Sunday, May 4, 2008

How should I declutter my stuff?

You can use organized and chaotic approaches to declutter your stuff.

  • Organized approach

    First of all, you should make a list of everything you own. This might be a little bit tedious, but it is necessary. If you have a lot of stuff you probably cannot finish with list in one day. In that case, make a list of places that you could finish with in a reasonable amount of time (for example, the closet on the left in the living room, the closet on the right in the living room, ...)

    After that, note the date of last use for each stuff in the list, and process the stuff one by one.
  • Chaotic approach

    Start anywhere you like (bathroom, living room) and pick a random stuff at hand, and ask yourself what is the date of last use of that stuff. Process the stuff and pick another one.

Processing the stuff

If you haven't use the stuff for a year or more then this is a candidate for decluttering. One year period is not fixed. For some stuff period should be shorter (for example the milk in your fridge) or longer (winter clothes). But the key is to ask your self: "Do I really need this stuff?". If you really, really need the stuff don't do anything. If you don't need the stuff than you have three options:
  1. Throw it away
  2. Give it away
  3. Sell it
If something is for throwing than pile up the stuff at the entrance. If you would like to give away something, you should immediately consider to whom you will give it. Otherwise it could float around as if it is something you need. If you want something to sell, then you have a range of options, from ads on the net to ads on the windshield of your car.

Before getting rid of something, you should be aware if there is legal or personal limitation. For example, you cannot just throw away something dangerous. Also, some stuff you must hold such as tax related papers, health related papers, etc. On the other hand there might be some emotional value (souvenirs, photos, ...) that you wouldn't throw away just like that. Also, be aware that if you have family things could complicate. If you find something of no use, your spouse might object and be very angry. In that case, before getting rid of things, ask everyone in family to check if there is something that they would like to keep. Don't argue about that. Probably there won't be a lot of such things.

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