In this post I'd like to address a few conmen questions people have about deciding what to get rid of when decluttering and how to maintain no clutter. We all want to save time and be more efficient in our efforts to clean up our home. We recognize how we only have so much time and there are many things for us to do. So how can we accomplish what we need to do in keeping our home picked up while not spending a ton of our precious time on it? Let's delve in.
How do I decide what is truly essential to keep?
In figuring out what is truly essential to keep, for a lot of people, it may be helpful to categorize everything they own into what is known as the 4T's. 'Trash, Tresure, Toys, and Tools'. Trash is everything that is no good anymore. It's broken, doesn't work, etc. Treasures are items that have sentimental value. Toys are anything that is for enjoyment. And Tools is anything that has a useful purpose. But these 4T's is not likely to really tell you what is truly essential. Because while it's easy to know you definitely get rid of the trash. And it may be easy to go through the Toys and say we don't use those anymore, and the kids have outgrown that now. What about the tools? Because it's useful, does that mean you should keep it? Not necessarily. For one, maybe you got rid of what the tool was used for. So, maybe you can let this go as-well. Or maybe you have more than one of the same tool. Perhaps you needed one for a project but could not find the one you already had, so you bought another. Now you have two. Well, if you're trying to live with less stuff, it will be more helpful for you to try working on your organization and get rid of one of the pair. There is one exception to this rule. If you have a large house and the item is something you can use quite often at either end of the house, then it may be a good idea to have one at either end so you're not all ways running back and forth for it.
Then there's Tresure. This will usually come with more sentimental value. But as you go through your belongings you may realize you have a lot of treasures and would like to pair them down some, however, this may be hard to do because of sentimental feelings. I recommend grouping the possession together. Maybe you will start to realize you have a lot of things from Aunt B. Ask yourself do you really need so many things from one person? Are there items from Aunt B. that are not really your style so you're not really in love with that item, but you still have plenty of others that you do like? Why not let those few items that are not your taste go? Then you will have more space to show off the belongings you do love.
If you collected things of a particular theme thinking they would be worth more down the road, well they are only worth more if someone else is in love with the same item. And there is a trend growing with the generations growing up now that they don't want to have 'things' and hold onto 'things'. So, you may want to consider selling now or looking into how likely a museum may want your collection in the future.
How often should I declutter?
Now that you have gone through your items and got it down to just what works for you. How often should you declutter so it does not get out of control again? This can verry with each household. You have to consider how often you do shopping, whether it is going to a physical store or shopping online. Generally, it is a good rule to not go without decluttering any more than three shopping sprees. This will help not let it get out of control. If you want to stay on top of it even more and prevent clutter, the '1 in 1 out' rule may work for you. With this rule, for every item you bring into the home, you need to get rid of an item that is already there. With this method it's a sure way to keep your home free of clutter. But this may not be a practical way for everyone at any given time. What if you are starting a new career and you need all these new items to do the job. You may not have enough things in your home you can do without to make way for all that you need for the new career. However, it will still be helpful to purge what you can. The Idea is to keep your space free of the thing you don't need, want, or are not useful for you anymore.
Putting Items Away
Your family's issue may be that things don't get put away. So, it look's messy all the time. This can make you feel like you must have too many things. But let's admit it, it's just laziness. What is a good system for putting everything away immediately? Well, the only way to do this is to train yourself and family members to go put it away as soon as you are done with it. But we don't always have the time and energy to do that. So, what I recommend in helping keep the house looking neat and to make it easier to put things away is to have baskets with handles in specific areas of the house. This way when family members don't have time to run to the other end of the house or it's time for bed and don't feel like running downstairs to put something away, they can set these items in the basket that is much closer. Then train yourself and others to look in the basket as you go by and grab what's in there that you can put away as you go past where they belong. If the basket is full and you have a couple of minutes to walk through the house, carry the basket with you and put things away as you go. This will save you time because you don't have to first, walk around the room picking things up then put them away, also your able to carry a lot more items at once in a basket than in your hands, and you're making one pass through your home to put things away instead of going back and forth.
Conclusion
So, in conclusion, using the "4 T's" method and grouping items together can help in deciding just what to keep. To maintain the clutter free surroundings, we can use the "1 in 1 out" rule or at least purging what we can. And to maintain the neatness we can use baskets or caddis to set belongings in temporarily, that belong else were. In decluttering and maintaining the neatness, I hope these tips will help you and you can enjoy a clutter free home!
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