Letting go of clutter can be very hard when we have emotional attachments to the items. But if you want to improve your life and the space in your home, then it’s a necessary task. If you’re finding it difficult then here are our top five tips to get started.
1) Start Small
Letting go of clutter can seem like a never-ending task if you try to do it all in one go. To make it easier on yourself, start small by picking a small area of your home. Once this area is finished, start on the next section. Doing it in this way stops you getting overwhelmed and also helps to keep you motivated when you start seeing the results.
2) Note Down Important Memories
Some of the things we own are full of memories, which mean we develop an emotional attachment to the item. You need to realize that you can keep hold of the memories without holding onto all of the things. Just take photographs of the items you want to remember, and make little notes about them in a ‘clutter journal’ before getting rid of the items themselves.
3) Don’t Keep So Many Similar Things
Some of us have so many of very similar items. For example, you might have kept all the drawings your kids ever did for you. Although it might break your heart to get rid of them, the truth is that having so many means you’ll barely have time to look at them anyway. Choose a few items to keep that mean a lot to you and your kids, and include photographs of the rest in your clutter journal.
4) If You Haven’t Used It For A Year, Are You Really Still Going to Use It?
Sometimes items get shoved in drawers and we completely forget we even had them. If you come across something like this, then think rationally about whether you’ll really need it. This is the time to be firm with yourself – if you haven’t used it for so long then the chances are that you won’t use it – get rid of it!
5) Keep Your Goals In Mind and Feel Good About What You’re Doing
Letting go of clutter is never going to be easy. We all have emotional attachments to material things that are hard to rationalize away. When things get tough remember that you’re doing it for a good cause. Anything you give away to charity is going to help people less fortunate than you, and it’ll also benefit you in the long run. Less physical clutter means less mental clutter, and much more space in your home!
Letting go of clutter isn’t easy, but you can do some things to make it easier. For some easy to follow advice on clearing the clutter, check out Clear Clutter Blog today.
