practical point of view but has many emotional and mental implications too. De-cluttering lets you be free from the past and embrace the present. It helps you get rid of things that might fix you to past or memories, which might not be very healthy for you.
De-cluttering becomes a necessary evil. As much as you hate the clutter, you dislike going through the old stuff and sort it out. More often than not, while de-cluttering we end up reminiscing about the old stuff and end up telling tales to ourselves about various collected items and not doing anything productive.
However, if you’ve finally thought of getting it done, the following tips can help you make the de-clutter process easier and more effective:
- Set aside some time every day to de-clutter. If you think that you’ll spend one whole day and get done with the mess, you’re highly mistaken. This way you’ll end up achieving almost nothing and will be very, very frustrated by the end of the day because of the added mess. Start with a cupboard, drawer or a corner and spend an hour or so in a day to sort out the stuff.
- Start with clutter magnets. We all have few- the rack behind the door, the table partially hidden and most commonly the drawers etc. Sort them out the first and you’ll feel more confident doing the lesser evils.
- If you have a few huge items that are not being used, furniture that you don’t want to use for the while but neither do you want to discard, there is always the option of self storage. These are affordable, safe and practical and will leave you with a lot of space, increasing the comfort. You just need to call removals and self storage in Dorset facility and they’ll take care of the packing and transporting of the stuff.
- Be ruthless while sorting out the stuff. Make three sections- Things I can give away/sell, Things I can throw away, I do need this definitely or I love this too much to throw away. The discarding and giving away piles are easy to deal with. When you come to the stuff you want to keep, think over again. Divide the stuff into things you actually need to use and things that you think you might use one day. The second group should go into a box, tape it and mark with the day’s date. If in six months you’ve not opened the box, give it away without opening it. It might be a little harsh on you, but you’ll end up being free from a lot of stuff.
- For selling stuff, you can always take the help of online portals that allow you to sell used stuff. There are opportunities like never before to get good prices for used stuff and to most easily reach the target market. You can advertise your stuff for free and deal directly with the buyer.
- Box up stuff and label everything. Labelling will help you avoid opening different boxes when you need a particular thing. Stack up the boxes in a way that the stuff that you might need regularly remains most accessible.
- While de-cluttering, start with the top of the house. If you have an attic, go for it and spend a day or two getting rid of all the things that are no longer required. Same goes for lofts and cupboards above the counters. If you start from the bottom, you’ll have clutter on top of clutter to deal with, making the experience highly unpleasant.
- Take out every non-kitchen item from the kitchen. This at first might seem absurd, but when you start with it, you’d be surprised to see that how many things creep in the kitchen but do not actually belong there.
- Clear kitchen countertops and dining table and keep them that way. Don’t let stuff sit there for days together. Make sure that no matter what, these two places should remain clear.
- Prevent further cluttering. Give everything a proper place and make sure that it stays there after every use. Make a rule for kids too to keep the things back from where they picked them. This will eliminate the mess to a great extent and make the house an overall happy place.
- When de-cluttering, it might seem very tempting to stuff up everything in a box and store it away. This will only start the vicious cycle again. Designate a proper place to each item. If necessary, use Thermocol partitions in the box itself and it’ll be easier to sort the stuff.
Keeping in mind these simple yet effective things will help you de-clutter without much hassle and the results will be long lasting. Once you’re in the habit of keeping everything organized and orderly, the need to de-clutter every now and then will eliminate automatically. An orderly household is a household under control.
You will see a visible difference in your productivity and efficiency once you have taken control over the mess in the house. Just make sure that you, along with other family members resolve to keep things that way. It will never happen with the efforts of a single person. Make orderliness a family habit and encourage kids to de-clutter regularly.
