Whether you’re moving and want to downsize, or you’re simply tired or feeling like your house contains everything you and your family have ever owned, decluttering your life is a fantastic way to free up valuable physical, mental, and emotional space in your life/home. After all, the more assets and possessions you have, the more time, money, and energy you have to spend taking care of it all when really the only thing you should be worried about taking care of is yourself – and your loved ones of course. Need help figuring out what should stay and what should go? Don’t feel bad, most people do, which is why there are two routes people usually take, both of which are listed below.
If You Don’t Love It, or It Doesn’t Bring You Joy, Get Rid of It
This, of course, is the Marie Kondo method recently popularized by her Netflix special “Tidying Up.” Basically, you carefully sort through everything you own, taking note of which items fill you with a sense of love and joy. Anything that doesn’t likely isn’t worth the time and energy you exert maintaining it, and should therefore be discarded. And yes, this does include all the little gifts you’ve lovingly received from people over the years. Life is too short to keep things around that don’t make you happy. Just remember, when picking out everything you’re emotionally attached to, make sure it has purpose as well, as the two always go hand in hand. For instance, if you have a box of old letters, or collectables from grade school that fill you with a sense of nostalgia, that’s great, but be honest with yourself about how these items serve you and your family in your new life now. Ask yourself; do you really need them?
If You Don’t Use It, or It Has No Purpose, Get Rid of It
If you’re the type of person who gets attached to and hoards everything, you know who you are, the love and joy method is probably not be the best route for you. You might end up reminiscing and proclaiming your love for everything all over again, making it even harder to get rid of things you just don’t need. So, instead, try and think more about purpose and use. Whether you’re talking about clothes or kitchen spices, getting rid of things you don’t need/use is a much more definitive way to keep track of what’s important in your life. This, of course, can really be done in two ways: judging by time, or by basic necessities. If you’re more concerned with spring-cleaning and cleansing your life of things you don’t use, coming up with a time limit for items can be a great way to downsize. If, for instance, you haven’t used or thought about a particular item in over six months, a year, or several years, you probably won’t miss it if it’s gone for good. On the other hand, if deep cleaning and a fresh new life is what you want, going room to room and making a list of everything you absolutely can’t live without, getting rid of everything else, might be a better plan. All too often people get caught up in their stuff, only to become buried by it later. So don’t let your things and material possessions control you. Be free – clutter free!
And remember, if you ever need any help organizing your home, or you need someone to run errands for you so you have time to declutter, our caring, capable professionals at Good Neighbor Concierge will always be here for you. Reach out to Good Neighbor Concierge today at 617.209.9311 or fill in the form in the sidebar to schedule a no-obligation needs assessment at a time that is convenient for you.
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