Today’s fast-paced lifestyle can have you spending more time on your computer, at the office, or taxiing kids to various activities than around the house. Learn how to keep your house clean, free of clutter, organized, and calm.
Have Goals Before You Begin Cleaning Out Your House
One of the reasons we put off decluttering is the overwhelming sense of dread most of us experience when contemplating dealing with a whole house full of junk. Here is a four-point action plan to get you started:
- Stop and take a deep breath, and get yourself into a mindset about making a plan. Plans help break huge projects down into smaller achievable steps.
- Now grab a pen and some paper. List the rooms of your home – including the garage, basement, laundry, and so on.
- Next, identify the areas that cause you the most mess-stress. You can do this by noticing your body’s reaction when you visualize each, or you could rate them on a scale of one to five. Prioritize the spaces that trigger the greatest tension response.
- Break down each room into sub-projects, be it an appliance purge or clearing out your bathroom shelves. Allocate an estimated time each of these tasks will take. Block off an adequate amount of time for the large jobs in your schedule and keep that appointment with yourself. Keep a list of mini projects visible in each area so that you can check them off whenever you have one, five, or twenty minutes unaccounted for. Celebrate each small triumph to build momentum and motivation that will carry you through the more arduous chores.
Setting specific goals helps to keep you on track. Committing to a timeframe stops you from dilly-dallying. The result? Taking back control of your life and basking in the serenity and joy of an uncluttered home.
You Have More Junk Than You Realize – Get a Dumpster
Bulky items such as old carpeting, furniture, moldings, or a broken vacuum cleaner cannot be accommodated by your regular garbage service. But, hands up if you have ever moved unwanted items from inside your home out to the garage where they have stayed for months (or years!) before you finally drove to the local dump!
Remove the hassle by taking a page out of organizing professionals’ books and make use of a junk removal company. By renting a small dumpster that easily fits in your driveway, you are free to toss out your junk – straight into the bin with no bags or fuss.
What’s more, the volume of the dumpster may tempt you to be more ruthless than you would otherwise be. Plus, the typical seven-day dumpster rental period encourages you to get the job done in a reasonable amount of time. Filling small carloads to go to the dump will encourage taking a longer time to finish the whole project.
Determine What to Keep and What to Toss
If you are battling to let go of your possessions, it helps to ask the right questions:
- Is the item broken, stained, ill-fitting, _______ (fill in the blank)?
- Do you love the item? Enough that you would theoretically ask your most detested ex to return it? {Hmmm, thought not!}
- Do you use it? Have you used it in the past year? Would you miss it if it disappeared?
- Do you own more than one of these? Could you use something else that you already own for the same purpose? Is it something you could borrow from someone?
- Does the item serve your life now and going forward? Would you purchase it again if you went shopping today?
- Does it have sentimental value? Does it bring you joy?
- What does keeping the item cost you? (Financially, physically, emotionally)
Sort everything that you have discarded into these categories: sell, donate, dumpster. Pretty baskets with professional labels are lovely, but don’t let details like that distract you from your objective! Then act on each of the piles as quickly as possible.
Contact Bargain Bins to find out more about renting a dumpster as part of your decluttering project and keeping your house clean.