How to get rid of your unwanted stuff?
You are finally at a breaking point, feeling frayed and overtaken with the stuff. It is easier than you think to start the decluttering process, which takes steps to get rid of things.
Before you overwhelm yourself any further, accept the fact that it will not be a fast and furious endeavor, as most tasks are not so. Instead, I guarantee I will teach you how it is a step-by-step procedure where small jobs will lead to significant results.
The best way to begin is in the room or space that has been bothering you most of all. For example, a bedroom closet seems to be a popular place people want to change. They know that there are clothing, shoes, games, books, journals, sporting goods, and who knows what else needs to get sorted and reviewed. Make sure that the space is not too big to handle in a manageable time frame. You do not want to leave a big mess for another day. If that is the case, break the space down. For example, footwear one day, jeans another.
The Sorting Process
Start by pulling everything you intend to reconcile for the allotted time. Use a wide-open sorting space: a cleared hallway, cardboard tables, or an empty floor. Have bags or boxes for donations, sell, recycle, or stuff in another room.
Place everything in your open area and start sorting things in piles; separate shoes, handbags, ties, golf shirts, etcetera. Afterward, take one category that you divided into a group and further subdivide; place items by type, color, or fabric order. For example, footwear can subdivide into boots, formal, and sandals. Additionally, you can put them in color order and material. The key is to make your final piles as specific as possible.
Why Is It So Important To Spend Time With Detailed Sorting?
The more detailed you organize your belongings, the better. We know what we have and how much of each item we possess when we do so. The best way to eliminate things is to know what you have to confidently let go with the understanding that you have replacements or enough already. For example, If you know you have five pairs of black dress pants, you can easily part with the pair that does not quite fit or has too much wear because you have four pairs to fall back on.
If you are willy-nilly rifling through your closet or any space and scanning over your belongings, you will find yourself anxious and confused, unable to donate or part with items swiftly.
As a professional organizer, I abide by this method because I have gone along with clients’ plans to go through pieces in their wardrobe, pantries, and office spaces haphazardly, only to see them spent and drained in a short period from brain wear.
The decluttering process is so draining because complicated decision-making takes a toll. A logical system of detailed sorting takes the guesswork out and makes a person feel calculated and on the ball.
One Inventory At A Time
Please try and stick to fully reconciling one particular group of items at a time and see through the pile till the end. It is easy to get side-tracked and start looking at unrelated articles, but fight the temptation, or your tasks won’t get done or completed correctly.
Reconciling Tips
When going through belongings, look for stains, missing buttons, broken zippers, chipped picture frames, frayed cords, and leaky coffee pots. Then, ask yourself if the damaged items are worth repairing and cleaning.
People often buy parts, paints, and glue and spend hours tinkering around repairing things. The work involved in finding repair services or taking the time to fix things yourself can get overwhelming and frustrating, not to mention expensive if you need to outsource the work. Is it worth your time, and most importantly, do you have the willingness or stamina to take on these projects? These are critical considerations because, in the end, it is all worth the painstaking effort. Sometimes we are not even happy with the results.
Donating
Donation services are always there for you, and the easiest ones are the local drop-off centers in your community.
Many people have a calling to reach out to specialized charities, but these require your time and usually money. I am not discouraging anyone from these fabulous places, but they tend to be very specific. For example, they may need items to be dry-cleaned, newer, or a particular type. Also, almost always, they do not pick up and require you to ship the items at your expense.
It will take research on your part to find them online. Unfortunately, many go out of business or take a while to respond because of shortened hours and no full-time paid staff, so please be patient.
As a professional home organizer, I desire my clients have their unwanted items exit their homes immediately. I will do drop-offs at the local charities for them because the longer the donation bags hang around the house, the temptation to revisit them is possible, undoing all the decisive work.
It is best to depart with your unwanted items, and you will be helping someone else or recycling into the environment for future generations. I promise you will forget about your donated items once they leave your home.
Selling Things
Your unwanted items can also get sold. Make sure that you are willing to do this because donating is so much easier, considering the time and energy in the sale process.
Unless it is expensive, like gold, silver, antiques, coins, or rare collectibles, your used stuff is challenging because you work hard selling for a small return.
Most people overestimate what their stuff is worth and are disappointed when selling in a haggling low-ball resale marketplace. Most items are worth one-third of their actual cost for them or less.
You can research and sell your things on community resale marketplaces such as Facebook Marketplace, NextDoor, Craigslist, OfferUp, etcetera. These places require that a customer visit your home or business to pick up the items. In addition, some sites offer a shipping method.
Many online resale platforms like eBay, Poshmark, and Tradesy require quality photos uploaded and specific product descriptions. You also must abide by the site’s community rules involving customer service questions, shipping, and returns, which can occur even if you specify no returns.
There are still some brick-and-mortar resale stores, but they seem to be evaporating. Most sell furniture and antiques. Such places typically do business with consignment, and there is an end to the agreement where you are responsible for getting anything unsold.
The Decluttering Process Benefits
The process starts with sorting and ends with having unwanted items leave home to help someone or the environment or even profit.
The biggest hurdle is starting, of course, but you will fall into a rhythm once you get going, and the time will pass. It will not be oppressing as you think if you develop a system like the one mentioned here. A professional home organizer can jump-start the process for you, and I would advise doing if you are swamped or too overwhelmed because they will teach you how to go about the system, and you can learn that way.
