Ways to simplify and bring order to your life
It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, at one point in your life you will feel that life is starting to become overwhelming. It could be that you are overwhelmed by things and/or commitments. This is when you will feel the need to get rid of the things that are suffocating you. Decluttering is not only the removal of things from your life but making time in your life to do the things that you have always wanted to do. This could be spending more time with your family or traveling to distant countries. In this age of excess consumption, it would be good to live with less. With the current trend of wanting to have experiences over stuff, and the need to have more time in order to have them.
What is Decluttering?
Decluttering is the removal of mess and clutter from a place and to organise and prioritise your commitments and/or material possessions.
How can decluttering help you?
Decluttering can give you more space, it can force you to decide what is actually important to have in your life. It can shape your tastes, in a way that you think about what you like, need or love and helps to see what you prefer to have around you and to define
Decluttering can save you time and money as you are more selective in what you bring into your house that can improve your lifestyle. You can also make money by selling any unwanted goods though various way, including on the internet, through ebay, gumtree or having a garage sale.
Will decluttering make you happy?
Over time clutter can have an impact on your life, with decluttering you can not only be happy but it will also improve your physical and mental health
How do you start decluttering?
Before you start to declutter, visualise what you want the room to look like. Don’t bring any new items into your home before you start the decluttering process. Get mentally prepared and understand that it will take time to clear the clutter that has accumulated. Gather all the materials that you will need, including having containers to sort into different categories with them being ‘KEEP’ ‘DONATE’ and ‘THROW OUT’. Schedule when you want to start decluttering, if it feels overwhelming, then start out by doing 15 minutes and see how it goes from there. Start first with the visible surfaces, such as floors, desktops, dressers and tables.
Why live with less?
Live with less to make room for more, identify the essentials, let go of the rest. It will allow you to have more experiences with less stuff. It will help you decide what is important in every aspect of your life. You can get a course correction in your life and let you see what your goals for your life are, without having to stop and clean your house.
When you have finished decluttering keep in mind the following:
- Get rid of something old before buying something new.
- If you haven’t used a thing for a year or two, then get rid of it.
- Ask yourself: Do I want to keep this thing ‘just in case’.
- Your memories are not physical objects, getting rid of a broken gift or and inheritance item doesn’t mean getting rid of memories.
- If you have any doubts as to whether to throw something out or not, place it in a box with the date on the lid, if you see that you have not used it after six months then either donate it or throw it out.
- You don’t have to throw everything into rubbish, somethings may be able to be used and can be donated to a charity or have a garage sale.
