Once a new season starts to approach, you may be looking to hit the refresh button. Whether that is to start up a new health challenge, or to gut your house of anything you don’t need. As the leaves start to fall, and the majority of us have gotten comfortable and settled into our places over the last few months, it may be needing an update — the perfect time for a declutter.
So, turn on some music and start dancing around your living area as you go through all your possessions. First, start off in your bathroom. As it’s most likely the smallest room in your living area, it may be the easiest to complete. Go through all your junk drawers, your cabinets, and anywhere else you may like to stockpile items.
As you go through each item, remember to ask yourself if it brings you joy or not. Does each item still serve you and your family, or is it collecting dust? If collecting dust is the answer, consider getting rid of it. As some items hold sentimental value, consider giving it to a loved one that may use it more than you. For instance, your nephew may use your old CD player your Dad got you years back. Giving an unused item a new purpose could shift your feeling of guilt into a more positive feeling. To take things a step further, read through our tips and tricks to getting rid of sentimental clutter.
Make It a Challenge
Challenges inspire most of us to get what we need to done faster and better. Whether you’re decluttering your home by yourself or with your family, make it a challenge to declutter your home in 30 days. Print out our sentimental decluttering challenge for everyone that wants to participate. Delegate who should take what cleaning responsibilities and see who gets each done faster!
Make it even more interesting with a prize. Once the first one is done decluttering their designated area (and it’s up to par) treat them with an ice cream cone or another prize of their choice. Even make it a family activity and all go out for ice cream once the challenges is completed. For our printable, you could take decluttering slower and clean one area of your living space each day for 30-days straight. Doing this, you may not notice the positive impacts until the job is complete.
Practice Gratitude While Decluttering
While some items may be harder to say goodbye to compared to others, practice gratitude for what you do have. Not only will you get rid of things that don’t serve you anymore, but you may also find yourself saving more real estate in your budget. Download and print out our reflection sheet to help you stay on the right decluttering track.
Once you’ve downloaded the printable, fill out each section as you go. Every morning you wake up, practice gratitude. What are five things you’re grateful for today? Along with that, create a decluttering action plan. What are some areas in your life you’d like to clean up? As the day goes on, start checking off these cleaning to-do tasks to put your thoughts at ease. To sprinkle some more positivity into your morning routine, write out a few things you’re looking forward to. This could be your morning coffee, your daily lunch walk, or even your dinner spent with family.
Repurpose, Reuse, and Recycle
Save the earth and your wallet while decluttering. As you sift through plastics, electronics, and paper products, stay mindful of what you’re able to recycle or gift to someone who may use it. Keep in mind that some items have different disposal requirements than others. For instance, most electronic shouldn’t go in the trash, some need to be discarded in a more mindful fashion.
As you go through your belongings, set aside all electronics you’d like to dispose of to ensure you’re recycling it as needed. Print out our wasting sorting game to see which items need to go in which recycling bin. Pull this out during family game night to see who can get each item correct the fastest. As you make future purchases, ensure you’re investing your money in items that’ll last you years.
Getting rid of items that have a special place in your heart can be hard. Yet, the feeling of a clean living space can feel more than refreshing. Most of the time, when you have a cleaning living area your anxiety can be put at ease. Instead of thinking about the piles of clothes that surround your room, you may be more focused on your project at hand.
This new season, start on the right foot and challenge your family to declutter your living area and life. Take some time to spread it over a month’s work, or get your family on board to complete a weekend cleaning challenge to see how fast you can complete it all. Once everything’s come to a wrap, you may feel refreshed and ready to take on this new season. As always, don’t forget to treat you and your family for the hard work you put in. Go out for a nice dinner, ice cream, or host a movie night at home with your favorite candy.
As for the items you may not need anymore, consider giving to those in need. You could post them for free on a local site, reach out to communities that may need more, or donate them to a local shelter. If you have valuables that you think could sell for a fair ticket price, post them online. You could add them to your Facebook Marketplace or other social media accounts to catch the eyes of those that may want to buy them. And of course, reach out to your family and friends to see if they’d like your unused items before you give them away.
Author bio: Kayla Montgomery is a Junior Content Marketing Specialist at SiegeMedia
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