As much as you intend to keep your house clean, clutter will always find its way inside. This is especially true if you’re living with kids, pets, and other family members who are frequently in and out of the house. You may try to keep up with your clutter and try to fit it into your schedule. But sometimes, the mess can be too overwhelming and can start to drag you down.
Before you give up on the plan of decluttering your home, remind yourself of the benefits you can get from it. Decluttering may require a significant amount of time, effort, and energy. But the results can be rewarding and fulfilling. Living in a clutter-free home won’t only give you a clean, peaceful, and more welcoming home, but it can also make you feel a sense of accomplishment and pride.
Sometimes, the best way to start decluttering is by simply choosing to do it. Don’t worry, as the more you start doing it, the more motivated you will be to finish it. So, to get started, here are six tips for a successful and efficient one-day declutter.
Table of Contents
1. Set Aside One Whole Day
As busy parents, your schedule is always tight every day. You get up early, prepare meals, send your kids to school, do the laundry, do other errands, and take care of your business or job. This is especially challenging if you’re a full-time worker or a work-at-home parent. If you really wish to have a successful and efficient decluttering, you need to choose one day and clear out your schedule to dedicate it to your house.
If you’re worried about your kids or pets, you can send them off with your grandparents or a babysitter. This way, this one-whole-day of decluttering will focus on clearing out your house and getting everything done for once.
2. Declutter By Category
You’ve probably heard of the technique of decluttering your house room by room. This may be effective for many. But this may not work, especially if you only have a day. You may spend three to four hours decluttering the first room, and as you move on to the second room, the first room has begun to clutter up again, making you feel at a loss. To make decluttering quicker and more efficient, it’s better to do it by category.
For instance, you’ve decided to tackle clothes first. So, you start by gathering all the clothes you encounter in every room. From there, you can analyze each piece of clothing and see if you intend to keep, throw, or give them away to charity.
For the clothes you wish to get rid of, you can call rubbish removers like Same-Day Rubbish Removal services, and they’ll pick up all the things you want to get rid of within the day. After tackling your clothes, you can then move on to other categories such as toys, books, kitchen tools, laundry equipment, and so on.
3. Use The Four-Box Method
While you’re organizing your things as instructed in the second step, you can follow the four-box method to keep you on the right track. The four-box method includes ‘keep’, ‘donate’, ‘sell’, and ‘trash’. Some homeowners may even add the fifth box intended for ‘store’ or things you occasionally use.
This method will help you stay on track. It might even compel you to decide on things you’re just not ready to get rid of and let go yet. Meanwhile, if you still find it hard to get rid of some things, you can ask yourself as you hold each item, ‘Will I use this again? Does this still spark joy? Do I still love it?’
If your answer to one or all of the questions is no, that’s a big sign you’ll need to let it go. This may sound ruthless, but it’s the only way you can achieve a clutter-free house.
4. Get Rid Of Duplicating Items
Another thing you must eliminate is duplicate items. For instance, you found out you have six umbrellas, four can openers, forty mugs, and seven handbags. You can ask yourself whether you really need all of them. If not, then only pick out your favorites and get rid of the rest. At the end of the day, you’ll notice how it’s more pleasant to look at your shelves seeing they’re no longer stacked on top of one another.
5. Eliminate Them Today
After you’ve completed the four-box method for all your items, it’s time to get rid of them today and not let them reach another day in your house. For the items packed in your ‘sell’, ‘donate’, and ‘trash’ boxes, you can dispose of them outside your home. Or, better yet, keep them in the back of your car.
For the ‘sell’ box, you can drop them at a thrift shop, while your charity boxes can go to any local charity you support. Meanwhile, schedule your ‘trash’ boxes to be picked up by the rubbish removal services on the same day.
6. Put Everything In Place
Now, all you have are the ‘keep’ boxes. Since you’ve emptied your shelves, wardrobes, and drawers, it’s time to refill them again with the items you actually treasure and regularly use. Make sure to settle everything in their allocated places. This will be easier for you considering you now own lesser items. If you see some objects lying on the floor, you can pick them up and return them to their rightful places.
Final Thoughts
There you go! After putting everything in its proper places, you’ll realize how spacious and lighter your house has become. You’ve efficiently gotten rid of the clutter in a day. So, congratulate yourself for your time, energy, and effort dedicated to the entire day. Most of all, don’t forget that decluttering is an ongoing process. Sooner or later, you might see yourself checking out this list again.