October 25th, 2010 Clutter Clearing – Use It or Lose It
Clutter is often the result of storing perfectly good items or pieces of clothing. While the theory of having things in storage for later use sounds good, in practical use, many items can spoil, expire, get lost or forgotten, or become otherwise unuseable. These items can fill up your shelves and closets and spill out into stacks and boxes on the floor.
One way to solve this is to begin using these stored items.
You probably have articles of unworn clothing that you are keeping because they are beautiful, or were expensive, or perhaps you expect to someday morph into a thin, jet-setting, stylish socialite and then you will have a need to wear them. Perhaps the piece needs a button or has a stain that needs to removed. Either way, just set it out for wearing the next day, or at least plan the day that you absolutely will wear it to a party or a function. That alone may be enough. If you find yourself feeling anxious, rebellious, or even repulsed at “having” to wear the piece, or having to repair it and then wear it, then this is a good signal to immediately get rid of it.
If the clothing makes it past the first stage and you actually wear it, chances are you will find out why you’ve been keeping it in the back of your closet. Perhaps an ill fit, a wrong-for-you color, or a scratchy fabric. Or perhaps it was just forgotten in the closet and you will discover a wonderful piece for the wear-often section of your closet.
The same principal works with pantry items, household supplies, books, skin care items, cosmetics, kitchen items, shampoos, and anything else that has been dormant on your shelves.
Start using those items. Once you are “required” to use them, you may either have the motivation to clear them out or you may find some wonderful, useful treasures hidden in the back of your closets.
This is a brief post from an article that I posted on the Simple Life Corp website. It is another one of the useful tips that I have learned in my decluttering quest.
See the expanded article at www.SimpleLifeCorp.com/DeclutterTipUseIt.html
