As we enter 2021, we all want to shake off the previous year and see some changes for the better! Now we’re back at home again in a 3rd national lockdown, more and more of us are starting our spring cleaning early. It can be easier said than done though, especially after the festive season, so we’ve put together some helpful tips and tricks for you!
1. Accept it isn’t a 5-minute job
Decluttering is often a long process which is what puts people off doing it, but once you can accept that it can take a while and it’s absolutely fine to break it down into little chunks, it can really help to make the whole thing easier. Depending on how much stuff you’ve got to sort through, decluttering could take you months – but that’s okay. Take it a step at a time and don’t let yourself get overwhelmed, as this often means that people give up on their mission.
A helpful way to declutter is to start small and work up from there. Set yourself 10 minutes a day in a room, and sort through a drawer or a pile of paperwork. After doing this for a few days, you’ll already start to see a difference and it often encourages you to increase those 10 minutes. In no time at all, you might be doing half an hour a day – but if you don’t, that’s okay! Move at a speed you feel comfortable with.
2. Know what to keep and what not to
Before you start your decluttering, spend some time thinking about what you want to keep and what you will be getting rid of. Having an idea of this will help you when you’re clearing out and save you time and stress. Try and be firm with yourself once you’ve set these outlines – otherwise, you may end up keeping everything and having to do exactly the same next year.
We know that it isn’t always as easy as being able to simply throw something away, especially if you’ve had your items for some time and they have sentimental value. If this is the case, what can be helpful is to rehome those items rather than throw them away. This often brings some peace to those decluttering, as you can know that the item is going to serve a purpose somewhere else rather than being binned. Whether you choose to donate to charity, sell online, or give to friends and family, this can be a great way to make it easier.
4. Go paperless!
We’ve probably all got it – a draw of unorganized paperwork that we don’t really need in day-to-day life but we don’t want to let go of. Any important documents you can file and put away, but you’ll probably find that you don’t need most of it anymore. You can scan these papers and have them on your computer to make it more organized, and easier to sort out too. When doing this, it’s worth putting a date range in place to ensure you only keep work that you need – anything much older than a year is probably no longer needed.
Make sure when you clear out paperwork that you dispose of it properly. Shredding is a good option to ensure any sensitive information is destroyed for safety purposes.
5. Tackle the wardrobe
Sorting through clothing is a task a lot of people don’t like, especially if you think that you wear most of your clothes regularly. However, especially with so many of us having stayed at home for the last year, the chances are we’ve all got bits and pieces we could get rid of. A great way to see what you wear regularly and what you don’t touch is to arrange all of your hangers one way in the wardrobe. When you take something out to wear, you can turn that hanger around. After three months, or a timeframe that you can set, you can look at which hangers haven’t been moved and see which items you haven’t worn. This then means that you can sort through those items and decide which ones you want to get rid of.
There are plenty of ways to aid your decluttering, and we’ve listed just a few to get you started. The most important thing is to find what works for you, so whether you’re decluttering to sell your house or you simply want to enter 2021 with a more minimalist approach, take it one step at a time and you’ll have a lot to be proud of in no time at all!
