I am graduating university in less than a year. I will be officially moving out of my parents house, getting married, and I do not plan to move back in. I am not going to leave all of my stuff at my parents house, they have enough stuff of their own that they are trying to get rid of. I definitely do not want to bring all of my junk with me when I am trying to start a whole new life. So, that means I have to get rid of stuff. As I said previously, I have made a lot of progress. I am not free of my belongings yet, but I am getting there. So here are my tips to you, from someone who has been there for how to get rid of your stuff, when you have limited space and limited time.
If you are a college student, or are soon to be one, it is time to start cleaning house. Anyone can use these methods of course, but since I am still in that stage of life, this blog is directed to those getting ready to jump into it.
There are many ways to organize and clean house, but for me, who has limited space and time, this is how I have done things, and have found it to be effective.
Getting Started
Tip No. 1: Forget about having a yard sale. Unless you have a ton of time on your hands, and need ever little bit of cash you can get, don't even think about having a sale. If you do have a sale, don't put anything back in your house afterwards, but rather, take it all over to salvation army of the thrift store. Unless you have to have a sale, take anything you want to get rid of to the thrift store. My mom and I have a system that works pretty well for us. While I am going through things in my room, I will bring boxes of "get-rid-of" things to her. She will look through them and make a list of generally what is in there and then when she takes it over to the thrift store, she can get the donations taken off of taxes. This is much easier than trying to put together a yard sale.
You are looking at your room. Maybe you have lived there a few years, maybe most of your life, maybe all of it. Or perhaps only a short while. But still, there is a lot of stuff lurking in the highest shelf of your closet, or under your bed, or in your dresser drawers. What are you supposed to do with it? Well, you certainly can't keep all of it, but that doesn't mean that you have to get rid of everything right away. So, pick a place to start. Your closet. Your drawers. Perhaps under your bed. Your bookshelf. Pick a place and work on that place until you are satisfied. That doesn't mean that you won't come back and work on it more later, but work on it until for now, it is where you want it to be.
Let's say you are working on your closet. Clothes, old toys, shoes, and everything else have been shoved into it and you are not so sure you want to pull anything our for fear of everything falling out on top of you. Here is what I have done for my closet:
Clothes are your worst enemy. No matter how many times you get rid of them, they always come back. I don't have a walk in closet, so it is pain to put things in once I have them out. So, instead of taking all of my clothes out and laying them on my bed and putting the ones I want to keep back, I only take the ones I want to get rid of out.
Get a box or a bag you can put clothes in. Start from one end of your closet and work your way down. Ask these questions:
Does it fit?
Do I even like this?
Am I ever going to wear this again?
Do I really need another "night shirt" (you know the ones you like but are too big for you)?
Have I worn it in the last year? If not, am I going to wear it this year?
Asking yourself if you have worn it in the last year is probably the best way to determine if you should keep it or not. I don't take all of my clothes to school with me during the year and while I am at school 9 months of the year, many clothes don't get worn. I also have a lot of shirts that are too big for me. I used to wear medium size t-shirts, but now they are huge on me. I was able to cut out a lot of those since they did not fit, and there were also several dress shirts and such that were too small and not really my style anymore. While cleaning, you have to be very firm with yourself and not think to much about an item. It is best if you work fast. Do I need this? No. *throws into box* Next. Do I need this? Yes. *Put where it needs to go*
When you have gone through all of your clothes work on the shelfs or stuff on the floor next and keep the same fast pace. Don't think too much and try not to be attached to things. If it has been stuffed in the back of your closet for a few years, you probably don't need it, even if you do like it. On the other hand, if you really aren't certain you want to give it up yet, then keep it for the next round of cleaning. Working this way is less stressful. If your keep pile is bigger than your get rid of pile, you will have to be a little less attached the next time around.
To make things a little simpler, here are some things to keep in mind when working.
-Organization is pretty much impossible when you have a small space. Doing the whole piles thing doesn't really work for me when I don't have any space. Shove everything but what you are working on out of the way. Don't worry about that stuff. Focus only on that box or section of stuff you are working on.
-Anything you don't want needs to be in a box and out of the room. It will be easier to work when the stuff you are not keeping is out of the way. I usually use my bed for things I am keeping. That way I have to clean it no matter what since I have to go to sleep at some point.
I will probably write a bit more about this and actually have a list of tips you can follow another time. But I hope that this jumbled set of instructions can at least give you a place to start.
