5 Essential Rules of Decluttering

Decluttering is essential for your wardrobe, vanity, and life. You cannot keep a hold of everything that you have. You have to let go of certain things when it is time. Holding onto something when it is not required will occupy space, and there will be no room for what you need to accommodate. Decluttering is the basis of maintaining and keeping things organized. Here are some decluttering tips, the golden rules for decluttering your home.

Check for the expiry date

If it is products in your vanity and those that have an expiry date, look for their shelf life. If it has exceeded its duration, you have to let it go. You can look for ways to reuse the products without causing any side effects. For instance, for a cleanser that just reached its expiry date, using it on your skin is not safe. Instead, you can use them to clean your makeup brushes and sponges. We all might have products that just lie on the vanity but are of no use. 

Segregate

Go through your stuff and segregate them as per their condition and requirements. You can pile them as the ones you are going to KEEP, the ones that you cannot use but will be of use to somebody else as DONATE, and ones that will not be used anymore as TRASH. You can also make a pile of things you might want to hold for some time and then use them when required or dispose them after a while. 

Keep up with keeping away

Decluttering is an eventual process. Not everything that you own will last or be of use forever. When you discover that you aren’t utilizing something as often or it is no longer necessary, consider storing it in the pile of items you have put on hold. If you keep the stuff you use and don’t, together, the decluttering process will become tedious. When eventually done, it will not consume as much time and energy. You cannot declutter all at once. As you keep purchasing and your needs expand, so does the necessity of things and getting rid of them.

Someday, sometime

You might look at certain things and think those might come in handy someday. This notion will not let you set things aside for decluttering. Instead, this will cause you to consider keeping them because you may need them sometime. Well, that will pull you from rationally analyzing what you need and don’t. If you are in a dilemma, store them in the pile where you hold on to things and later declutter. 

Organize after!

When you organize before decluttering, you might not want to flip through things again. Look for what you want, let go, and then assemble. Organizing and decluttering should go hand in hand. You have to segregate and get rid of what has to go and go ahead with making an order of the ones you will need. Organizing the trash along with the necessary will also take a lot of time and energy.

Bonus tip: How to declutter your wardrobe

The same applies to your wardrobe as well. Go through your racks and look for the ones you can reuse in any other form. For instance, make a maxi out of an old saree. If you cannot use the clothing in any way, but it is in good condition, then donate it. Try wearing your once-worn crop top with jeans with your pajamas at home. It is your call to keep it or to discard it. Do not put too much stress on yourself for not letting it go. If you find some use for the things, have it. If not, move it. 

You don’t have to prepare a decluttering checklist to sort things. Instead, go through what you own and conclude its requirements. When you are having difficulty decluttering, scroll down to our decluttering tips to give you some direction.