Families For Life | Declutter your home, declutter your mind
Decluttering your home can be frustrating and easy to put off—it seems like such a massive task! However, it’s much needed to give your cosy home some breathing space. It also helps that you’ll be able to find your things better without them hidden behind countless knick-knacks.
Before you begin, you can consider enlisting the help of your family members. It’ll be a great opportunity to work together and grow closer. Plus, with all hands on deck, the task will get done faster, freeing up time to do fun things together.
If you’re having trouble getting your children to help out, here are some ways to motivate them:
Assign specific tasks to each person
Show an interest in how your child has done the job
Praise them for a job well done
Use a reward chart to track completed chores and offer small rewards, like choosing what’s for dinner or a show to watch
Feeling a little more motivated to start decluttering? Great! We’ve got tips to help you out. Let’s get right to it!
Start small
You don’t have to do everything in a day. Start with a small area and spend just 15 minutes on it before taking a break. You can continue the next day and slowly build momentum, increasing both your workspace and time spent. This method prevents you from feeling overwhelmed and allows you to manage small, bite-sized tasks. Before you know it, you’ll have decluttered a large section of your home!
Declutter, then organise
It may seem obvious, but these two steps aren’t the same. Decluttering is about removing unnecessary items, while organising is about rearranging what you’ve decided to keep. Always declutter first before organising. If you try to move things around without clearing out the clutter, you might quickly feel frustrated and your efforts may come to a halt.
The four-box method
There are many decluttering methods out there, but if you want something simple and effective, try this one! Grab four boxes and label them: Keep, Trash, Give Away, and Relocate. These are pretty self-explanatory and help you sort your items clearly: keep what you need, throw away the unusable, donate what can be useful to others, and relocate items to the right spots.
Keep what makes you happy
As you go through your belongings, you might struggle to decide what to keep or let go. Try asking yourself: Does this item make me happy? If it doesn’t hold much sentimental value, place it in the ‘trash’ or ‘donate’ box, depending on its condition. Also, think about the last time you used it. If it’s been more than a year, you probably don’t need it anymore, and it’s time to let it go.
Create a new system
Once you’ve spruced up your home, don’t just wait for the next big decluttering session. Make things easier for yourself and your family by coming up with a system that everyone follows to keep things tidy all the time. For instance, have laundry baskets available so clothes don’t end up strewn everywhere. You could also set a rule where everyone cleans up right after they’re done with an activity or cooking.
Let’s face it—living with clutter isn’t fun. It doesn’t matter where or how you begin, as long as you take that first step. Once you clear out space you might have forgotten you had, you’ll realise just how liberating it can be—no more tripping over things on the floor or wrestling with wardrobe doors that won’t shut!