"Konmari" Isn't The Only Way To Declutter - Here's What Else You Can Do.
Now that we’re all cooped indoors together, perhaps it’s the best time to declutter and free up some much needed space. And you might just be helping someone with all your unwanted stuff because one man’s could be another man's treasure.
At the same time, we don't want to overload our cleaners during the extended circuit breaker, so it's good to declutter using methods that help you get rid of unwanted things gradually, rather than all at once.
Here's what you can consider.
KonMari Method - organising by category
Marie Kondo, the author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, holds top rank for probably the most popular decluttering method known. Instead of choosing what to throw out, her principle is to collect every single item you own in a particular category (all your clothes for instance), put them in a big pile, and then choose what to keep based on how it makes you feel. What you don’t want, gets thrown out. This method allows you to declutter by category, rather than by room or location, so that you can get rid of duplicates and less well-liked items compared to things you really love.
Four Box Method - undecided, donate, trash, sell
As the name suggests, everything you don’t want has to fit into one of the four boxes, so that while you’re left with a cleaner and simpler home, you know that everything you got rid of hasn’t just been thrown out mindlessly. Anything you decide to keep can stay in the same location. This four box decluttering method allows you to make quick decisions and tackle small areas to declutter in case you’re feeling overwhelmed at the idea of decluttering your entire existence in one go, as it allows you to be flexible and declutter at your own pace.
One Method – if you can only part with one thing at a time
This method follows a very simple concept – just get rid of one thing every day for a set period of time. This flexible and easy method helps to slowly build a habit of decluttering on a daily basis, so that decluttering and avoiding hoarding junk becomes part of your unconscious daily routine. If you find it’s easy to get rid of more than one thing on any given day, that’s ok too. But removing at least one unnecessary thing from your home every day is key.
Mins Game – make decluttering a game
Seen the #minsgame hashtag on social media? This is where it came from. The Mins Game is a fun, build-it-up as you go decluttering game developed by minimalists to encourage others to declutter their lives. Start off on day one decluttering one item. Day two declutter two items. Day three, three items and so on until you get to day 30 where you declutter 30 items. Unbelievably, by using this method, you would have decluttered a total of 465 items over a month. This start small-increase over time method allows you to increasingly feel more comfortable about letting things go, while helping you make peace with your decisions everyday too.
The Minimalists Packing Party – great when you’re moving house
This extensive decluttering method probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to follow unless you’re already packing to move houses. Not everything you own needs to come with you to your new house, so take the time to think about what you really want to decorate your new home with. Whatever you don’t plan on taking, is what you have decluttered – so don’t pack them in boxes. Donate or sell them instead.
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