Do you feel overwhelmed by the items in your life? Are they encroaching on your physical space, or mentally weighing on you? Is it difficult to let go and relax in your home because the clutter around you is the opposite of peaceful?
You deserve a beautiful, minimalist space that is just right for you. As a one-of-a-kind being, you have unique dreams, goals and desires. Which means you have your own special needs to see to, and you need a unique space that supports you just so.
Are you ready to get rid of your junk and start living in a space that you love? Whether you are living in hoarding hell or are just itching for another level of refinement, there is value for you in these words.
Before Beginning
As much as you can, try to get into the mindset of living your ideal life before starting this process. It doesn’t matter so much if you are living your dreams or just scraping by at a deadbeat job.
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What’s important is that you get clear about how it is you DO want to be living and embrace the feeling of living that way. Then, with that inspiration in mind, take the steps to get rid of the physical stuff in your life that is no longer serving you. If you’re busy you can have professionals help you, for example with Pure Airways they offer professional help for house cleaning.
If you feel like you want to get more clear about your ideal life, check out this article. Or, feel free to jump right in!
Methods to Get Rid of Your Junk
Physical, mental, emotional or otherwise, many of us are carrying around excess baggage that we would be better off without. There are a number of ways to get rid of the things in your life that are no longer serving you. Here are some tried and true methods from ac repair in Mesa to take on conquering your physical crap:
Box Up Everything You Own
Take everything you own, and put it into boxes. Yes, everything. Every item of clothing, jewelry, every dish in your kitchen, every toiletry item, every DVD, everything in your “junk drawer,” everything in your garage, everything in your car. Everything. If something is too big to fit in a box, cover it with a sheet or find another way to signify that it is off limits for the time being. Speaking of kitchen, it is one of the most important and the cleanest part of our house and you should have the best knives for cooking which you can find at reviews at all-knives.org. It must be presentable and good-looking. For those who are interested, Exclusiv Kitchens Brisbane can be found at 2/6 Dan Street, Capalaba QLD 4157, open Monday to Friday from 9AM to 4.30 PM.
Then, go about living life. Check in with yourself and make sure you are on the path to your ideal life. You don’t have to be there, just on the path. Then, start unpacking things as you need them. Just the things that you need, as you need them. So, if you go to eat dinner and need a dish and a fork, just unpack 1 dish and 1 fork as opposed to unpacking all your dishware and cutlery. I make the point about living as ideally as possible because you want to be creating your ideal environent, one that will inspire you, as opposed to re-creating one that has been falling short of your desires. So, if you ideally do not want to be watching TV at night, don’t uncover that TV and Couch to sit down and use them unless you feel the true thread of inspiration.
Go about living this way for two weeks. If you would like to go longer, such as a month, go for it, but two weeks should be sufficient. Then, take stock of what you have unpacked. This is what you use in your daily life. This is what it takes to support unique you.
Most likely, you can get rid of the vast majority of the rest of your stuff that was never unpacked. Of course there will be odd item you can make a case for, such as your skiing equipment that you only use in the winter or the one dress you wear regularly for formal occasions, but this is the exception not the rule. That is not to say that you cannot keep any of those items that were never unpacked. But it will offer you the chance to ponder them and decide why it is you want to hang on to them. I suggest asking yourself the questions proposed in the last section of this article while evaluating any item you did not use that you want to keep.
Take On One Area at a Time
If you would prefer to take on just one area at a time, that is another great way to go about overhauling your home. Perhaps you decide to go room by room, or even wish to break it down further, designating which area of each room you will tackle at a time. Feel free to break your space down into areas that feel manageable to you. Maybe all you want to do right now is clean out your shop, or your car, or your bathroom, or maybe even your garden, that you could have with pebbles that glow in the dark for your driveway so it looks really nice. Tailor this to your desires.
Set up a schedule and stick to it, planning whatever amount of time for yourself doesn’t bring up resistance. So, if that just means that you will commit to 5 or 10 minutes a day of organizing the piles on your desk, that is fine. Perhaps there will be times when you get really into it and end up doing 30 minutes, an hour, or even an entire day of clearing your space. You can always exceed the standards you set for yourself, but make a point to set yourself up for success and create a plan that feels good for you.
Go All Out and Overhaul Like a Beast
If you are superman or superwoman, if you are the type of person that likes to go all out, balls to the wall, gung-ho, jump right in, heck…go for it! I have overhauled spaces like this in the past and it has been a lot of fun. There are a few bits I would urge you to consider before jumping in.
Make sure you are committed. There is nothing like starting off really strong, then losing steam half way through and abandoning ship when your home is in total disarray.
Check out the other tips below and questions to ask yourself to help keep you on track. I highly recommend calling in reinforcements, the reliable ones, to help hold you accountable during your overhaul.
What to Do with Your Old Stuff
Sell It
There are a ton of places to sell items online (such as Ebay, Craigslist and Amazon) or perhaps you know of someone who wants to buy this item. For certain items, it may be worth your time to sell them. I have sold a number of electronics on Amazon and other items such as sporting equipment and appliances on Craigslist and made good money. Make sure the item you are selling is worth the time to post (ie. don’t spend a hour posting a $5 book on Amazon that likely isn’t going to sell or be worth the shipping cost).
You can also organize a yard sale. If you decide to do this, I would recommend that you plan it all for one day, selling, removal and all. Commit to getting everything together you are going to get rid of by the day of the event, sell everything you can, then donate the rest. Yard Sales sometimes have a way of being dragged out from week to week, with boxes lingering in garages. That we want to avoid.
Donate It
There are a number of places to donate goods to such as Goodwill, local charities, local drives (often run by churches or community groups), and so on. Besides just taking clothing, books, and household goods, there are also a number of community food banks that will take your cans and boxes.
Gift It
If while going through your stuff you realize a certain item would be the perfect gift for someone, by all means, gift it to them. However, I suggest that you only do so if you truly feel that the item will add value to that person’s life. In the interest of passing on the joy of minimalism, I encourage you not to dump your junk on your friends or family.
Recycle or Trash It
If it can’t be sold, gifted, or donated, it is time to bring that baby to the recycling bin or trash can. Or, you can try posting it in the free area on Craigslist, or Freecycle.org, have you ever seen how fast the BabyTrend Expedition Jogger stroller sells in those sites?
*Most importantly, remember: everything must go. Once you decide that you are ready to let go of something, get it out of your space ASAP. If boxes stick around your home, it’s just a matter of time
Tips to Help You Stay on Track
Get Clear About Your Goals
When taking on a project, it is extremely helpful to get clear about why you want to do it, and what the end result is that you are going for. Write them down and put them in an obvious place, that you can refer to throughout this process. If visual aids help keep you inspired, find a couple pictures of clear, organized spaces you would like yours to resemble and post those as well. When you have a moment of weakness or your motivation starts to waiver, take a moment to look at your words and images and remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing. Get re-inspired and get back on track.
Make a Plan & Set a Calendar
Now that you know what your goals are, you can create a plan and map it out. Decide what method you are going to choose to get rid of your junk, perhaps choosing one of the above methods or something else that feels right for you. Then, create a plan, complete with due dates for tasks to keep you on track. Post this next to your goals and refer to it regularly.
Call in Reinforcements
The fact that you are reading this already speaks to your level of badassity, so I know you have it in you to see this through. But that doesn’t mean you have to go it all alone. Not only is it easier to complete a project when you get more hands and energy on board, but it is also a lot more fun!
Enlist your family and friends to be a part of this transformation with you. Or, just set up people to check in with you and hold you accountable. For some people, it may even be right to hire someone to help you out, or to make sure you stay on track.
Stay Motivated
When the initial energy that got you going in your junk removal process starts to waiver, it is easy to start to lose motivation. This is a good time to look back at your goal’s list and remember why you set out on this journey in the first place. Sometimes this is enough to get you over the hump, but other times you may need to have other things in place.
Setting up check points with rewards can be helpful. Create something fun that will feel like a treat for you when you complete a leg of the journey. This can be anything that has meaning for you. Perhaps when you finally clear out your garage you will treat yourself to a massage, or maybe you and your significant other will go out for a special meal when the office is done. If negative reinforcement works better for you, enlist someone to harass you in to keeping you on track.
Questions to Ask Yourself Throughout the Process
When contemplating the ditching of items in your life, certain ones will stand out like a sore thumb, and you will come to the clear conclusion that it is time for them to go. However, there will likely be items that you are attached to in one way or another. In those cases, I have found asking myself certain questions about said items to be rather helpful. Keep these questions nearby when deciding which items to let go of:
1. When was the last time I used this?
2. When is the next time I will use it?
3. Does it add value to my life?
4. Does it help facilitate joy or happiness in my life?
5. Does it help me on the path to pursue my dreams?
6. Do I need to own it, or can I borrow or rent it?
7. Do I have another item that will do the job just as well?
8. Can I maintain the utility of this item without having it take up the space? (Living in the digital age has it’s many perks, but try not to acquire too much digital junk either).
9. Does this item contribute to a positive or negative habit in my life?
10. How much does it cost to care for this item?
11. Does it excite me to look at, touch, or use this item?
12. How would it feel to have the new space created by the letting go of this item in my life?
Check out the video I did about this topic here:
