“Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein

Moving home is the perfect opportunity to declutter. It’s no secret that people accumulate a lot of belongings when they’ve stayed in one place for a long time, and finding the time and energy to sort through it all is daunting to say the least. Luckily, when the situation arises, either having to move or downsize, motivation finds a way to kick in.

However, what many people struggle with, is how to effectively declutter their homes, and minimize the amount of time and effort in the process. We’ve put together a list of 6 effective top tips to declutter your home so that when the time comes to pack up, you’re all set:

Prioritise:

The first process of decluttering your house it to prioritise. Which room needs the most attention? Which room will cause the least disruption to your day to day life if things are moved about? These are the questions to ask yourself before tackling the seemingly daunting task ahead of you. Once you’ve selected a room, prioritise a section of the room that you will sort out first. This way you can systematically make your way through your clutter without taking on too much.

Baby steps:

Don’t try and get everything done in one day! Baby steps are key to decluttering your home. Take half an hour each day to go through your belongings bit by bit, choosing something to throw away or to donate each day. This might seem like a long process but, as the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day!

Ask for help:

Remember, you don’t have to tackle this mammoth task by yourself. Ask for help from friends or family. Having loved ones around will help remove the stress of not only having to get rid of some of your possessions, but also the whole process of moving house! Having an outside opinion will also help remove a certain amount of sentimentality from items you no longer need and help you focus on the task ahead.

Make lists:

Lists can be a helpful way of staying on task and creating structure to your day. Make a list of what you want to achieve each day, whether that’s donating items of clothing or sorting through kitchen cabinets. This will allow you to track your progress and show you what needs to be done next.

Designated Boxes:

Designated boxes can be a great way to kick start the moving process. Prepare three boxes to fill as you’re going through your things: one box for ‘Keep’, one for ‘Maybe’ and one for ‘Discard’. Anything you want to keep can be packed away as you go, ready for storage or the moving vans. Anything you want to throw away or donate, will be handily stored and ready for the skip or charity shop. You will probably find that the ‘Maybe’ box will accumulate the most belongings. This will be a handy time to bring in friends and family to help choose what you really do want to keep, and what’s better to be thrown away. Remember: you don’t want to clutter up your new home!

Set yourself an end date:

Setting yourself a goal will be integral to keeping on track. This could be the day the moving van comes, the day you move your things into storage or a certain time frame, such as two weeks. Whenever your end goal is, just make sure that you work towards it realistically, ticking off your to-do list as you go.

We understand that moving home can be very stressful and we hope to minimise this as much as possible. When the time comes to move home, we hope these tips will have you packed, ready and clutter free!