Decluttering before packing is an important aspect of preparing to move because it allows you to decide what you’ll need for the new house, what you’ll have room for, and what you won’t.
The most important thing to remember when de-cluttering is that you’ll be making room and getting rid of emotional baggage, whilst lowering your moving bills. An average four person house requires at least a seven tonne van to move, whilst a house that doesn’t de-clutter might need twice that!
Decluttering can be considered essential or heartless – but either way, moving house is one of the best times to do a proper declutter – in fact sometimes, its the only ‘spring clean’ that some people do. And while its always good to hang onto things of sentimental value, do you really need a newspaper from 1985 with an article about something that you needed to follow up within a week of the printing?
Get rid of any papers that you don’t need (though keep all important documentation) – consider donating any magazines, books, old toys or clothes in good condition to a local charity – or sell them on Ebay or similar, to make some cash.
These donations and sales make mental and space sense – you’re not wasting perfectly good items you will probably never use again, and you could sell the really good condition items in a variety of places. You could hold a yard sale, or garage or even a car boot sale – or if you have enough time, auction them online, either via a recognized site, or through your own website, if you have the know how – getting rid of the things you don’t need is both very freeing and releasing, and can actually generate you some extra money for the move. You could even sell off surplus office, or craft supplies, if you have them spare, making your home office move leaner, and easier.
Your real estate agent has come to your house to assess what needs to be done to sell it the quickest. The word, “declutter,” continues to come up. You assure your agent that you are a very neat person and that everything will be clean when the potential buyers come to view it. Many sellers encounter the same situation each day. What agents wish their clients would understand is that decluttering is more than just keeping the baseboards dust-free and the countertops wiped down. Try some of the following tips and wow your real estate agent, and especially, your buyers.
With pen, paper and clipboard in hand, tour the outside of your home, then the inside. As much as possible, pretend that you don’t own the house and even that you’ve never seen the place. You will quickly see what your real estate agent meant by decluttering when you use this new perspective. Write down anything which is the least bit offensive to the eye, including unruly hoses, toys in the front yard, a busy mantle above the fireplace and newspapers stacked up in the laundry room. The list will seem longer the more times you go through the process. However, the more you notice, the more prepared your home will be for eagle-eyed buyers.
The biggest stumbling block for sellers preparing their home for the market is their lingering attachment to their house. From repainting a room neutral, to taking family photos off the wall, sellers must accept that their time in that particular house is coming to an end. To counteract this mental block, take your most personal items out of rooms first. Get plenty of clear plastic tubs, or boxes to store your items. Treat the decluttering process as if you are preparing a model home for viewing. In order to sell your home, you have to give the buyers room to imagine their personal belongings. Little forward-thinking daydreams about decorating your new abode should also counteract those strong attachments.
A good round of decluttering will often leave you with a pile of boxes and bins to contend with. Although stacking them up in a closet seems like a nice, out-of-the-way option, this may not be the best choice. Consider that closet space is often one of the key selling points for a home. Closets should look as impeccable as possible. This will aid greatly in creating a spacious feeling. If the closets are crowded and messy, the buyer may think that your home is just not big enough, even if it has the square footage they want.
Your garage is the most acceptable place for storage in the mind of the buyers. Of course, not everyone has this luxury. If you can convince a family member, friend, or even a neighbor to let you store those boxes and crates, then take advantage of the opportunity. However, if you really need or want your storage items in the house, then try to stack them up in the least conspicuous place you can find. A playroom or basement can usually stand to have a few of these bins stashed in the corner. Better yet, think about renting a temporary storage facility to house these things.
Despite all your efforts, be prepared to hear your Tampa Bay Florida real estate agent tell you that you still have too many belongings cluttering the house. If this happens, just remember that they’re on your side and that they’re the expert. Also, remember that a well-decluttered house is your quickest ticket to a “Sold!” sign.
Decluttering your physical space can have an amazingly uplifting effect on your mood. Feng Shui experts claim that buildings and furniture store the memories of events in the form of energy, and that by de-cluttering you can clear the energy of historic traumatic events. Whether or not you put any store in that kind of theory, nobody who has ever de-cluttered a space could deny the positive benefits of increasing the physical space in their environment.
However, physical de-cluttering can also have a cathartic effect on people emotionally. When we let go of things we’ve been hoarding for a long time, we often let go of emotional memories we’ve been hanging onto along with them (albeit unconsciously), and so by clearing physical clutter you can clear space in your head and in your heart as well as your home.
Clutter though is not only physical. We can also have mental and emotional clutter blocking the flow of energy in our lives, and clearing this out is guaranteed to help improve our emotional wellbeing. Examples include undone/unfinished tasks; people/activities that drain you of energy; remaining angry at people; busyness – filling up your schedule with activities you feel duty-bound to do, and leaving no time to nourish your soul and refresh your body.
Some tips for clearing your physical clutter:
• Look at your home and identify the areas that need decluttering. Break it down into small tasks that can be tackled over a period of time, rather than one big project to be done in a day. Start small with everyday areas like the kitchen table and build momentum towards the areas you avoid because the idea of tackling them is just overwhelming.
• Go through your stuff and for each item ask yourself Do I love it? Do I need it? Do I use it? If you can answer yes to any of them, it stays. If it’s no to all, then it goes.
• Divide everything into four piles: Keep, Recycle, Donate and Dump. As soon as you’re done, remove the items that aren’t staying straight away and deliver them to their new destination.
• Once your big clear out is done, avoid a new build up by clearing out little and often.
Tips for clearing your Mental/Emotional Clutter:
• Make a list of anything you’ve been procrastinating over, and ask yourself why you have been putting it off. What can you tackle and what can you let go of? When you’re clear on what you definitely has to be done, make a plan and get to it.
• Stop worrying. There is nothing constructive about worrying – it won’t help you avoid the outcome you’re worrying about and it’ll destroy your ability to enjoy the present. When a worrying thought arises, quash it straight away and sing along with me “Everything’s gonna be alright, everything’s gonna be alright…” Focus your energy on what you’d like to happen instead.
• Follow through on promises and commitments. When you’ve said you’ll do something but you keep putting it on the long finger, it drains you of energy. If you can’t or don’t want to see them through, then be upfront about it and withdraw your promise.
• Let go of anger and forgive. When somebody hurts you badly, it’s a normal response to feel anger, and to not want to forgive. But anger is bad for your health, both physical and emotional, so it’s actually in your interests to let it go and forgive the other person. Forgiving them doesn’t mean you have to welcome them back into your life with open arms, it just means letting go of the memory of what they’ve done to you and the feelings that go with it. Maybe the other person doesn’t deserve forgiveness, but don’t you deserve to move on and leave the pain behind?
• Say no to people and activities that drag you down. Instead, surround yourself with people who uplift you and do things that make you feel great!
As with your physical clear out, don’t make this a once-off project or an irregular purge. Develop clutter free habits in every aspect of your life, and you will enjoy an easier flow through life on a continuous basis.
by The Organizer Lady dot com on December 12, 2009
Let’s face it; holidays can be a pain in the neck. I know there are those out there who love everything about the holidays, the hustle and bustle, the frantic preparations, sleepless nights, meal preparation, shopping and tucking gifts away only to forget where they are hidden. But some of us enjoy the hustle and bustle on our own terms. As a profession organizer I have 8 tips on how to declutter during the holidays to make them happier and less stressful.
Essential tips to a sizzling holiday meal:
1. Get yourself a holiday journal. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Start writing in it what you are going to have at your holiday meal. Keep this book as a template for future years. We are creatures of habit and what we do once we will probably do again. The next time we do it will be easier as we will have our notes saying what worked and what didn’t work. Be sure after the day is over and before you forget write what you liked and what was a flop. (If cousin Louie’s rolls are rock hard next year ask someone else to bring them). We think we’ll remember but often we don’t.
2. If you are assigning others to bring dishes for the meal write their name down by their assignment in pencil and notify them of what you want them to bring. If it is in pencil it is easy to make changes. Also tell them how many to prepare for. Tell them what you are going to furnish and give them choices of what they can bring.
3. Based on your menu write down your shopping list and then check to see if you have the ingredients. The things you don’t have write on a separate list to take to the store. Buy as many things as you can ahead of time. By doing this before the last minute you may be able to find sales on items you need. And remember the paper products.
4.Take a page out of a calendar you aren’t using or print one from the internet and paste this in your holiday journal. Since you will want to have your home looking its best write down things you want to see done each day before the holiday. Delegate to family members chores that they can succeed in doing. For instance young children can fold napkins; a teenager could arrange flowers, plan games, dust the folding chairs and get them out of storage etc. Make up a chart in your journal listing who is to do what chore and have them mark it off when it is done.
5. Plan plenty of time to clean the silver, get the bugs out of the light fixtures, dust the rungs on the chairs, check to see the linens are clean and pressed and any other things you want done.
6. Write down who is coming to dinner and arrange for table and chair space. You may need to borrow chairs so planning ahead will prevent headaches later. Make place cards for the table settings. All of these things can be done well in advance.
7. Schedule your hair appointment or manicure appointment. This will be a time for you to relax and regroup.
8. On the calendar if you don’t get something done on one day move it to the next day or the next. This will help you not to procrastinate.
9. Remember to include things on your list to do like clean out the refrigerator so you’ll have room for holiday leftovers.
These hot tips on how to declutter for the holidays can make your holiday go a whole lot easier and almost carefree.
About the author:
Marilyn, a professional organizer and author is passionate about organizing for women and seniors in clearing clutter from their lives. Her new book “Go Organize!” will be in bookstores Dec 2009. Visit her website http://www.marilynbohn.com. Marilyn is a published author and professional organizer. She invites you to visit her awesome website http://www.marilynbohn.com. for easy organizing. She is a sought after public speaker who is passionate about teaching women and seniors how to organize their life and reduce clutter in their homes and office. You can buy her new book ‘Go Organize! Conquer clutter in three simple steps’ in major bookstores, Amazon and her website December 2009.
by The Organizer Lady dot com on December 12, 2009
Decluttering your mind is like decluttering your home. You throw out what you don’t want and keep what you need. By taking control of your life you can make better decisions and focus on the things that matter the most. Here are 7 tips to declutter your mind and to help improve your quality of life.
1. Many people are list makers because it helps them not only remember what to do, but it helps them to prioritize. A brain dump of what’s stored in your head onto a notebook will help to declutter your mind and you will have a lot less thought juggling. Write down your thoughts and feelings as it can be therapeutic.
2. Deal with problems as they arise. If there are problems with people, take a few days to gather your thoughts. You don’t want to act in haste. Don’t put it off with excuses. The longer you leave the problem, the more stressed you feel as it will be a constant reminder and if it’s a recurring problem with a person, it can escalate and become worse.
Holding grudges takes a lot of energy. Instead forgive and give yourself peace of mind.
3. Surround yourself with positive people as they have a lot of positive energy.
4. Organize your life by adding and omitting items on your list, delegating home responsibilities and planning ahead. Set a schedule for yourself. Unexpected situations will happen, but at least you can look at your list and decide what to do next.
Your home should be clutter free too. A cluttered home depletes your energy and clogs your mind. The more you look at the mess, the more stressed you become and the idea of cleaning the clutter is overwhelming, but once you start organizing and eliminating you’ll feel better even when you’ve tackled a small area.
5. Learning to say no is important. Don’t take on more than you can handle or clutter your mind with unnecessary thoughts.
6. Some people don’t like to ask for help because they think it’s a sign of weakness, but it’s not true. Talking it out and sharing your thoughts with a friend about a situation can help you look at things in a different perspective instead of rehashing your own thoughts in your head.
7. Taking a break is another important task to do and many people don’t take advantage of it because they feel like it’s a time waster. Take frequent breaks of 15 – 20 minutes between your work schedule to refresh and re-energize your mind. A longer break like going on holidays is a great way to rejuvenate, re-evaluate and declutter your mind to focus on other things that are also important in life.
About the author:
Visit Sophia’s HealthyPerspectives.blogspot.com blog for an array of health topics, nutrition, recipes and fitness for maintaining an overall healthy and well-balanced lifestyle. She is the founder of WorkAtHomeSpace.com, a free work at home resource focusing on work at home companies, healthy living, articles, business resources and other work at home related topics.
