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Thursday, August 29, 2013

Decluttering Tips for the Sentimental Saver and Multi-Mover

I really should be embarrassed to put this on the Internet. However, I must believe that the majority of human beings are not incredible cleaning machines like my mom and granny, and that some of us struggle with the inevitable accumulation of stuff. Try moving once a year for four years, inheriting all of your husband's junk, cleaning out both of your childhood bedrooms, and then see if you too aren't guilty of just shoving bags into secret places where they never need to be dealt with. Oh and did I forget to mention starting new jobs/grad programs? It's exhausting!

One of my resolutions for the New Year (yes, back in January) was to declutter and finally go through all the stuff that I never had time to look at after we moved and I quickly started back at grad school. Even when I made this resolution, I knew I wouldn't really have the time until after graduation and summer travel plans. So, here at last, I can officially announce my great loss:

My donation items all lined up and ready to leave my house for good!
Here are some tips that helped me out along the way:

1. Make a plan. I started by listing all the things that I needed to go through. Old school papers. My enormous bag collection. Clothes. Shoes. Random under-the-bed boxes. The list helped keep me organized and moving forward.

2. Work in chunks. I learned quickly that if I tried to work on an entire room, I would actually create a bigger mess. While I would be getting rid of stuff, I would have to place items that needed a new home all over the bed. Then when I was done sorting through I'd be too tired to clean up my homeless items. My new strategy? Go through one bag/box/area, and when you are done clean up everything you've decided to keep before moving on. This helped a ton.

3. Create the assembly line of sorting! When I was going through my purses and bags, most of which were holding old school papers and teaching supplies, I set up three bags: one for trash, one for recycling, and one for donation. Then, all the items I was saving were placed to the side and given new homes once the sorting was complete. It keeps the process moving quickly and gives you less time to think on each item.

4. Ask the right question. I used to sort through my clothes and ask myself if I could or would wear a particular item again. Now I don't ask if I will wear it in the next year, I ask if I have worn it in the past year.  If the answer is no, toss it in the donation bag. I tended to do this with furniture as well. I thought it'd be nice to have that futon in the future when we live in a house and have a basement and might need an extra bed for all of our guests. But right now? We live in a two bedroom in the DC suburbs with no plans to purchase a house. Why hold on to something that just takes up space, simply because I might use it in the future?

5. Have a give-away party with the girls. This happens so much with my group, that I assume that it's normal. We are all similarly sized, though we all look quite different ('Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants' truths), at least enough to rummage through each other's old clothes. It's fun to see your old items start an exciting new life, and also to feel like you are keeping your old favorites in the family! It helps that we are all young professionals/students who won't pass up free stuff!

6. Lose the weight- donate! You'll feel great about having a cleaner, less cluttered space, and you'll also feel good knowing that your clean, gently used items (please don't drop unsellable trash off to those sweet Goodwill workers) are going to a good cause.

7. Repeat. So while I'd like to think that I've fixed my cluttering situation once and for all, I know this is a process that I will have to repeat frequently (All the moms out there- I can hear your "Wait until you have kids" reaction from this side of the monitor!). I think the most important thing is finding a system that works for you and doing it often. Let's hope we are all on the way to a cleaner space. And maybe just for today, I can pretend that I did take after my mother and that it was always that way, after all! ;-)

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