Hide and then throw out

Some of us have no problem throwing things out, and decluttering usually does not represent an issue - we just need some time and we'll throw out things no problem.

For majority of people however, throwing out their possessions is a difficult proposition. We get attached to our things and clothes for variety of reasons. For travelers collecting artifacts from their travels, some things are reminders of their trips and they don't want to let go. For others it's a sentimental value attached to our possessions based on who gave it to us, or where it came from or what the occasion was etc.

Organizers are no different. By no means do we encourage you to simply get a garbage bag and just empty out your cluttered home in one afternoon. What we do recommend is a little more logical approach to it, one that detaches you from all the emotions that you have for your things.

One suggestion is putting things away in a box for couple of years. You let the time go by and then you rethink and ask yourself a question: "I didn't touch or even look at this box for 2 years now, will I ever need or want to look at it again?" And there is no guarantee that you will still be ready to let go, but most people are ... And memories are great, I am certainly not asking anyone to let go of their memories - just decide really which of the memories are worth keeping (in physical sense as you will always have your memories regardless if you have things that remind you of them or not).

Basements and storage lockers are great for this exercise. My storage locker is now half of its original size and I know there is more that still sits there that I no longer need or haven't used in years. I am now thinking of ways to either put some of these things in use or find them a better home somehow. When I first moved into my condo, I used to keep everything for the "day when I buy a house" ... but 6 years later, I am thinking that buying a house is probably not ever going to happen, so that no longer presents an excuse for keeping all this stuff. But it took me close to 6 years to really come to this conclusion and think logically rather than emotionally about this locker full of things that I really don't use. Another thing I did was to move things that I thought I couldn't throw out into my condo - because if I can't throw them out might as well use them, right? So now, when they are in plain sight, I can much easily decide, do I really need or use this, ever, or I can let go - with no regrets :)