DECLUTTE for good
(allsortedout.com.au), if your kids (or you!) are undecided about giving away or keeping an item, give them a ‘think about it’ box.
“Start with baby steps so you don’t overwhelm them,” says Jo.
“Place items that they’re unsure about into this box, and leave it there for a set time – say, 10 days. Put the date on the box – July 26, 2020, for example. Revisit the box on that day for a decision, and if the child is no longer fond of an item, it can be moved on. If it’s a sentimental item, it could be kept in a ‘keepsakes’ box but not on the kitchen bench in the run of everyday living.”
MAKE IT FUN
Try telling the kids that organising can be fun and you’re likely to get a choir of LOLS. But there really are ways to get creative when you declutter. Artistic kids will relish colour-coding, whether it be their T-shirts, their toys or their books. If it’s toys or knick-knacks, make it easy to remember where everything
is by matching storage box colours to item colours.
BACK IT UP
Got cupboards, drawers and boxes full of paperwork and not sure if you’ll need them again? Now is the time to start scanning. It could be tax receipts or handmade birthday cards from the kids. What’s the solution for this paperwork that you don’t look at often? Scan them in and back them up on an external hard drive, then make a spreadsheet of where everything is for easy access. Don’t have a scanner? Use an app instead, such as Adobe Scan or Scanbot.
THE FIVE-MINUTE RULE
It’s true – the idea of decluttering can be overwhelming at first. A weekend sorting through your wardrobe or the kid’s bedrooms? Boring! Experts advise to start small. How small? In five-minute bursts. Five minutes will not make much of a dent, but it’s a start and it lets the momentum build for the next five minutes in the days after, and then after that. Celebrate these small achievements; you’re on your way to a clutter-free home.
MAKE CASH FROM YOUR CLUTTER
One benefit of decluttering is you can make some quick cash. Set aside anything you think might make money, from old mobile phones to unused furniture. Then sit down and spend a day listing them all at once on Gumtree or ebay. There are also community Facebook pages for buying and selling, which are worth checking out.
Take as many images as you can, write a detailed description and watch the money roll in!
GET BACK TO BASICS
What do you need? According to Jo, we should think about the absolute essentials we need in our home to be functional and joyful and prioritise those items.
“Many items sitting in our cupboards belong to what I refer to as ‘old hobbies’ – we don’t spend time on these hobbies any more, so the equipment that goes with them can be elbowed,” says Jo.
“For example my cross-country skis – which I’d loved and used for a good six years, were no longer getting any use, so off they went.”
According to Jo, by letting go of what we no longer use or want, we invite the future in.