Five Easy Ways to Get Rid of Clutter
By: Bean Jones
Junk it. There's no sense in holding on to a sock you'll never wear again or stuff you never use anyway.
I'm a pack rat and I just recently decided that it was time to kick my addiction to keeping all sorts of junk. You see, I have held on to stuff I no longer really need like a Rubik's Cube and some socks that have lost their mates because I always thought that they'd be useful someday.
Well, I've accepted the fact that the "someday" I've been thinking about is never going to come. So, it's high time for me to simplify my life by taking the junk out of my apartment.
As Phoenix-based organizational pro Donna Smallin, author of The One-Minute Organizer: Plain & Simple, states: "The challenge is to divest yourself of what you don't need and overcome your urge to keep things "just in case." You may not realize it, but your addiction to junk is costing you--financially and emotionally. After all, you have to dust, label, move, store, as well as sort through them."
Plus, clutter causes you to waste a lot of time looking for things you need--such as your keys. To help you deal with your junk situation, check out Smallin's simple tips on de-cluttering:
1. Fight the paper trail. Sort through and throw away unwanted mail and papers the day you receive them. Better yet, take your unwanted paper to a recycling center.2. Try not to buy. Rent or borrow books, CDs, and tools rather than buying them. Avoid impulse purchases. You don't want to end up with a collection of gadgets you don't use such as, say, a talking keychain.
3. Make room for one. For every item you're given or you purchase, you need to discard or give away something else to make space for it.
4. Time your "clearing" sessions. Spend five to 15 minutes each day to clear up areas such as your closet and keep at it for several days until it's all nice and spiffy. For big jobs, such as garages, attics, and storage rooms, dedicate an entire weekend and ask a friend or two to help you.
5. Box it up. Segregate your clutter into four boxes: for storage, for giving away or selling, for keeping, and for throwing away. Then, follow through. Don't let the boxes just sit in your living room for ages.
It seems easy, right? Then again, there are pack rats who experience separation anxiety when they have to part with their beloved junk. But we must all take that first step towards simplifying our lives.
"Learn to let go," advises Smallin. "You need to set limits on what you bring to your home. It should be your sanctuary. When it's cluttered, it's overwhelming. Plus, you can't find anything. [When you're free from clutter], you'll feel less stressed. You'll feel in control and clear-headed. You simplify your life when you de-clutter."
And, for starters, you'll actually be able to find your keys.
Credits: Photo of socks by Scott Bauer, courtesy of the United States Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service
Comments
Good advices...
you cannot imagine the amount of paper is piling here...
The more I get rid of the more I get...
Great suggestions. Sometimes clutter builds up because we don't have adequate storage space and also we don't put things back where they belong e.g. coffee cups. By going through and putting things back where they belong, and also chucking out rubbish and doing the dishes can be a good start.
Jeanne
Who's Bean Jones anyway? I'm loving Bean Jones!!
Single socks? You know how they become useful once in their partnerless life? You use them on the next occasion when you've accidentally spilled the cat's milk from its pot or for some other similar use instead of a paper towel. Then toss it - without a further thought.
If you're prone to keeping more than you should, learn to organize. Shelves and containers come in handy here. After six months to a year, if you don't use or touch any of the items that you decided to keep, THROW them.
It seems that accumulating junk or what seems junk to others may not be so with you. Then again we do tend to have a bit more of what we should only be having, I guess it has something to do with our lifestyle. For example, if you worked two different kinds of parttime jobs in which case you would have to wear something for one and another set for the other: i.e. office vs. on-the-field or outdoors. And you can't exactly throw as much especially if you are budget conscious. The other thing to consider would be how much space do you actually have vs. the things that you need to have around, for example: if you went from apartment dwelling to a studio-type or maybe a 1-bedroom but you still have to keep pace with your lifestyle. The question would be how and what to cut down to an almost bare backbone so-called essentials. See, if you liked to read, but the books you like to read are not found in the libraries, would you then have the time to read it in the bookshops? In which case you would hope that the items is still there the next time you go back there to pick up from where you last left off. Or how is it if you liked to cook and you have very limited space, would you have some place else to do your cooking? If you did, good for you, otherwise, make do with what you have and the heck if there's space or not!
Odd socks make great furniture leg protectors to stop polished wooden floorboards getting scratched! It's true!
This always seems (at least to me) easier said than done.
Starting my own business, I am learning how to clear the clutter- even if it's for my own sanity!
Yet, I am constantly reminded of the time when I threw out an item that I held onto for years, only finding that I need it a few days later.
Im sure this is one of Murphy's Laws, I guess.
I wish you luck with your journey. It is a hard first step, but it gets easier each day. I love that as we get rid of the stuff in our houses we also get rid of the weight on our backs. It's a very freeing experience. And thank you for the books suggestion, I'll check it out!