Moving into a new home is a big change in anyone’s life and usually marks the beginning of a new era. Starting this new chapter allows you to reinvent your way of living – keep the good and get rid of the bad. This applies to habits and belongings alike. According to experts, if you declutter your home, your anxiety and stress levels will decrease, and you will become more productive and happier in general. Here is our advice on how to tackle it effectively and in the most stress-free way.
Start easy, throw away all broken stuff
Decluttering your home is somewhat time-consuming, so the very start may be overwhelming for anyone. Let’s start easy first. There is no doubt about the fact that trash has to go, so start with that. Throw away the food that has gone off, too; no need to take that into your new home. Also, take a good look at items that are broken. If they are super essential and fixable, put them in a box labeled “needs fixing .”Other broken stuff that doesn’t belong there should head for the garbage container. The damaged stuff is likely no longer safe for usage, so be careful how you handle it. Take good care of yourself; staying healthy throughout this process is essential. We don’t want you to ” need fixing” after all this work.
Stuff you have multiple copies of
Have you ever gone to a place like Milnerton Flea Market for a treasure hunt? Yes, we have too! So much affordable and practical stuff awaits there, and hardly anyone goes home empty-handed. But after going to places like these for a while, you may have dozens of items around your house. Yes, they were inexpensive, and yes, they are useful, but you don’t need them all. It is time to get rid of the redundancies around your home – give away all multiple copies of items you own and don’t need. How do you know if you need them? Do you need five potato peelers? Exactly. Two will do. If your new home is huge, we suggest never taking more than one backup to every item. It simply is enough, and more than that is just hoarding.
Keep or donate festival
When it comes to donating, not only extra copies deserve this fate. You simply do not have the use for much of your stuff. Even though you like that donut maker you never even tried despite having it in years, it should be donated. The same goes for pieces of furniture that you don’t find practical. Deciding what to keep and what to donate is not an easy task, so you should enlist some help. You could make an event out of it. Invite some friends and give them boards that say “keep” and “donate,” break open a bubbly, and start dividing stuff into these two groups. Having a support group, whether it consists of friends or professionals, is especially important if you want to make long-distance moving easier. It will help you save time, and you will not feel as alone in a complex situation.
Don’t let the trip down memory lane become a trip into hoarding
Memories are in our minds, and nothing can take that away from us. Remember that. It is OK to keep some precious items that bring back memories but do not overdo them. You shouldn’t make your home a shrine to your past. First of all, psychologists say this is not healthy. Living in the past can be a trigger for depression. Second, since it is impossible never to get anything new if you don’t occasionally get rid of the old, you become a hoarder. Furthermore, hoarding brings additional stress and anxiety and is not recommendable to anyone. We suggest photographing all the memorabilia that trigger good memories but aren’t related to some crucial events from your past. This way, you will declutter your home efficiently and still get to keep the memories. If you are moving out of your parents’ house, why not leave your childhood memories there. Your parents will most likely be happy with that.
Decluttering your wardrobe requires special attention
Wardrobe decluttering is tricky. There you will find clothes that fit you, that are and can be worn. Yet, we all wear maybe 20% of our wardrobe content. Take that 20% and pack it up immediately. Devote some attention to that packing to make it easier for you when the time comes for the unpacking. The other 80% is where you should think hard. We believe that items of clothing you haven’t worn for 2+ years should go. Yes, they are great, but if the opportunity to wear them hasn’t come for that long, it probably never will. We are not saying to give it all away, but at least half of that 2-plus-years pile is simply a burden for your wardrobe.
How to start to declutter your home and not quite
This is the really hard part. Planning it all out in your head is one thing, but decluttering your home and doing the hard work is challenging to stick to. These are our advice on how not to quit it:
- Make a checklist. Put on paper what you need to throw away. This list will grow as you go through the process, but tracking your progress this way will get you some positive reinforcement.
- Get supplies. You will need trash bags, boxes, plastic containers, labeling supplies, etc. Go shopping for those. It is what you need, plus this part is fun.
- Set a date and clear your schedule. No day seems to be the right one to do lots of work. Therefore, set the date in advance and stick to it. Treat it as an important work project – with planning and deadlines. Tell everyone about it, and you will have a support group that will remind and encourage you to complete this annoying task.
- Get professional help for your move. Doing it all yourself is draining. Your job should be to make important decluttering decisions. Why experts from Clean Cut Moving advise that you should always let professionals take care of the rest of the move. This way, you would be cutting your work and, therefore, your stress and anxiety in half.
Conclusion
To declutter your home does seem like a lot of hard work, but doing it before the move can only be beneficial. Approach it in an organized way, gather help, and focus on the new life you are about to start. We guarantee that afterward, you will feel liberated and somehow sorted out in your head as well.