Minimizing and decluttering your belongings can be difficult work, especially when tackling sentimental items. But some of the things hanging around your house are truly useless and can be ditched without much thought. Check your junk drawer and the back of closets for these five items that you can get rid of today:
1. Stuff you don’t recognize - Pretty much every organizing session I have with a client turns up a few things they don’t recognize. It’s usually a tech accessories (all those random cables!) or hardware for unknown items. My policy is, if you can’t identify it, it needs to go!
2. Things that need to be repaired - I’m all for avoiding wastefulness and repairing items instead of replacing them. But most of us hold onto things that broke years ago and now are just taking up space. If you haven’t gotten it fixed in a year or more you obviously don’t need it! If it’s something you really want to keep, give yourself a deadline to get it repaired and put it in your calendar. If that date comes and goes and you still have not addressed it, it’s time to say goodbye.
3. Gifts you never liked - I’ve talked before about gifts and how you are not obligated to keep things simply because they were given to you by someone else. But this is especially true for those things that you knew immediately upon unwrapping that you would never use them. Feel good knowing you appreciated the gift when it was given to you and pass it along to someone else who will actually get some value from it.
4. Projects you haven’t finished - Most of us have supplies for craft or home improvement projects sitting around that we started long ago but never finished. Take a look at those things and have an honest talk with yourself about the likelihood of actually tackling the project. If you are still truly interested in getting it done, block out some time for it in your calendar in the next month.
5. Clothes that don’t fit - You know those ill-fitting clothes in your closet that you never reach for? Why not get rid of them today and make some space for things you will love to wear? The same goes for clothing that hasn’t fit in years but you’re keeping in case you lose weight. Accept where you are right now and resolve to treat yourself to new clothes if you do go down a size in the future.
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Make it fab!
Carrie