How Five Containers Can Bring You Happiness

The best way to ensure your success in decluttering is to first get together the things you need to help you organize yourself. If you do this at the beginning of any decluttering project you will find it easier to finish your project as well as saving you time.

So what do you need? As a minimum, you will need the following:

• five good size containers - one container each for
  • things to give away
  • things to sell
  • things to return that you have borrowed
  • things to keep in the room your are working on, and
  • things that belong in other rooms
• Trash bags
• Pencil, eraser, note pad, post-it notes
• Cleaning supplies: dusting cloth, glass/surface cleaner and rags, sweeper, vacuum cleaner
• Storage containers – whatever you have will do at this stage – do not buy more storage containers at this stage.

Remember, do not rush out and buy storage containers before you have organized your space. It will cost you money, time, and energy as you are buying items that you may not even need or may not fit the space you have. Wait! Resist the temptation and wait until you have sorted your space. By buying storage containers after you have sorted, you will only buy what you need, in the right size to fit your space, and in the quantity you need. You maximize your time, money, and energy. And you may even find that you have all you need already, resulting in savings all around.

You will also need equipment that will keep you motivated both physically and mentally. Here’s a list of a few good items to have at hand to keep you sane

Music – keeps your energy high and keeps you motivated. Only two rules apply in the choice of music, music that appeals to you and music that is high energy. The choice is yours, be it rock, classical, jazz, country. Get your body moving and you may even want to sing along – or not! J

Fluids – stay hydrated with water, essential to keeping a clear mind and maintaining your energy

Rewards - as you complete a declutter milestone, reward yourself with a cup of your favourite, coffee, tea, soda, etc. Remember though that this is a reward, not a way to procrastinate. The reward comes after you have achieved a milestone and should take no longer than 10 minutes. Any longer and you will lose focus and not complete your next milestone.

Specialized equipment is not required to declutter however you do need to have basic, everyday pieces of equipment on hand at the beginning of any sorting to make sure you maximize your money, time, and energy. Remember to reward yourself and have things on hand that invigorate and revive you, like music and your favourite drink.

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