How to Tackle Clutter

Introduction

Clutter is something that we all struggle with in one degree or another. It is hard to give away something that you have had for a long time or to resist the urge to buy something that you just can’t live without. For some people clutter is such a serious problem that professional psychiatric help is needed. Tackling clutter is a serious matter that can very realistically change the way that you live your life by enhancing the quality of your life. In the following steps you will read more about how you can tackle your clutter once and for all:

Steps to tackling clutter

1.Make up your mind – Clutter is often a result of the emotional attachment that we have to our things. In most cases, we are holding on to things because we have either spent our hard-earned money on them or we are being nostalgic. We do not want to get rid of something because it has meaning or we are sure that if we hold on to that thing long enough we will find a use for it and be glad that we had stored it for all those years. If none of these scenarios sounds familiar to you, you probably have no problem cleaning and decluttering your house, but for the rest of us, we must first make the conscious decision that we want to tackle our clutter, and the mental blocks that keep us from doing so.

Let go of duplicates or useless items.

2.Throw it away – The best way to get rid of clutter is to throw things away. If you have no use for an item or have had no use for that item in the past little while (you decide how long something needs to be unused) get rid of it. You have to let go of the things that you do not use and need on a regular basis. For many people this step is the hardest one to overcome, but unless you learn how to stop holding on to things that you do not need, you will never be able to tackle your clutter.

3.Organize – Organize what you have left. Use bins, baskets, shelves, boxes, and anything else that you may find useful to help you to group and categorize your remaining items in a way that makes sense to you. You need to keep practicality and accessibility in mind as you do this. There should be a place for everything that you are keeping and a logical system for figuring out where something needs to be returned to once it is used.

4.Repeat – Tackling clutter is not a one time thing, you have to keep at it if you want your home to be clutter free. Things are going to find their way into your house and unless you make the decision to get rid of what is not needed and organize what is left, you will eventually find that you are back at the beginning when it comes to tackling your clutter.

A warning…

The process for tackling clutter is highly personalized. No two rooms are alike and no two people value the same item equally. There are no specific rules that tell you to get rid of that toaster but keep those lamps. It takes a lot of honesty with yourself and sacrifice to get rid of what you can live without. Fail to address the reasons why you find yourself struggling with clutter and you will never be able to really enjoy a peaceful and organized home where you can enjoy spending time.