Spring Clean Your Life: De-Clutter

Hey everyone! I wanted to share a recent experience I had with you and offer some motivation and tips for de-cluttering.  I went away on my holidays back in December and was unexpectedly away for three months, working from my parent's house, due to family/health related reasons.  I was making a list of things to bring back with me but was keeping in mind that I have limited space:  I share a house with three other girls.  I had this concept in my mind that when I returned to my bedroom, I would find a couple junk drawers but not too much clutter. Well, apparently those three months gave me amnesia!

When I returned to my house, I couldn't believe what I saw!  A room absolutely full of books, clothes, beauty products, accessories, etc. It may sound very glamorous but it definitely was not.  I currently live in Europe so I suppose I felt the need to hold on to whatever I had for some kind of security, as many of my things are back in the States.  My job can be quite stressful and taxing, so I had been living in the midst of this clutter for months without even realizing it. 

So, here was and is my plan of attack for dealing with the clutter in my bedroom/house:

Tip #1:  Go Through Your Wardrobe

This one is always the hardest for me.  I have a wardrobe full of clothes but classically rotate the same outfits and shoes over and over.  I often joke that anyone who hasn't been in my bedroom probably believes I only own about five outfits - it couldn't be further from the truth.

You must be ruthless in this:  what clothes have you not worn for weeks? Months? Years?  No excuses.  Whenever you want to hold onto something that you haven't worn in a long time and realistically probably won't, think of the people who have so little and DONATE IT.  Not just the things with the stains or tears either:  ask God to give you a generous heart.

Tip #2:  Go Through Your Cupboard

I want to live a de-cluttered life...but in order to do that with a busy and stressful job, it must become a priority and a habit to consistenly use up what you have.  I'm so busy that I can get quite scatter-brained.  Just the other day, I went grocery shopping and bought a bunch of things I already had.  Go through your cupboard and get rid of anything out of date.  In order to use up whatever is left, the only successful way I've found is to make a list and make some menus.  The number of things I have thrown away because of lack of discipline in this area is shameful.  These are truly first world problems!

Tip #3:  Go Through Your Beauty Products

Just like buying groceries I already have, I classically buy beauty products I don't need.  I'm trying to end my habit of "buying because it's on sale."  Let's face it:  more often then not, something is on sale. Only buy in this way if you have room to store extra products in a place where you can easily remember to use them.  If not, wait until you're running low and see what's on sale.  I've put myself on a product ban:  I can only buy a new product once I have completely used up my supply.

Tip #4:  Go Through Your Email Account

This is one we don't think of very often.  The amount of spam emails we can get from companies we never consciously signed up with is staggering.  It takes a bit of time but go through your inbox and unsubscribe to anything you never read, never want or never use.  It's time :)

Happy de-cluttering! xo