New studies have demonstrated how clutter can negatively affect stress, life satisfaction, physical health, and cognition. Here we look at 3 ways to de-clutter our homes for good.

When we think of decluttering, we picture cleaner spaces and fewer things. Less clutter creates a calm, organised space that feels light, spacious, homely, and safe.

But for too many of us, our homes are just yet another thing that causes stress. And clutter is to blame.

Clutter makes a space busy and hard to clean. If your home is less cluttered, you’ll be able to keep it looking pristine with minimal work.

Let’s look at some methods we can use to de-clutter.

How can we reduce that clutter?

Detach to de-clutter

Detaching means separating ourselves from the emotional value we give to things.

• How many items do you have that you never use but feel you can’t get rid of because they were a gift? Or because you gave them some sentimental value?

Of course, sentimental objects are an important aspect of our life. We all want to have a few keepsakes. But more often than we think, we let this process dominate our lives.

• Do you feel the urge to hold on to every item that you’ve ever owned?

How about re-assessing how vital this item for you really is. Take the test of time. If many months go by and you still haven’t reached for it, it has no place in your home.

• Do you keep every birthday card and every drawing the children ever made?

Try to set some rules on how many you can hold on every year. For example, it may be a specific number of items or until you fill up a small container. Be strict and stick to your rules.

• Do you keep items in memory of someone?

What best then to hold fond memories in our minds than inside our homes. And if you feel that you want to keep a specific object to remind you of someone, try only keeping one.

Can you count from how many people you would want to keep memories of? How many objects would that be? How much space would you need to accommodate them all? Think about this.

• How do you deal with friends and family when they question you about the items they gifted you in the past?

You can tell them how much you cherished their present. You can tell them that you loved it so much that you decided to pass it on to someone else to benefit from it too.

Another option is to find a new or different use for it. For example, most of the tea mugs I receive these days make gorgeous pots for my young plants. My windowsill never looked funkier!

Break away from collections to de-clutter

One of the worst things you can do is view something as a collection when it comes to hoarding clutter.

• You probably think of your Books, Tools, Shoes, Teapots, Dinnerware, Cutting boards, Recipe books, Kitchen tins, DVDs, and much more, as a ‘collection.’

There is also a good chance that you will have made sure to include every item from your collection in a particular category or that you feel says something about you.

Consequently, you make it impossible to get rid of any of these items away without ruining your massive collection!

Once you realise that you are doing this simply to justify your collection’s existence, decluttering will become an easier task.

Take a pause before bringing new things in your home

Before you bring anything new to your home, always take a pause.

• Many factors contribute to convincing us to make a purchase.

The media constantly bombard us with messages about acquiring more material things.
The advertising sector is purposefully preying on our feelings to lead us to believe in unrealistic ideals and buy related products.

When we buy based on emotion, most of the time, we make the wrong decisions. Instead, we can first do our research to make the purchasing process lengthy and complicated.

This delaying tactic can help us clarify whether the item will improve our life or not.

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There is a sense of freedom when we discover how much space we have at our disposal and how few things we need in our lives. Don’t you think?