Feeling like you’re buried up to your neck in junk? The last two years have affected many people’s habits in this regard, and many are now struggling to regain control over their households and restore some sense of order. Reducing all that clutter isn’t actually that bothersome once you actually get to it but taking those first few steps can sometimes feel like a huge chore. Here are some tips for making this as easy as possible and minimizing the risk of falling back into your old habits.
Accept That This Will Take A While
If it has been a while since you last gave your home a thorough cleaning, it will take some time to sort everything out and start seeing some results. Be patient, and don’t get discouraged by the mountain of work you see ahead of you. As soon as you’ve taken a few steps towards working on all that clutter, most of the negative emotions will go away and will be replaced by a motivation to finish this as soon as possible.
Things You Don’t Want to Get Rid of Yet, But Also Won’t Need for a While
You’ll likely come across a good chunk of things that you don’t know what to do with for the time being. You know you definitely don’t need them right now, but you can’t be sure about the next few months. A temporary storage solution can be a great way to approach this problem. A self-storage unit doesn’t cost a lot of money and can usually be rented out for a shorter term without problems. This can allow you to offload some of your belongings for a while and focus on getting the rest of the home cleaned thoroughly. Once that’s done, you can start thinking about what you actually want to do with all those extra items.
You Have to Make This a Permanent Habit
If you got to this state once, it will happen again unless you put some effort into making this a permanent habit. Dealing with junk on a regular basis is not fun, but we all have to do it. And the more you let those problems pile up, the more difficult it’s going to be to even start resolving them later on. Try to build a habit and maintain it to the best of your abilities. Once you’ve gained some momentum, it will be much easier to keep the ball rolling and keep your home nice and tidy.
Ideally, you should set aside some time for this every week if your schedule allows for it. You can prepare a spot that you’d use to collect items for sorting through the week, and then just go through the pile regularly. This will free you from having to constantly think about sorting your belongings during the week, allowing you to focus on more important tasks. Once the time comes to sort through the big pile, it will be much easier to dedicate your full attention to it until the task is done.
