Decluttering refers to an act of getting rid of unnecessary as well as unused items. It is about organizing and prioritizing one’s possessions. Decluttering does not just clear physical space but also emotional and mental distress and attachment.
It also involves realizing in what you truly have, what you need, and what you do not need. You need to make critical decisions in coming to an agreement within yourself, between what you will leave behind and what you will dispose of.
Some items give us a connection to certain events or occasions, people, or emotions. There are several steps that you should follow in case you need help in decluttering your home, or you need to decide which items to donate. This article has some important tips for decluttering your home.
1. Make sure you begin with what is visible to you
It can be confusing to a person carrying out the process, especially when they think of the stress that comes with the whole activity and all the items involved. It is not easy at all because you can also get bored and stop in the middle.
That is why you are advised to begin with what you can see first before embarking on the distant items that you cannot easily see. For a satisfactory result, you do not need to pressurize yourself. Victory always has to begin by the small steps you make. Over time you begin to pick up momentum.
Motivate yourself to see the change you wish for. The process could take a whole weekend or a few days or even a whole week. Be focused on the result you want to achieve.
2. Identify the emotions that are attached to every single item
Emotions are important but also dangerous at the same time. They can be destructive to a person. Therefore, it is important to decide which ones are important to arouse for they bring pleasure and excitement and which ones could destroy you and hence need to be done away with.
Different items tend to be linked to certain emotions. Items that are related to negative emotions are categorized together separately from those that bring about positive emotions. The negatives to be removed, the positives to be kept well.
3. Identify the items that are useful, the beautiful ones, and the nostalgic
Every item has its value. Be it beautifying your home, its usefulness, or the memories it brings back. During the attempt to declutter your home, you need to ask yourself certain questions.
On the usefulness of an item, how often is it helpful? Items that get used now and then are more important and require to be kept. However, there is no need to keep an item that is rarely used in your home. It is better to take it out.
There are other items that are responsible for beauty in the house. It is all right to keep items because of their decorative function, but irrelevant ones should be ignored and disposed of. There are those other items that are nostalgic.
This refers to a feeling of both happiness and sorrow, especially when you remember the past. The items that arouse sorrow are pointless to keep. There are also those that stimulate happiness, but their need to be kept is limited.
One needs to ask themselves if the nostalgic feeling can be felt without the item. There are also items that one keeps so that his or her kids can get to inherit and remember an occasion or a feeling with the help of that item. It is good first to ask yourself if the same feeling can be felt without the item.
If this is possible, then the presence of that item is of no use. Something else can trigger the same memory, without the burden and maintenance of an item—for instance, a date or even a certain person.
4. Pile the items into three groups
Filter the items, and do not let anything that does not add value to you be left behind. You should possess items that bring you nothing but happiness. There are three of them.
• There is the trash. It should be thrown away because it is of no use.
• The useful. This pile of items should be kept well.
• The giveaway items or the unused items are things you need to let go of.
Keep the smallest of all stuff behind that does not weigh you down and organize them neatly, now that space is maximum and other stresses catered for. The whole feeling is freeing. Organize even the things kept in drawers to prevent looking for them for too long, misplacing them, or even having the feeling you lack the thing you are looking for only to find it later.
Group the items that fulfill similar functions and place them together; it will be easier to find them anytime. Items that are small should also be placed in compartments.
Ensure that the items left that you are organizing give you opportunities to make memories that last a lifetime. Simplicity and necessity are required in deciding what item belongs to which pile.
5. Donate unused items
After you have organized the used items and thrown away the trash, another pile is left. This includes items that are not important to you but still cannot be thrown away because they might be useful to someone else. These items could be given away.
You may wonder how to give them away. You could try some street children, lower-class families, patients in hospitals, give away events, prisons, children’s homes, through social media, churches, and schools.
We have people who need the help of these items. There are also organizations that do fundraisings and also accept individual help in their plans to help the unfortunate.
In conclusion, decluttering your home is something you need to do from time to time to come to a desirable effect. The relevance of items in a house is required throughout the process.
