Declutter your way to Open Space

Decluttering is the Number One tool to use to open up your space, save your sanity and organize your home, office, car, schedule and life. Without it no amount of putting like with like, labeling, straightening, binning or tidying will make sense or make much of a difference in decreasing your stress or increasing your efficiency. The trouble with too many items in a space is no matter how you have stacked it or arranged it you will need to keep moving it and rearranging it in order to find, or get to anything. You will waste precious time again and again. The average person spends 25 minutes each and every day looking for lost items. Is that how you want to spend your time?

Why can it be so hard to let go of items? There are 2 common reasons.

Fear of the future can be related to feelings of anxiety. Will I have enough and will I have what I need when I need it? If these are your thoughts and fears acknowledge them. Is your fear realistic? Is your fear exaggerated? Consider the what ifs. What if I got rid of my paper plate collection and then needed a paper plate? What would I do? Well…you could use a regular plate, or use the good china, or go to the store and buy some new paper plates, or borrow paper plates from a neighbor who has a surplus. The point is most items can be replaced and storing a surplus can take up space which can be better used.

Difficulty letting go of the past is typically about attachment to events, memories and people who are gone. The things you are saving become representative of that person or event and can become extremely hard to let go of due to feelings of grief, loss and sometimes guilt. The memorabilia can be heirlooms/antiques or common items. Also within this category are pictures which can be a decluttering challenge unto themselves. The question is how can you honor a memory without being buried in stuff?

Tips to declutter an area:

1. Take black and white pictures of the area. Then step away. After a break come back and look at the pictures. Black and white pictures can help you to see your space and items in a different light, assisting you to see the piles and clutter with fresh eyes.
2. Consider how you would like to use the area. Will it be a craft room, an office, a play room, etc.? How much space will you need, how much space do you have, what items belong in
   the space and what does not fit? What needs to happen in the area to make it more
   functional?
3. Approach the area you have designated to declutter with a mindset to purge and make
   space. Make a commitment and set your priorities here. Do you want to store Aunt Martha’s
   doll collection or do you want to make a space that you can use!
4. Begin to remove items that are broken, out of date/out of style, no longer used, no longer
   necessary or you have multiples of.
5. Set up boxes/bags/containers for sorting items to be tossed, donated, recycled, or kept. If
   possible gather together all of one item and pick the best of the bunch. For example, gather all your baseball hats and pick one or two favorites.
6. If you are doubting whether you need to keep it or toss it, err on the side of tossing it. Repeat over and over to yourself, I deserve space…I deserve space…I deserve space! If you
   accidentally toss something and then need it or want it later chances are pretty good you can obtain it again.

*** Remember to effectively declutter you must be ruthless! Really look at what you use, what
you need, how you want to use your space and how much space you actually have!!

Begin your decluttering process, open your possibilities and contact Open Space Organizing to get started!
630-453-2582
Cathy@openspaceorganizing.com