All of your stuff can grow on you like vines on a tree. If you want to see your life better or make it healthier, you’ll need to prune it on occasion. That will free up space, allowing you to pursue what you want in life.
Our team at Maid-Zen offers ways to get your house in order on a consistent basis. Our recurring cleaning services will get you used to having a cleaner house. Once you get a feel for that, you’ll want an even cleaner living space. When that happens, consider a deep decluttering.
Check out the following tips when you want to get rid of some stuff:
Everything Starts with Categories
Not every item is created equal. Some things take priority over others, but in order to figure out what’s what, you’ll need to come up with some categories for sorting. Here are some examples:
- Necessities: What’s most important to you? What can you really not live without?
- Things to donate: Maybe you don’t need it, but someone else could really use it right now. Donate these to thrift stores or local nonprofits.
- Recyclables: Contribute to the environment by sending these to a recycling plant instead of a landfill.
- Trash: Some things are just junk and they need to go.
You might come up with categories of your own. You can adjust this list to whatever your needs happen to be, whatever the size of your project is. The important thing is to categorize your stuff. Until you do that, you can’t really determine what you need in your life.
Be sure to categorize everything you own. That includes things in basements, attics, and storage units. Sometimes things end up in storage units and get forgotten about. However, as long as it’s in there, it’s taking up your space and your energy. Get control of that by taking a solid inventory.
How to Put Things Where They Need to Go
Figuring out what to keep is simple enough. Choosing what to do with it is another story. Depending on what you decide, your disposal needs could range from a trash can to a tow truck.
One easy way to get rid of things is to give them away. All Storage Online explains that nonprofits and charities are often willing to take items that are unusual, seasonal, or difficult to get rid of. If you’re stumped by something you own, call up local organizations to try to find a home for it.
If you plan to donate or recycle several car’s worth of trips to the dump or donation center, you might want call them up to arrange a pick-up service instead. Many disposal and donation centers are happy to do this. It saves you time and money, and allows you to get rid of more stuff than you might be able to on your own.
As the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Before getting rid of something with value, call up your friends and family and see if they’d be willing to take care of it for you. Things that seem valueless might be pretty valuable to other people. As Linda di Carlo offers, fallen trees can be pretty valuable to local carpenters, schools, artists, and charities. Many other goods can be repurposed and recycled this way.
Conclusion
Cleaning out your possessions is the first step in cleaning out your life. Figure out where to send things and then make sure that they get there. Once you’ve cleared your place of all your unwanted stuff, you and your home should feel more comfortable and more manageable.
