Collecting things seems to be a part of life and the longer you live in one place the more clutter you seem to accumulate, right? So unless you are an extremely minimalistic type of person who doesn’t believe in attaching any sort of sentimental value to objects or, like me, you have moved a lot (four times in one year, I really want to start to accumulating clutter next year…) you should have a fair amount of clutter, even if you don’t think so. Just because I’ve been moving doesn’t mean I’m not a hoarder so below are some of the things I’ve learned (mainly from my minimalist mom).
Make it a regular occurrence. You know the term spring cleaning? And how much we hate it? There’s a reason why people have done it for so long and at that time of the year. Spring reminds you of starting afresh. If you declutter regularly (yes, once a year is better than a lot of people I know) you win in two ways. Firstly, there’s less time for clutter to accumulate between one session and the next making it easier and secondly, it eventually becomes a habit and therefore less traumatic.
The one year clothes rule: This is something I find really useful. If you haven’t worn it in a year (yes, all four seasons) then you are probably not going to wear it again and it should be given. Okay, before the hysterics start there are exceptions to the rule. I have a gorgeous semi-formal dress which I wore over a year ago and the reason I haven’t worn it again is because I haven’t the chance — I live in a relaxed coastal city and keep the dress so I don’t end up having to buy another one again.
The every couple of months magazine rule: Every few months you should go through your magazine and throw out as many as you can. Magazines a few months old should be thrown away as a rule of thumb. If there’s anything you want to save from a magazine, take it out and file it to save space.
Donate what your kids don’t use anymore: Children grow up very quickly; blink and they’ve already graduated right? There are always needy children out there and whatever they don’t use anymore (your teenage son isn’t going to be interested in his mini motorbike from when he was two but a two year old will be).
Reward yourself: After all of that hard work you need to give yourself a bit of a reward, whether it is a meal out or a day at the beach, you’ll feel better straight afterwards.
