Expicient

Moving is never an easy task. Last year I moved twice. First in February and again in June.

But the best part about moving? Getting rid of the junk you have accumulated over the years. Throwing out the piles of paper that you promised yourself you will get to but never did. AND throwing out those clothes you know you will fit into soon enough but never really do. Clothes and paper are usually the biggest culprits in cluttering homes.

With a good friends coaxing I managed to put into a largish box my extra dinner set and the stray unmatched glasses and sent it off for donation.

All the toiletries I packed into a smaller box and used over the course of a year. Yup, you heard that right…I had enough toiletries to last me a WHOLE year. I am ashamed!

I kept two sets of sheets for all the bedrooms and gave away the rest. (I forgot about saving a couple for the guest room). I however kept a few extra towels in case of big spills. They came in handy when my sprinkler system backed up and leaked water into my basement.

I am not a hoarder. At least that’s what I thought. Nor am I a compulsive shopper.

Or maybe I need to rethink and redefine.

Why are we buying so much in the first place?

Once it enters our house and we no longer have any use for it why do we continue to hang on to it?

Why are we waiting to move to declutter?

If you were moving tomorrow what are the things you would get rid of.

When I moved from one country to another almost two decades ago I managed to stuff two oversized suitcases with all my belongings and bring them over. This time I needed an oversized truck to make several trips back and forth.

The psychology of moving like the psychology of accumulating is rather simple. The space defines our habits.

If you were moving into an 800 sq foot house how much would you keep?

If you were moving back into your childhood room in your parents’ house how many essentials could you fit in?

If you were given only one box, what would you choose to put in it?

The mind boggles at such an idea!

But I challenge you all to walk through your house as if you were moving and find five items in each room that you ought to throw out but haven’t. It could be your old college t shirt or your mommy jeans. It could be a broken lamp or magazines from last year that you haven’t yet gotten around to reading completely.

The same principles of going green work in de-cluttering. Reuse. Reduce and Recycle.

In a bid to reduce do not rush out and buy new things to help you organize. This only adds to the clutter. Reuse things from around the house to help you organize your space and if that perfume you got last Christmas from a colleague is giving you headaches, please put it in a box.

One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.

Now leave me a comment with the five things you threw out. Today!