How to start decluttering your home in the next 30 minutes
See Behind the Scenes
Before any actual writing starts, a creative brief is produced to set things such as:
- The target audience;
- The tone and style used;
- Any target keywords;
- A list to guide you;
- A schedule to make it happen;
- Tips to prevent the clutter from ever coming back.
3 steps to get started
Step 1: Create a checklist
“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
How do you declutter a home? Biting away one object at a time. Not literally, of course.
- The rooms in your house;
- The specific areas inside each room. For instance, my bedroom has two closets, the area below the bed and nightstand drawers;
Step 2: Set a schedule
Step 3: have a sorting strategy
- Items you want to throw away;
- Objects that you want to donate and/or sell;
- Undecided items, where you still don’t know if you’ll be keeping them or not.
How to stay on track
Right, so now you have the list, a schedule and a way to sort things around the house. In the next few days, you’ll come across some tricky challenges.
The process wasn’t smooth for me and it’s very likely that you’ll have a similar experience. Here are a few tips I can share to help you with your project.
Procrastination
Focus
Decisions
Beware the useful stuff
No new purchases
Hard time letting go? Say "thank you."
Don't give up
There isn’t a lot to say about this topic, it’s pretty self-explanatory.
Trust that you’re progressing bit by bit. The results will come. Hundreds of baby steps can cover a large distance. Trust these small results.
Don’t give up.
And then...
Don't let it come back
before you buy anything new, ask yourself
- Do I really need it?
- Will I use it many times? If not, consider renting or borrowing from someone else.
- Ok, I need it. Where will I put it? Do I have space to store it?
Keep the schedule active
Receiving objects from friends and relatives
Go digital
- Receive your bills electronically in your e-mail;
- Digitize old photographs and notebooks;
- Invest in ebooks;
- Rely on streaming services for music and films.