Ever just look around your apartment and wish you didn’t have so much stuff everywhere? Or maybe you end up in a rabbit hole digging through the linen closet trying to find that one thing that is lost among the unorganized clutter. This is a common struggle for many people and sometimes it takes a good step-by-step guide to help figure out how to find some order in the chaos.
When it comes to tackling the process of decluttering, the task itself can seem overwhelming and the feeling to procrastinate becomes overpowering. When those feelings weigh you down, it’s best to lay out a plan or outline. Personally, I find writing things down helps clarify the objectives and eliminates the ‘everything all at once’ pressure. Firstly, consider prioritizing those areas you are desperate to focus on. From there, narrow the area down further. For example; If you choose your living room first, break down the area into multiple parts: 1) Coffee table or table ends. 2) Entertainment center. 3) Corners of the room.
Once you choose your starting area, remove everything from the space. From there, you’ll have given yourself a beautiful blank canvas. While going through the pile of removed items, be sure to verify each thing has a purpose in the area you designate for it. If you find yourself thinking, “I may need this … someday,” that’s a key thought in deeming the item non-essential. This means it’s likely time to part ways with those items. The most common examples of non-essentials are old magazines, pens, unused power cords, accessories you haven’t worn in over a year, shoes even you would call ‘out dated’, old towels or bedding that haven’t been used in awhile, old remotes, DVD’s or movies you haven’t touched for so long that the dust could have it’s own zip code.
An area that can be particularly challenging is deciding what articles of clothing to part with. “It’s way easier to get rid of the broken spatula in the kitchen than those old favorite jeans that just don’t work for you anymore,” according to Sumner Canfield, writer for ‘The Home Edit’, an online blog. It helps to keep in mind that throwing things out will help getting ready in the morning easier – which should be incentive enough.
For those of you with kids, that’s a nightmare job all on its own. Puzzles with missing pieces, mini figurines with missing body parts or all those clothes they’ve outgrown. Decluttering these areas should happen more frequently to avoid less of a war zone and more of a place kids feel confident they can clean on their own.
After you have sorted what to keep and what to toss, the next step would be to organize and determine the best designated ‘home' for everything. Once everything in your ‘keep’ pile has found a place within your home, you’re ready to move onto the next space and repeat the process. Before long, you’ll likely have a few full trash bags of items to throw away or donate and your space will feel a whole lot cleaner and less cluttered.
It’s important to take time to designate spaces to store or display things. I wouldn’t suggest trying to re-organize your entire home in one day. Spreading out the process and having the goal of one
room per day is most ideal for setting yourself up for success.
