Before any relocation, whether it’s local or long distance, decluttering is a necessary part of the process. A thorough decluttering involves sorting through your belongings and categorizing the items into four categories: donate, sell, trash, and keep.
This will allow you to save time on packing and save space within your moving truck come moving day. Plus, you’ll even reduce the amount of money spent on moving supplies and services, another perk of the process.
If you’re ready to declutter before your upcoming relocation, keep reading and discover our complete guide to pre-move decluttering!
9 Foolproof Steps to Declutter Your Home
Looking for the best tips and tricks to declutter your home prior to your move? You’ve come to the right place. Decluttering has never been easier than with these simple solutions!
- Start the Process Early
The first step to decluttering is simple: start early. Although you might not feel like the process requires that much time, it actually can be not only time-consuming but incredibly exhausting.
Sorting through a home full of items can feel taxing due to the large number of decisions you need to make, and many of these decisions can be difficult if you feel conflicted about what to do with certain items. By starting your decluttering timeline early, you can feel less pressured to rush through the task, alleviating any stress you may be feeling around the process.
- Work in Manageable Chunks
When you start the decluttering process early, you unlock the ability to work in smaller, more manageable chunks to complete your declutter. Why is this so important? Because, as previously mentioned, decluttering can become stressful if you’re rushing to sort through your belongings. Instead of trying to get the task done in long, arduous sessions, set daily goals.
You can work room by room, and you might even benefit from telling yourself how much you want to get rid of in each room. Doing this allows the task to become significantly less overwhelming so you can handle the declutter without becoming stressed.
- Throw Stuff Away First
Feeling worried about everything you need to sort through? If you feel like you have a never-ending amount of items to work through, get your momentum going by handling your throwaway items first.
For most people, you will likely have some very obvious items that you are ready to throw out, and starting your declutter with those belongings will help you to quickly eliminate a good chunk of items without much thought. If you’re having trouble getting the process started, this can really put a jumpstart on your declutter and help you to become more honest with yourself about what you truly need to keep.
- Use a Box Limit
Need a way to motivate yourself as you declutter? One great way to boost the amount of items you’re willing to part with is to set a box limit for yourself.
Giving yourself a concrete number of boxes per room or even just for your entire move can allow you to physically quantify the amount of items you’re bringing with you, offering a set limit that can encourage you to keep only what you really need and get rid of the rest. This is another great way to help yourself be honest about what belongings you actually use.
- Focus on “Dump Zones”
We all have them—areas of our homes that essentially act as blackholes. For many of us, it’s a closet. For others, it’s a corner of a room or maybe specific cabinets or drawers.
Whatever the case may be, these dump zones serve as areas where we put random items and then never use them or even think about them again. Typically, these forgotten belongings are the perfect candidates to be decluttered before moving. Sorting through these closets and cabinets can allow you to easily get rid of lots of items in a short amount of time without too much thought.
- Avoid Losing Momentum
A common part of any declutter is suddenly losing momentum. Maybe you’re suddenly stopped in your tracks by an item you’d long since forgotten, or perhaps you’re struggling to decide whether or not to declutter one of your belongings because of some sentimentality.
Regardless of the circumstances, it’s very easy to get caught up in these moments that end up crushing our momentum as we attempt to declutter our home.
To avoid this, there are a few simple tricks. First, try to set a time limit on how long you give yourself to decide on each item. Realistically, you shouldn’t be mulling over an item for longer than a few minutes. Next, this further emphasizes the importance of working in smaller chunks. When you work in smaller time periods, it’s a lot easier to keep your speed going for a shorter amount of time, rather than keeping it up for hours at a time.
- Follow the 20/20 Rule
An excellent rule to follow as you declutter your home is the 20/20 rule. What does this mean? When you’re deciding whether or not you want to get rid of an item, it’s easy to feel conflicted.
You might imagine a scenario where one day, you just might need that item, even if you haven’t needed it lately. In these situations, if the item can be replaced for $20 or less and in 20 minutes or less, get rid of it. You can always replace it fairly easily if need be, and you most likely won’t feel its absence in your daily life anyway.
- …and the 90/90 Rule!
Here we have yet another number rule—the 90/90 rule! You can use this tactic in tandem with the 20/20 rule in order to more easily decide which items you’re willing to let go of.
This rule states that if you haven’t used an item in the last 90 days and you don’t foresee yourself using it in the next 90 days, it’s probably the right time to let it go.
Especially if it can be replaced easily as determined by the 20/20 rule, it’s definitely the perfect candidate for decluttering. Some people alter this rule to different timeframes, such as 60 days or 120 days, but regardless of how you tweak it, the same purpose is served.
- Enlist Some Help
It can be overwhelming to handle a full declutter on your own. You might have trouble being objective about your items, or maybe it’s just too much space for you to clear up within your time constraints.
If you’re moving with other people, make sure the decluttering duties are split up as much as possible so each person can handle the decision-making for their items and their spaces within the home.
Additionally, even if you’re moving solo, you might find it helpful to ask a trusted friend or family member for some assistance with the task. They can look at your belongings more objectively and help you decide what’s best to get rid of.
Ready to Declutter?
Now that you have all the best tactics in your toolbelt, it’s time to get to decluttering! With these steps, you’ll have your home cleared out and ready for moving in no time.
Looking for a moving company that can help you reliably transport your belongings once you’re done decluttering? Count on Austin Moving and Storage, your premier Long Island moving company.
We have provided Long Island and beyond with the highest quality solutions for three generations, and our team prides ourselves on offering our customers the very best so their moves can feel smooth and simplified. Contact us for a free quote today, and discover how easy relocating can be with Austin!