How to declutter your home ahead of 2022

The thought of decluttering your home can be overwhelming. Where do you start? Do you have time?

Then there’s often the anxiety that comes with the thought of throwing something away. Will you one day find a purpose for all those long-forgotten trinkets?

Don’t worry – decluttering can be a surprisingly achievable task. Here’s how you can start:

Focus on the fix

If you’re anxious about tidying some long-forgotten junk, you’re not alone. According to a survey conducted by American household manufacturer, Rubbermaid, 91% of people said that they felt overwhelmed, at least some of the time, by clutter in their house.

But did you know that having a cluttered home can affect your mental health? Another survey suggested that those living in cluttered homes were more prone to fatigue and higher levels of stress.

There are several ways to tackle a messy home.  You can work room by room or use the four-box method. Pick one strategy, maintain that focus and stick to it.

Apply method to the madness

For those unfamiliar with the four-box method, it is a simple yet effective strategy. get four boxes and label them as trash, donate, keep, and re-locate. Then work your way around each room in your home and place items into the relevant boxes.

It may take longer than a couple of hours or even longer than a week but allocating yourself an hour where possible to do so will see the clutter begin to disappear.

Similarly, the 12-12-12 challenge may be another preferred method. With this strategy you need to locate 12 items to throw away, 12 to donate, and 12 to return to where they really belong in your home.

Both these methods could be repeated every few weeks or until you feel content with the space you’re in.

Back to basics

An old-fashioned list is a good way to start too. Create a list of your ‘declutter plan’ to visualise what needs to be done. Tick off completed tasks – this can be satisfying!

Mrs. Hinch’s ‘Life in Lists’  may be a worthy purchase for those who struggle to find a starting point.

For extra motivation there are plenty of books that will give you many reasons for why you should declutter your home.

Clean is the new clutter

Starting the monstrous task of decluttering can seem impossible at first, but with the right approach, you might even enjoy it!

Even though it will most likely take a few weeks going through many neglected possessions, decluttering for a few minutes today could turn into dedicating one hour to the job tomorrow, and so on.

And, who knows, you might even find a few forgotten treasures to reminisce over and brighten your clean in the process!