Recently, minimalism has gained popularity across the globe, with many people shifting from materialism to this lifestyle. Though in the past, material accumulation was revered and associated with happiness, many people find living a simple life attractive. Some have even associated happiness and well-being with having fewer material things.
With so much of our lives nowadays being digital anyways, when people only used to be able to play with real cards they can now play online at Sloto Cash bonus, or when you had to actually go to a theater to see a play!
My point is, that many things we own nowadays simply go unused. This means you will have a lot of stuff start to pile up as your house turns into some sort of storage container for things no longer used.
Maybe you wonder how you can join the minimalist bandwagons and attain the purported benefits. Letting go of things you have accumulated can seem painful to others. You have probably never used some of these things for years, yet decluttering your life can be a hard nut to crack.
Some people have found help by hiring cleaning and decluttering services or professional organizers to help them declutter. Minimalists believe that decluttering your home will help you feel light and happy. It is like dropping heavy luggage you have been carrying for some time.
If your home is full of old toys, unused clothes, shoes, equipment, and utensils, it may be overwhelming to get rid of these things at once. So how do you go about it? The best way is to declutter your home in stages, focusing on one space before moving to another. This will help you build confidence and experience as the days go by.
Before discussing how to declutter your house, let’s highlight some benefits.
Benefits of Decluttering your home
The fallacy that many material things make happy lives is crumbling as minimalism scores higher on the happiness chart. Some of the benefits of decluttering include:
- Less cleaning: Cleaning the entire house is no easy task; it can leave you exhausted. Now, cleaning things you have no emotional attachment to or will never make cleaning irritating. However, with few things you truly need, you will find cleaning a delight and take less time.
- Easy to organize: A cluttered can take you a whole day organizing, and you cannot guarantee it will stay organized for long. So, it is a vicious cycle of organizing every week and lots of time wasted trying to find something lost in the clutter. A decluttered house is easy to organize and keep neat. You may realize that a house you thought was small has more space for your family.
- Less stress: If you walk into a cluttered place with clothes and dishes all over, how do you feel? For me, it is nausea-inducing. Clutter and disorganization raise cortisol levels in the body, and if something is not done about it, you may start experiencing headaches. Therefore, if you want peace and an enjoyable place to stay, decluttering is the way.
- Less debt: It takes tons of money to clutter your house with more material possession. Clutter adds to your credit card balances and more debts. Instead of adding that new coffee machine you do not need using your credit card, you can sell the old one and use the money to pay your debts.
- It assures you financial freedom: Did you know that 64% of American households live paycheck to paycheck? Most of these households have credit card debts. By decluttering and adopting minimalism, most people build savings for future emergencies. Less debt, a clean home, and financial freedom will enthuse you with the energy to focus on what truly matters rather than trying to keep up with the Joneses.
Practical ways to declutter your house
Have you been postponing or lacking the energy to declutter your living spaces? You will need creativity and a practical plan to reap the benefit of being material free. Consider some of these tips:
Allocate decluttering time
You could start small by allocating between 10 to 30 minutes within your daily chores to declutter. Set a timer and keep your phone away to focus on the task. Some beginners also make the mistake of spending all day trying to declutter after watching motivational videos.
This may not be a practical way of decluttering, and it can be exhausting and discouraging. However, setting time for regular decluttering makes the process less emotional and enhances objectivity. You will ask yourself if you need something before keeping it or discarding it. This takes time and planning.
Organizing guru Nicola Lewis advises that you need a workable plan that you can stick to. Setting a timer without distraction will help you do a good decluttering job. If you are new to the process, choose days you want to declutter and set realistic goals. You only need to begin to defeat the procrastination problem.
Nominate 5 important areas to begin with
You are no super person, so do not start decluttering the entire house. Some people move from one room decluttering in bits, but this can be overwhelming. Decluttering a whole house requires proper strategy. You can create a decluttering list to help you accomplish the task.
It is like deep cleaning that requires you to handle one room at a time. Nicola Lewis advises beginning with five critical ways, but if that is still overwhelming, choose one room or space and move to the next when completely decluttered the space.
You can use priority categories by starting with places like bedroom drawers or bathroom cupboards. The secret is starting small and building your way up. When you have created a plan, stick to it. Avoid the temptation of jumping to another space before you finish the one you were handling.
Take before and after photos
This process can be overwhelming, but nothing is as fulfilling as seeing the results of your hard work and shift in mentality. The more you declutter, the easier it becomes. More To Organizing expert Kathryn Lord suggests starting with a list and prioritizing rooms you frequently use.
Decluttering is a long-distance race and breaking it down is the sure way to succeed. At first, it may be unbearable, but it will get better with time. Taking before and after photos will encourage you to attack the next room with a vengeance.
Ask for help
If you are new to organizing or have s busy schedule, it can be a daunting task to declutter your home. Instead of dismissing the idea of decluttering, you can ask a friend or family member to help you complete this task. Why not rope your kids in the plan or discuss as a family how they can help you with the process by keeping a list of things to discard and those to keep?
You can also hire professionals to help declutter your house. They do not have an emotional attachment to things you own, and they will likely be objective on what you need. If you realize that you have been postponing decluttering because you are afraid of losing your things, seeking help could be an ideal option for you.
Ready a recycle, sell, donation, or rubbish bags
When you plan to declutter your home, you need bags set aside to put things you do not need. These bags could be marked recycle, donation, sell or mend. Once you have filled these bags, ensure they leave the house.
Though you can sell second-hand stuff from your home, avoid falling into a cycle of decluttering to sell. You have to evaluate if you have the time and energy to market your second-hand stuff; otherwise, you may have bags hanging around in your house or store for months.
You can put things you want to recycle or make new ones in the recycle bag. This will save money that you could have spent buying new trendy things.
Organize storage to store what you keep
We already emphasized the need to get bags for donation, recycling, and rubbish; however, you also need storage bags for what is remaining after decluttering. Since what you keep are the things you need, you want to keep them and neatly create more space in the house.
Sometimes your house is small with fewer drawers. In that case, you want to assess what your storage needs are and shop for them. You don’t want the thing you have decided to keep to clutter the house because of disorganization.
Use the Mario Kondo criteria: Does the item spark joy?
A world is decluttering maestro; Marie admits that it is challenging for many people to part ways with materials they have owned for years. She provides practical suggestions by testing whether the item sparks joy.
You can ask yourself questions like: why did I keep this item? Do I have a sentimental attachment to this item? When last did I use this item, and will I use it again? If you honestly answer these questions, you will make better decisions about whether you need something or not.
Ms. Kondo also suggests improving decluttering by having a permanent home for the item. People sometimes have clutter because they fail to return something where they got them. This, in turn, causes disorganization and cleaning nightmares.
One quick way to assess is to ask yourself if you use the item and whether you own something similar. If the answer is yes, you could dispose of that item by selling it or donating it to someone who needs it.
Incorporate decluttering into your daily routine
If your family has busy schedules with lots of things demanding attention, you can incorporate decluttering into your daily routine. Rather than wait until the weekend, you can place baskets and bags around your house for daily decluttering rather than wait until the weekend. Read more about What is a Small Baker’s Rack – and Is it Right for Me?
As you walk through your home, you daily come across things you no longer use, but you wonder where to keep them. We can put them in the decluttering bags. Items like DVDs, clothes, and toys can take months lying unused in the house, but you can sort them out with these bags faster.
For instance, you can place a decluttering bag in your wardrobe where you can keep clothes you do not need. This will help you add space to your wardrobe and make it easy to choose an attire. Once the decluttering bags are full, you can donate or sell them.
Invest in good clutter baskets
If the above-discussed idea seems practical, but you think something more permanent will do a better job, go for baskets. You can use a basket along the hallway to store items like gloves, scarves, and hats. Since they are breathable storage boxes that allow air to flow, they will not keep your home stuffy.
Furthermore, you can use them to store items the family would want to grab as they leave for work or go out, such as wipes, sunglasses, or tissues. However, if you have kids, you could include labels for the baskets for each family member to help them find their stuff with ease. Ensure the baskets have smooth inner walls to help you keep your hats or scarves safe from getting snagged.
View your house as a visitor
You can decide to view your home as a first-time visitor to have a proper perspective. This can be challenging because you are used to your house, but you can set your mind to look at your home from a visitor’s angle. Jot down what impresses you and what you think needs improvement. If you see things that need cleaning and organizing, make the necessary changes promptly.
The Bottom Line
Attachment to material things can make it challenging to part ways with things you do not need. Some people also fail to declutter because of having busy lives. However, this guide has demonstrated the benefits of decluttering your life. It leads to an improved lifestyle and happiness.
