Tips on Decluttering
Below are some tested tips on decluttering that will get your home in order as fast as possible. They'll help keep your home clean, create lots of space and keep you motivated with a bang.
Some of the tips are little known, at least talked about. For example, one tip suggests a better idea to build a strategy on and one suggests that the traditional 4 box method should be altered.
Strategies With Quick Payoffs Motivate
For every 1 hour of planning a course of action, studies show, you save 3 hours of decluttering, organizing and just plain work!
So the first step in our tips on decluttering strategies is to create one that saves time and makes things easier and smoother. Whatever declutter 'system' or 'program' you choose, here's a test to see if it will work over the long haul:
*"Make your projects small and the rewards immediate," says Daniel Hommer, M.D., an expert on motivation and chief of brain imaging at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Immediate rewards excite; delayed results and rewards make it harder to want to start and a lot easier to give up. So pick a program that features quick results and rewards at every step.
*Some strategies, though, need only cover a single area. You may need, for instance, only a better laundry system since the laundry room is a disaster but the rest of your home is pretty neat and organized. You may want to install some new shelving, purchase a hamper system or other organizational systems.
The same goes for a single messy closet or a den with too much furniture crammed in it. For a closet, hooks and shelving, clothing sorted according to length all create space and will sort your possessions into a place where you can find them in a flash.
For the den, over time you may want to purchase furniture that provides storage space within as well as more room and comfort without.
*Or every room for a decade or more has piles of stuff that need to be 'unpiled,' so to speak. This will require you to make a more detailed strategy of your whole area. The traditional way to attack a project of this size is with a 'keep it, trash it, or sell it or donate it mentality.' Anything you have not used in six months is fodder for the sell, trash or donate piles, excluding of course seasonal items.
Boxes and Temporary Storage?
*It's rarely mentioned that number of boxes actually needed will multiply faster than you think or that you'll have a hard time finding a place to put them all.
The traditional 4 box traditional solution may turn into a score or more boxes with some half- and others completely full and overflowing!
*So some of us set aside a whole room or closet or even temporarily rent a storage unit to place the many boxes that don't belong to the room we're organizing. Their turn will come.
Overwhelmed? 3 Sources of Outside Help
Once you are all set up you may still feel overwhelmed, so don't be afraid to call in the troops.
*Family and friends will often dive in with you and rid you of your problem in half the time. They'll also think more about you and your genuine need for space and organization than hanging on to items which you don't need, are too emotionally attached to get rid of, and that are crowding out your joy.
*Another super suggestion is to join with a couple of fri ends who share a common need to declutter their homes. Swap weekends to declutter and arrange your home one week and to do theirs in another. Agree that the owner of the home has the last say!
*If you have the money, a professional organizer can make a real difference. He or she will suggest more tips such as sorting mail and important papers in your home office immediately; organizing coat hangers by color, or hanging shoe organizers over closet doors and and more.
Danger
When those boxes sit around for more than a day or two they become a part of the clutter again, we've found. So, immediately stick the donation box in the trunk of your car. Put the sell stuff boxes in the attic or garage until the big yard day sale arrives. A final note on the selling aspect of decluttering: if it doesn't sell don't bring it back in the house! Donate or trash any leftover items.
Final Thoughts
"When I know everything's done, and I just need to look after today's mess, I can deal with things. When I let things pile up, I can't!" [Comment from Sheila G]. These steps and tips on decluttering your home will make your vision of your home come true.
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