- Be Grateful When Letting Go
When you bid farewell to things it can sometimes make you feel like you’re wasting money or even betraying the memories you experienced that you correlate with the item. It is only natural and as humans throwing up things that we can still use just feels weird since we’re survivalists. But the mental anguish you have to endure with stuff drowning you is not healthy.
Next time you throw away something or donate it, say thank you to it before you do. Decluttering superstar Marie Kondo introduced this technique on her show ‘Tidying up with Marie Kondo’. The idea is you take an item and thank it for everything it has done for you, whether it be the scarf you wore on your first date or a broken spatula that has been holding on for dear life, this tip will help you remember the worth you got out of the object and make it easier to part with it.
“It’s kind of like divorcing a spouse when we part with things because we often have lived with them for so long and sometimes have an attachment to them,” says Divorce on Your Terms who specialise in property settlement and divorce, “Even in actual separations there needs to be a dividing of assets and that can be really hard so accepting the incredible memories you made with the item or being grateful for how it served you when it was in your possession is a great way to make it easier to let go”.
- Categorise and Purge
Oftentimes you will have multiples of the same thing without even knowing it. I bet you have at least 6 white t-shirts sitting somewhere at the back of your closet and you don’t even know it. When you’re decluttering your home, categorising your things by type is an awesome way to see what you have so you can declutter accordingly.
Try breaking down your belongings into clothing, kitchenware, shoes, paper and trash to begin. Ditch the trash in the bin and then go through the remaining categories one by one, throw away any duplicates (unless you think you might need it in the immediate future) and get rid of anything that has damage or doesn’t serve you anymore.
- Use Decluttering to Get Excited about Organisation
Decluttering doesn’t exactly scream fun but it certainly can if you approach it the right way. Getting rid of things that you don’t need means you can organise your space better and feel more comfortable in a clean home where everything has a home.
As you purge keep track of everything you keep and try and allocate it a home. This will make it so much easier to preserve the cleanliness long after you’re done.
“If you have the time you could try logging all of your clothing items as a fun way to keep track of everything you have, use an excel or Google spreadsheet and insert pictures of all your clothes that you’re keeping so you can refer to it next time you feel like you have nothing to wear” suggests bookkeeping experts from Guardian Angels at Home, “We have found spreadsheets are the best way to organise data so it can be easily organised and analysed later”.
- Remember Not Everything Needs to Go:
Sure, you can’t hold onto EVERYTHING but don’t forget that not everything needs to go in order for your space to feel organised. If you have a favourite pair of shoes or a sentimental keepsake don’t feel like you need to get rid of it just because you don’t regularly use it or it’s broken. If you love something that’s broken enough, invest in it and get it repaired so you can enjoy it.
“We repair people’s favourite shoes multiple times, you’d be surprised how well shoe cobblers can fix shoes that look ready for the bin” says 2 Fix it The Cobbler who specialise in shoe repairs.
Just keep yourself accountable and remember just because it was given to you by your great aunt, doesn’t mean you have to keep it. You’re not heartless for not keeping all 132 garden gnomes that you’re great aunt left you, you’re just human.
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