Unfortunately, for the majority of people acquiring material possessions seems to be the major way of happiness. We tend to buy a lot more than we actually need because the feeling of getting a new thing makes us feel good for a short time. each of us has one’s own issues which can be masked temporarily with the satisfaction of a new purchase. That is why we are buying without a stop.
Even if you are not buying goods excessively or even compulsively, it is still quite possible that you have developed some kind of attachment to objects. Just look at your house and try to understand whether it is filled with clutter or not. All of the things you are keeping there, no matter whether they are new or old, are clutter unless you use them. Of course, there are some things which are needed really rather rarely and they can be regarded as something needed just in case. Yet, the majority of things we tend to keep in our houses is not needed there at all.
The problem with clutter is that it requires space. It also demands your time for organising it over and over. You might not realise how much time people tend to waste on searching for the things they really need in their cluttered houses. On average, a person can spend 50 minutes a day only on looking for things in their houses which means you are wasting two weeks of your life every year on such an unproductive activity. Then, if your house is overfilled with clutter, you should start cleaning it right now!
How to decide whether you need a thing or not?
With some objects, you can easily decide whether they are used or not. All you have to do then is just to gather all of your will power and get rid of it. Yet, some things might be rather tricky. This is how you should analyse such objects in your house.
First, try to understand whether you know what is the purpose of such an object in the first place. If you do not know it, it means you are not using it at all and can get rid of it under the condition you are not suffering from any memory loss.
If you know what it is but it is something spoilt resting at your house for years waiting for fixing, the probability of you doing it is extremely close to zero. This means you can get rid of it as well. If the object is in a good condition and is you are using it more than once a year, you certainly should keep this object.
Undeniably, the task is a way more difficult when it comes to the objects kept just for memory. Ideally, people should not keep them at home if they are not referring to these memories more than once a year. Yet, it is obvious that for many people refusing from storing such goods can be challenging. Then, just check how much space the object is taking in your home. If it is not too much, you can keep it, otherwise, you should really get rid of it.
Use a box method
A box method is particularly good for the things you are not sure about. If you still do not know whether to keep something or get rid of it, put this item in a box and close it. On the box, you are supposed to right down a date. This will be the date when you are allowed to open this box. Yet, it might happen that you need this object before the date on the box. This will be an indication of the fact you really need this thing. In such a case, you will not have any problems with recalling putting it inside such a box.
Still, if it happens that it is already a date of unboxing and you have never thought about this possession and might even not be sure what it is, you just need to take the box out of your house even without unboxing it. Obviously, you really do not need such a thing at your home.
What can you do with your unneeded possessions?
Certainly, throwing everything away is not a good idea. It will be better to find your owners for your things.
You can try to sell as much as you can. undeniably, such services like eBay are good for selling various useful things such as clothes or items for babies. Yet, there are also platforms where you can sell something which you might regard as useless. For example, you can sell your old cell phone on Envirophone whereas such platforms as CaX and musicMagpie are good for selling old CDs and games. You can always sell your old things through social networks as well. Do not forget about flea markets in case you do not like selling your possessions online.
Certainly, you can always hand out your old things for free. If there is no one who needs these things among your family and friends, you can look for charity platforms. You can even find people who will be interested in your old furniture, for example, on such a platform as Freecycle.
Keep your house clean
Now, it’s time to change your habits in order to keep your house clean in the future. Definitely, one of the patterns you should adapt is purchasing only the things you really need. No matter how cheap they are, you should always ask yourself whether you have already got such one or whether you are absolutely sure you will be using it.