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How to Declutter Your Belongings
- 1). Don't try to declutter your home in a day. You'll get frustrated easily and give up. Instead, start with a drawer in a dresser or a kitchen drawer. Set short term goals of cleaning out x number of drawers per week. Before you know it, an entire dresser or all of your kitchen drawers will have been cleaned and organized.
- 2). Set up a foolproof method of sorting when your aim is to declutter. As you approach each drawer, for example, have on hand three receptacles. You may use bins, baskets, boxes or bags. Have your sticky labels and a pen or marker on hand as well. Label the three nearby receptacles "Trash," "Put away," and "Donate."
- 3). Denote four distinct categories as you remove each item from a drawer, closet, pantry, etc. The first three categories are as marked on your nearby receptacles as noted in step 2. Your fourth category is the "Keep" category, and these will be the only items you are allowed to return to their original spot.
- 4). Begin removing items from the drawer, pantry, closet, or cupboard--one at a time. Remove everything, even if you're certain that a few things way in the back of that drawer are going to be staying there anyway. Now it's time to categorize. In the "Donate" category you will place those items that have some life left in them, and that would be of use to someone else. They also must be something you haven't used or even considered using in the past year. Get them out of your way.
In the "Trash" category are broken items, bits of garbage, old notes, expired coupons, hosiery with runs and soiled or stained garments.
In the "Put Away" category you will place those things you've been meaning to put in their rightful places for months or years, but simply haven't gotten around to doing so. That extra pair of scissors you've been looking for don't do much good in the sock drawer, but might very well be used on occasion when placed in a drawer in the kitchen. The extra Christmas light bulbs in the kitchen drawer can go in with boxes of holiday decorations. - 5). Place your "Keep" items back into their original resting spot, in an organized and orderly fashion. If your drawer is filled with loose objects, simply look around the house for items you may already have that can be used in your decluttering project. Plastic trays from frozen meals can hold postage stamps or batteries. A cupcake tin holds pushpins, loose changes and buttons. Small zippered baggies can corral two week's worth of barettes in a bathroom drawer. The possibilities are endless.
The result of these simple steps is a neater, more organized home, filled with only those belongings you truly want and need.
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