EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE
A PRIMER TO DECLUTTERING YOUR LIFE,
Looking for a New Year’s resolution you can actually keep? Well, you may want to look less at yourself and more at your living space.
Rather than set yourself up for possible failure by setting the same old goals — lose weight (oh, but those cookies), drink less (oh, but it’s been such a long day) and travel more (oh, but rent) — why not consider pledging to do something that’s relatively easy to accomplish, costs almost nothing and is extraordinarily rewarding.
Decluttering
“Less is more in so many ways,” says Elinor Warkentin of Goodbye Clutter! Consulting & Organizing Services. “I love this time of year and actively look through my closets, drawers — in fact my entire home — for things I no longer need or love.”
Warkentin says the idea of decluttering and reorganizing can easily be extended beyond the literal application of purging unwanted items from the home and can be used as an emotional refresh, too.
“I also take time to purge on an inner level, looking back at my year and saying emotional goodbyes,” she says. “Then I open the door to opportunity and fresh adventures.”
This desire to be less overwhelmed by items in your life, in addition to the potential mental-health benefits of removing said clutter, is a reason many experts say decluttering and reorganizing should be near the top of your mustdo list for 2017.
“There is something about creating order in a home that creates a sense of stability and control in life,” says Marie Potter, a professional organizer based in Vancouver. “Having a place for everything is a fundamental organizing principle that is important to maintaining the system. Not having a place for everything is what gets people in trouble, and over time that leads to chaos and ultimately overwhelms.”
Emotional junk
While few people would dispute the value of letting go of unwanted items — after all, we could all use a little more space — most people would agree it’s a feat that’s much easier said than done.
According to Potter, people put off decluttering or reorganizing their homes for three main reasons.
“They are too overwhelmed, they don’t know how or where to start or they are procrastinating,” she says.
Aside from a reluctance to pause and take full stock of the abundance of “things” we’ve accumulated over the years (cue the “Where did that come from?” moment), it’s also often difficult to ignore the sentimental connection we’ve created with the things — and disassociate the physical item from the memories attached to it.
“This is a common problem,” says Alec Oxenford, co-founder of the app letgo. “We form irrational, emotional attachments to items even though we often haven’t used them in years.”
It’s for this reason that Oxenford and his team created the online marketplace application, which allows users to quickly post items they wish to get rid of — from electronics and fashion, to furniture and sports equipment — and connects them to local buyers who wish to take them off their hands.
“Letgo helps Canadians declutter their homes by making it amazingly easy to sell what you no longer need around the house,” he says. “It’s a freeing experience.”