If you haven’t heard about the decluttering the nation has suddenly undertaken, well, I don’t know where you’ve been hiding! 😛
Charity shops have been inundated (hooray) with donations, everyone is selling more on the main second-hand sites, and recycling centres have people queuing to get in! Yes, seriously! People are sorting their prized possessions from their junk and getting rid of the excess.
If you haven’t heard of Marie Kondo by now, or the KonMari method, then have a quick look here! Marie Kondo is a Japanese organising consultant. The basic principles of her ‘Life Changing Method’ which she follows include:
- Committing yourself to tidying up
- Imagining your ideal lifestyle
- Finishing discarding first
- Tidying by category, not by location
- Following the right order
- Asking yourself if the item ‘sparks joy’
Of course, this method is not the only method available, and you may of course already have your own system. There are loads of books about organising, decluttering, tidying, discarding and mindfulness, and just picking up (libraries are great!) a book and flicking through can spark some motivation!
Here’s a few ideas to get you started:
- The chipped mug in the kitchen which you love but can’t drink out of – repurpose it as a pen pot, or even a plant pot, or (carefully), smash it and use the large pieces (use gloves) as decorative bits in the garden (press into soil or cement or use in pots).
- That top in your wardrobe which you wore before you lost 10kg (come on, optimism)! you haven’t worn it in a year, so donate it to charity.
- Those books which you bought as a student and haven’t touched since, they can go too (try a local reselling site)!
- The bubble bath you got as a gift three years ago but didn’t like the smell, if it’s unopened (& in date) donate it, otherwise use it as a sink cleaner and recycle the bottle.
- All those candles which you keep forgetting to light – do it now to create a relaxing environment whilst you start on all those papers on the desk…
Me? Well, I still have a LOT of books to sort and sell, and a desk to declutter then dismantle! I use the kitchen table as my workspace so I don’t need the desk anymore! 😀
Where are you going to start?!
