If you are constantly trying to tidy up your space... If you are always putting your clothes over the back of a chair because you can't open your wardrobe due to the avalanche that would result... If you are actually tripping over piles of stuff on the floor... Maybe you just have too much stuff!
Everyone accumulates junk over time. Even if you don't think of yourself as a packrat, it's helpful to go through all your belongings once in a while, and either throw out, or give away, anything that you don't need anymore. Excess items don't just have a bearing on your physical environment. They also affect your mental environment, and your finances. That's because the more things you have, the more time, energy and money you have to devote to their storage, maintenance, insurance and upkeep. On a spiritual level, many people, including devotees of Feng Shui, believe that the energy flow in your home can be stifled and blocked by too much stuff lying about the place.
Here are some decluttering tips:
Ask yourself:
If the item is neither useful nor beautiful, what are you keeping it around for?
Basically you have four options with items that you are going to get rid of:
Broken, irreparable items should be thrown out, or preferably recycled.
Consider whether you can recycle the item as a gift for a friend or family member. If you decide to do this, wrap the item up as a gift and label it carefully. Also, if you originally received the item as a gift, make sure it wasn't from the person you're going to give it to!
You might like to see if you can sell the item through ebay.com or a regular garage sale. For more valuable items, such as antiques, you might be better off approaching an auction house or dealer that you know.
Giving stuff away to a good cause such as Oxfam or the Salvation Army increases the feelgood factor, because not only are you freeing yourself from clutter, you're helping someone else too.
Clothes are a tricky thing to declutter because they tend to have more emotional weight (pun intended) than other belongings. Try taking everything out of your wardrobe to start with, and as you put the items back, cull any garment that doesn't fit, that never looked right on you once you got it home from the store, that you never felt happy in, that needs attention such as a repair or replaced button, or that you haven't worn in the last year. Also keep out any item that's only appropriate for seaonal wear, i.e. winter coats, if you are doing the clearout in summer. Try not to pay any attention to the original cost of the item. Try not to think that you'll diet into an item, because shouldn't your clothes fit you rather than the other way 'round? Give the gorgeous but not flattering stuff to your friends, or take them down to your local charity store. Mend anything that needs it. Fold the seasonal stuff and store it, maybe in a suitcase or box under your bed.
Books and music tend, like enemies, to accumulate over time. If you are never going to re-read a book, sell it or pass it along to a charity store. If it's a classic title, it'll still be available in libraries. If it's some worthy tome you know you should read, but really don't want to, you know you'll never realistically get around to reading it unless you're snowed in for a month, and even then only if someone actually ties you to a chair; get it out of your house and off your conscience. If you have CDs or tapes that you haven't listened to in ages, accept that musical tastes change, and give them away or sell them too.
Text books, sports equipment and musical instruments cost so much that even if you'll never again dissect Kieregaard, ski or play the guitar, it seems harsh to get rid of them. Worse still, you may feel guilty everytime you look at that exercise bike you never use. But why be bound to old enthusiasms? Why force yourself to feel bad? Getting rid of these items allows space for new interests to enter your life, and helps you to move on.
If you can't bear to get rid of a hideous item that you'll never use, because it was a gift, try the "kiss it goodbye" technique. Hold the item over the bin or the box for donations to Oxfam or wherever, and remember recieving it as the welcome present it was. Think about the person who gave it to you, and what they were trying to convey with the gift. Feel grateful towards them. Remind yourself that you got the message that the giver loves you when you got the gift, and you don't need to keep the item as proof. Hold these thoughts in your head for as long as you need to, while you hold the item in your hands. Then kiss the item goodbye -- literally if you like! -- and put it in the bin or box.
Another good tip for items that have no other value than sentimental. If there's something you really don't need, like your kid's first stab at model-making, but you don't fancy throwing it out, put it in a sealed box, and label the box with the date. Put the box away for a year, and then throw it out. If there's something you need during the year from the box (and there probably won't be!), ask someone else to get it out of the box for you.
To avoid getting cluttered up again, the next time you go shopping, before you leave the house, ask yourself if you already have something you can use. For example, don't go grocery shopping until you've had a good look through your cupboards. Don't buy another book until you've read all the ones on your shelves. Once you do go shopping, ask yourself do you really need a particular item you have your eye on, or do you just want it? Because in the end, the use you make of your money, is the use you make of your energy.