How to Get Rid of Clutter at Home

They say everything is bigger in Texas, but no matter how big your house is, it can only handle so much clutter. Instead of seeking out Dallas houses for sale in hopes of finding a second domicile for your overflow, how about kicking that hoarding habit once and for all?

Put your piles in piles

Organization is the best weapon for fighting your inner clutter-bug. Look around you. See all that stuff? Feel like you don’t even know where to start? Just start anywhere. Pick something up, look at it, think about it, and then start a pile with it. Have one pile for things you definitely want to keep, one pile for things you definitely want to throw away, one pile for things you want to donate, one pile for things you think you can sell, and one pile for things you’re not sure about yet. That last pile will probably be the biggest one, but don’t feel bad. Once you have everything separated, delve back into that “I don’t know” pile and repeat the process. Eventually, you’ll whittle it down and be left with a system that is much more manageable than what you started with.

It’s a sprint, not a marathon

Don’t feel like you have to completely change your entire living situation overnight. It’s okay to take it slow, just so long as you don’t fall into the trap of procrastination. Trying to do too much in too short of time is a good way of burning yourself out, which often leads to giving up entirely or taking a long break, which quickly becomes a longer break, then an even longer one, then before you know it you’re not doing anything at all. For best results, pace yourself by decluttering in short, controlled bursts. Don’t worry about the whole house, do a room at a time. Don’t worry about the whole room, do a corner at a time. Piece by piece, it all adds up.

Be ruthless, not sentimental

This isn’t to say you shouldn’t keep anything for reasons of sentimentality, but ask yourself “Is this item really that important to me or am I just using that as an excuse to hold onto it?” The first thing you should determine when deciding what to do with one of your belongings is how practically useful it actually is. If it has no immediate utilitarian use, that’s when you need to really think long and hard about whether it’s worth keeping. Be especially wary of items you don’t actually use, but that you plan to use eventually. “Eventually” often becomes “never.” If you’re really on the fence, commit to using the item within one year. If a year passes and you haven’t touched it, toss it.

Take a look in the mirror

This is the hardest but most important step to take on your journey of decluttering. After all the time and effort you’ve put into cleaning and organizing your home, the worst thing would be if you immediately fell back into your hoarding ways and eventually undid all your hard work. Of all the things you’ll throw away over the course of this process, the trickiest one is your own impulse to hold onto things you don’t need. The biggest change you have to make is to yourself. Commit yourself to not returning to your old ways and enjoy your newly decluttered home with true peace of mind.