Declutter Your Home in Five Easy Steps
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| No matter the season, it’s always a good time for Spring cleaning. By that, I mean keeping your home in order by tossing or storing things you don’t use or need. Decluttering your home makes for a home with fewer accidents, less dust and mold, fewer fires, easier cleaning, and a fresher look. Here are five easy steps to declutter your home (while I say “easy,” I know that for some of us getting rid of anything can be difficult and painful): 1. Use the “three-box” system. Have three boxes labeled: Keep, Toss, and Store. As you go through all the items in a room or cabinet, put them into one of the three boxes. Items in the “Keep” box get put back. Items in the “Toss” box are donated or trashed. Items in the “Store” box go into the attic or basement. 2. Follow the 80/20 rule. We all use about 20% of our things 80% of the time. Toss or sell the other 80%. Getting rid of things is sometimes less painful if you donate them or sell them at a garage sale. 3. Give things the 6-month test. This is especially true for clothes. If you haven’t worn or used something in the past six months, put it into storage or, better yet, sell it or donate it. It may be outdated or may not fit. 4. Start slow and build momentum. If you’re a saver, decluttering can be painful. So, start with a realistic goal. Throw one thing away a day, for example. Or set the timer for 5 minutes and limit your decluttering to 5 minutes a day. Build your endurance over time. 5. Keep the end in mind. As you start to make progress in decluttering, you’ll begin to feel all the benefits: less stuff, less stress, less to clean, less to organize and less debt (all these “things” cost money). I know that decluttering is difficult for many people. But the rewards are there: more time to focus your energy on what is important, without getting distracted by all the stuff in your life! How much stuff do we have? • 32% of Americans can only fit one car in a two-car garage. • The fastest-growing segment in commercial real estate over the past 40 years are storage lockers. • The U.S. has 3% of the world’s children and 40% of the world’s toys. JANICE HOVORKA RE/MAX 303-324-4705 janice@janicehovorka.com http://www.janicehovorka.com Six-Year Five Star Real Estate Agent |