De-cluttering a house that's filled to the brim with 'stuff' is a difficult task. However, you can make this experience a lot less challenging by understanding some of the most common mistakes that people tend to make when tackling this type of project and doing your best to avoid making these errors during your own de-cluttering session. Read on to find out what these mistakes are.
Failing to establish a disposal plan
If you don't bother to come up with a detailed plan regarding how you'll dispose of the items you come across during this project, you will almost certainly end up creating a very large mess. Throwing all of your unwanted belongings into one big, disorganised pile will result in you having to extend the length of this project by several days (if not weeks!), as you'll then be forced to sort through this collection of rubbish.
As such, before you go anywhere near your clutter, you need to get organised. Firstly, you'll need to set up at least three separate areas in your garden, garage or spare room for this project. In the first area, you can place clutter that you intend to sell. The second area can be devoted to items that can be either donated to local op-shops or recycled. The third area will be for rubbish.
Obviously, the items in the third section will need to be taken to the nearest landfill. You can, of course, do this yourself; however, if you have a very small car or don't live very close to a rubbish site, you will probably end up going on several long journeys back and forth from the landfill. If this doesn't appeal to you, consider looking for a rubbish removals company in your area that you can rent a skip bin from. The bin can be delivered to your property, left there for the duration of your de-cluttering project and collected on a date of your choosing.
Letting your emotions get the better of you
Throwing out belongings which, although they may not be useful, hold a lot of sentimental value, can be difficult from an emotional standpoint. If you're not prepared for the emotions that will inevitably come up during this project, they could end up causing you to stop midway through the process.
If you know that you will struggle to dispose of items such as childhood mementos and family knick-knacks, ask a friend or a relative to assist you with this project. Then, should you find yourself coming up with excuses as to why you cannot throw out a particular item, they can help you to question your reasoning, and encourage you to let go of that item.
Additionally, try not to be too hard on yourself. If the process of going through and throwing out your childhood belongings, for example, is proving to be very challenging, switch to a smaller, less emotionally draining job, such as de-cluttering one of the drawers in the kitchen. Then, when you're feeling a bit calmer, return to your original task. By taking a slow-but-steady approach, you can ensure that your emotions don't end up preventing you from achieving your de-cluttering goals.
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