Do you have a bike somewhere in your garage that’s so thoroughly rusted, you can’t get it to move? Maybe some bags of old clothing that are too ratty to give away, but won’t fit in the trash can?

Well, it’s time for them to finally go.

All It Takes To Accumulate Clutter is Time and Space

Americans are famous for gathering clutter. Spoiled by our spacious houses, yards, and garages, we soon fill every corner with unnecessary junk. Once you have room to spare, you can become the repository of junk from friends and family, too. In fact, it can cause a never-ending cycle.

Here’s the problem: it’s impossible to be neat and clean when you have things like that hanging around. Consider the junk drawer in your kitchen. It’s just one space, and usually managed well, but what about when more corners of your house become that junk drawer? That alcove next to the entrance where everyone drops their stuff? The corner of the garage where odds and ends accumulate? That space in the attic full of stuff that you don’t even know about?

Cluttered House=Cluttered Mind

You might not be a hoarder, but your stuff is probably still taking an emotional toll on you. Most of us carry around emotional baggage with our physical baggage. We assign certain memories, burdens, and goals to physical objects. However, as much as we think that those things can be assets, most of the time, they turn into piles of shame and weight.

Some of our treasured possessions remind us of good times on a vacation. Or maybe there’s guilt associated with certain bits of clutter because they represent a project that you should take care of, like a workout machine or a pile of clothes that need to be dry-cleaned. Some of us have useless things that we don’t even like hanging around because they were gifts, and we’d feel bad giving them away.

It’s time to free yourself of all that.

The Minimalist Movement

There’s been a huge cultural shift lately towards minimizing and simplifying life, especially when it comes to personal possessions. People in this camp talk about the unconscious emotional toll that simply owning a lot of things takes on us. You may be someone who’s ready for a major overhaul, with a goal to streamline your earthly possessions into the space of only one or two suitcases. Or you may simply want to use a few of the principles in order to make a more orderly home and reorganize your out-of-control garage.

Whatever stage you’re in, here are some ideas and inspiration for de-cluttering your home.

• If you haven’t used it in two years, you probably won’t ever use it.
• Take it in phases: lock stuff away and put it in storage for 6 months. If after 6 months, you haven’t missed it, it’s ready for you to get rid of.
• Find useful places to give away your stuff, like a women’s shelter, Habitat for Humanity, or a school. Feeling like it’s getting proper use elsewhere will make you want to hold on to it less.
• Fill up a trash bag. Having a tangible goal in front of you makes it easier.
• And if you’re ready for a larger project like remodeling or landscaping cleanup, order a Western Elite Dumpster!