Looking to declutter? Find out how to make a real dent in your stuff by being ruthless during your organisation session.
Decluttering is important for a more organised, clean and stress-free home.
Decluttering, though, can be really challenging if you’re the kind of person who is indecisive, or prone to hanging onto things. This can leave decluttering sessions unsatisfying, and unsuccessful, which can lead to frustration and even avoidance of trying it again in the future.
To help you have a more satisfying decluttering session, you need to be more ruthless during your sessions. This may seem impossible but there are ways to approach this kind of task differently, let’s take a closer look:
Pick A Space To Fill
One really great way to be more ruthless when you declutter is to only give yourself a certain amount of space you’re ‘allowed’ to fill. A box, a bag, a cheap self storage locker – whatever makes sense to you. This gives you a base to work from, which can be really helpful.
Be In The Right Frame Of Mind
It is so important to be in the right frame of mind to be ruthless about decluttering. If you’re emotional, you may not feel like letting go of anything. If you’re stressed, you might not have the patience. Try to be calm, relaxed and open minded when you declutter so you’re more able to make tricky decisions.
Do It In Stages
It can help not to have to do the entire process of decluttering in one go if you are motivated to go back and do different tasks at different times. Perhaps step one is where you actively place items into boxes and bags. Step two might be taking some to charity. Step three might be moving some to cheap self storage. Step four could be listing some for sale. If you need bite size chunks to help you get the job done, make that your process.
Have A Ruthless Friend With You
If you are known for being indecisive and precious with your belongings, have a friend with you who is not. They will push you to make those difficult decisions, and ultimately get rid of more clutter overall.
What Is The Bigger Picture?
Maybe you need motivation to be more ruthless with your stuff. Perhaps selling lots of belongings will help you raise cash for a goal you have. Maybe selling your things will help clear space for a new plant stand you’ve been lusting after. Understand the bigger picture before decluttering so that when you start to do it, that goal will help you make those really tricky decisions.
Be Realistic
Sometimes we can be unrealistic with our hope for belongings, causing us to hold onto them longer than we should. Maybe you planned to lose weight to fit into those jeans. Maybe you planned to fix a broken ornament but it’s still broken, months later. Be realistic about what you are likely to do when it comes to items you don’t currently use. This will help you get rid of even more things, for a more ruthless decluttering session.
The tips above can help you to have a successful decluttering session that is ruthless and productive. Nobody really finds decluttering easy, but it can get easier with a few adjustments to your approach.