In the perpetual tango of life, clutter often sneaks in as an unwelcome dance partner, threatening to overwhelm our spaces and peace of mind. But fear not, the decluttering disco is just getting started! In fact, it becomes a smoother shuffle when you’ve got the right moves.
We’ve put together five ingenious and effective strategies that promise to declutter your space and bid farewell to chaos once and for all. Get ready to begin your decluttering journey and enjoy the benefits of having a tidy, stress-free home.
Practice the art of double decluttering
The initial round of decluttering can be overwhelming, often accompanied by emotions tied to sentimental attachments or guilt over underused purchases.
To navigate this, consider the practice of “double decluttering.” When faced with the familiar dilemma of holding on to an item with the thought of future use, revisit it a few days later. If the initial sentiment has waned, it becomes easier to part with the item without remorse.
According to minimalist YouTuber Elin Lesser, regular double decluttering involves revisiting retained items to assess their ongoing importance. This approach, akin to exposure therapy for overcoming fears, diminishes the emotional charge associated with possessions over time.
Repeating the decluttering process offers helpful insights into your decluttering style, emotions experienced and any past mistakes.
When you are armed with this newfound knowledge, subsequent decluttering sessions become more efficient, and essentially, they help you get rid of more items you don’t really need.
If in doubt, put items away before throwing them away
Using storage and creating deadlines is a helpful strategy for managing those items that you don’t know if you want or will need in the future.
If parting with certain belongings is challenging, consider placing them out of immediate view, such as in a basement or garage, or rent a storage facility if home space is limited.
Set a specific deadline—from three to six months—to revisit and assess whether you’ve missed these items, needed to retrieve any for use or even thought about them at all. If the answer is negative, it’s definitely time to part with them.
As you get used to a more minimalist lifestyle, you’ll experience instant gratification—finding it easier to maintain order and spending less time searching for things. Gradually, you’ll develop a more positive mindset about letting go of some items kept in storage.
Consider forcing yourself to use items you are not sure about
In contrast to the previously discussed strategy, this alternative eliminates the need for storing items out of sight. Instead, it advocates forcing yourself to use items that evoke uncertainty for a designated period of time.
Rather than storing items you are not sure about, this method involves facing the challenge of integrating them into your daily life.
The consistent exposure to their utility or lack thereof allows for a clear assessment of whether they genuinely enhance your life or merely prove to be an annoyance.
This hands-on approach is a practical way of gauging the actual value these items bring to your daily routines and helping you declutter easier.
In addition, the question, “Would I purchase this if I were shopping right now?” is incredibly valuable. It serves as a practical tool to streamline your possessions, ensuring that you retain only those items actively contributing to your present lifestyle.
This inquiry proves particularly effective in purging items such as clothing that no longer aligns with your identity or no longer fits, useful items that have become obsolete in your current life and broken items that—let’s be honest—you have no intention of repairing.
Understand the difference between decluttering and organizing
Hiring a professional organizer is a wonderful idea, as organizing your space can significantly enhance your lifestyle. But attempting to organize clutter is an entirely different narrative that can result in a waste of both time and money.
Whether you invest in transparent boxes, closet organizers, baskets or opt for a storage facility, the goal of making clutter visually appealing or merely hiding it away does not alter the fundamental issue—the clutter remains, albeit in a more aesthetically pleasing presentation.
This is a common mistake that people often make when handling an overwhelming volume of stuff or having strong emotional attachments to their belongings.
The instinctive response to this overwhelming feeling is often an attempt to visually conceal the clutter through organization.
To embark on an effective organizational journey from the outset, it’s important to invest the time and summon the courage needed to properly declutter, and then declutter again, before delving into any organizational efforts.
Taking this approach ensures that you’re not just masking the issue but truly addressing and minimizing the excess in your living space.
Give the FAST technique a try
FAST is an acronym for “fix a time,” “anything not used in 12 months,” “someone else’s stuff” and “trash.”
You can start the decluttering journey by carving out a dedicated time for the task and sharing it with the entire family. Setting a specific time eliminates the excuse of insufficient time or competing priorities.
Then, assess all the items you haven’t used in the past year. These are the items that have gone through all the seasons without being touched and are most likely never to be used again. If the space they take up exceeds their actual utility, it’s impractical to keep them around to cram up your home.
Next, look for things that create clutter in your home that are not even yours. Whether it’s borrowed items that need returning or remnants of past relationships, freeing yourself from such nonpersonal clutter is crucial.
Dealing with clutter is challenging enough, and it becomes even more exasperating when the clutter is not yours to manage.
Lastly, address the “trash” category—items devoid of any value to you or others. If an item is irreparably damaged or broken, release it.
Clinging to items at the end of their lifecycle serves no purpose, and parting with them contributes to a more streamlined and meaningful living space.