How to declutter your apartment in just one afternoon (and game-changing organization tools & books)

Tossing things is harder than it sounds. You’ve probably noticed.

It’s not always as simple as tossing your 15-year old, ratty t-shirt that has stains all over it. What if it reminds you of the nights at the lake house with your family and the only things you were allowed to pack were old clothes you didn’t mind getting mustard on because you typically only ate hot dogs and grill-able food?

Exactly. So much of our stuff holds sentimental value that it makes it difficult to let go of.

In this article, I’m going to help you toss those old things around the house that just aren’t serving you—and it can all be done on one rainy afternoon (and star your 2019 off right).

The key to solid decluttering? Ask yourself: What type of energy does it have?

It wouldn’t matter what name brand that dress is if it’s an aspirational “two-sizes-too-small-until-I-finally-hit-my-goal-weight” dress. It’s sitting in your closet, collecting dust and reminding you that you desperately want to fit into it, even though you’re never been that size (or you were for exactly one month). That type of energy we don’t need as we want to be happy where we are today.

And, those knickknacks that your late grandmother gave you—yeah, she’s not monitoring you in the heavens wondering if you’re displaying those bad boys on your shelves. Rest assured—she wants you to be happy and if those items don’t suit your life or apartment—toss them. She is NOT turning over in her grave.

Decluttering and tossing old items is such a cleansing experience—once you get over the initial, “but what if…” stage.

The “what if” stage will get you every time and try and convince you there will be one perfect moment in the future to use it but…don’t hold your breath. Ask yourself which items you’ve been holding onto that you think might serve you in the future, but not at all today.

Alright, you seen excited and anxious. I want to you to feel comfortable tossing.

So here are some basic benefits to clearing the clutter:

• You’ll have more physical space to add items to your wardrobe and apartment
• You tap into your creative freedom to possibly reinvent yourself for 2019
• You may detox old energy in 2018 and move forward mentally in 2019
• You may discover you re-do your apartment. Before you felt you couldn’t as you had too much “stuff” to move in order to do so
• You’ll literally feel lighter, spiritually
• You’ll feel like you’ve been very productive (the best feeling)

Now that you know the benefits, you can add those to the list.

Now, ask yourself: what would it feel like to have more physical and mental space in my life?

I’m serious—ask yourself the bloody question.

..

…..

…….

Feels freaking AMAZING, doesn’t it? Who wants to be a prisoner of the items they keep? No one. And I certainly don’t want you to be.

And if you’re anxious, here are my top picks for organizing your life and coming to terms with the mental part of decluttering (all available on Amazon):

• The Joy of Less (my TOP pick)
• The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing (super short but to the point)
• 10-Minute Declutter (because who wants to spend hours doing it)

So, let’s take a look at some of those items that you still decided to keep or have put only in the “maybe” pile to toss. I’ve sectioned it off by the area of your apartment/house

The Kitchen

1. The cups at the back of your cupboard that you never use nor can you really reach. If you’re single—you don’t need more than 4 or 5 mugs for coffee. How much are you drinking?
2. Your mom’s fine china when she was your age that she used as decoration but just clutters your kitchen
3. Your other blender you got before the new one you use regularly
4. Why do you have two crockpots? Donate one
5. That second pair of oven mitts that are burnt and basically ruined but you think one day you might lose the actual pair (that you’ve never misplaced in your life)
6. Overstock of cutlery. I know you’ve got hand-me-downs and new stuff in there so organize that sh*t
7. Everything under the sink. There will be half bottles of things there too
8. PROTIP: If you’ve got too many pans and cutting boards, check out this Pan Organizer

Your Room

1. That knickknack you made at your friends wedding that you literally have no place for so you notice it’s amongst your bookshelf
2. That book that has a sticky juice stain on the cover that is making other books sticky. You have no desire to read it again (if you ever did at all)
3. Those pictures in old frames. Put new ones in. Go to any drugstore or big retailer and they’ll print photos within the hour
4. Donating old books that you’ll never read again
5. Your computer needs some digital decluttering which should really have it’s own section. Consider purging those old photos and organizers your folders. And all those saved things on your desktop that you have been ignoring every time you log onto your laptop
6. What’s under your bed? I know it’s not just hair mats from your cat/dog.
7. PROTIP: consider these unbelievable drawer dividers that make your junk drawer organized

Living Room

1. That painting you intend to hang but haven’t yet because it doesn’t really go with your apartment
2. The deflated football from your high school football days
3. Old DVDs because your DVD player doesn’t work anymore
4. Any stereo equipment you may need to toss because you really only use Netflix

Hallway

• I already know your coat rack fell off the wall a few times in the past. It’s time to retire some of those off-season and old jackets you never wear.
• Your shoe rack. As a rule, we rarely wear all our shoes, and many of our heels are worn out. Do you still need them? Can they be fixed by a shoe repair person? Will you actually make it to that store to get them repaired? I do that for my most-loved shoes, but sometimes I am guilty of keeping shoes that look pretty but have little functionality. The end result: dust on dust

Closet

1. Your aspirational jeans. If you do magically lose those 7-10 pounds, you can buy new jeans. For now, those jeans serve as a reminder that you haven’t achieved your (unrealistic) goal
2. Those old pillow cases that don’t match either sets of sheets
3. Your 7-year old jacket just “in case” you decide to go camping even though you haven’t for 10 years
4. Old momentos from childhood where the memory is already in tact
5. Your ex-boyfriends sweatshirt or clothes of any kind
6. PJS. You’ve converted/downgraded a lot of old tshirts and sweats to PJ status but they’re not serving a function with that label (the same way they hardly served a function as actual sweats)
7. PROTIP: Consider this - we wear 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time. Crazy, right? Keep this in mind while you’re purging and you’ll quickly realize how much of our wardrobe we don’t need.

Home Office Area

• Old papers on or around your desk. Even if you bound them in a binder, you’ll notice you still won’t open the binder a year or two later
• Why do you have so many pens and pencils? Figure out which ones actually work. I guarantee 35% or more aren’t functional. And be honest, when was the last time you actually used a pencil?
• Old laptops you don’t use. You can donate these to most electronic stores and they repurpose them for a good cause

Storage Area You Secretly Hide in the House

1. Your remote controller from circa 2006 (seriously—why do you have that?)
2. Your cables that are in that box of “MISC” which you never open and actually get anxiety looking at when you open your closet
3. Any old electronics that you know you aren’t going to get fixed or get new batteries for (lamps, controllers, ipods from 2007)
4. CDs, floppy discs, old USBs. Do you really need those?

Bathroom

1. Half bottles of shampoo and conditioner
2. Any cosmetics over a year old (hint: they all have a little symbol that suggests the expiration date)
3. Old bandaids with stains on them from spilling iodine in the same box
4. Any duplicates
5. Old face masks or expired/dried up bottles
6. half-used deodorants
7. PROTIP: Need a place to put your makeup and hairbrushes? This cosmetic carousal might be exactly what you manifested.

This list of course is just an overview of the many tweaks you can do in an afternoon. You’ll be so happy with yourself once you make the leap. I’ve been working on my minimalist lifestyle and it’s a work in progress. I hope you’ll consider starting your journey today!

Good Luck and Have FUN

XO

NRD

Lifestyle & Dating Coach. Lover of Lifestyle Optimization, Book me TODAY

www.thedatecure.com

Let me know which tips helped you the most!