Decluttering Tips for Your Household in Sydney’s Lockdown

Sydney's under lockdown again, and as days pass by, you start noticing things at home that you thought wasn't there before—a lost pair of socks, a broken mower in the shed, and all the things that magically appear the longer you stay at home.

You would have just brushed off these recent discoveries had you not been in the house all day. But, seeing all this clutter while worrying over the pandemic would drive anyone crazy.

What should be done, then? Simple, Declutter.

Apart from lowering stress levels and granting mental clarity, decluttering your home also helps reduce the family's risk of allergies, asthma attacks, and other respiratory diseases. But perhaps you already know about these benefits, just unsure how or where to start.

Well, decluttering an entire lot can be overwhelming. But, there are ways to make it seem like a walk in the park, so here are a few tips that our Sydney rubbish removalists have put together to help you jumpstart your lockdown decluttering.

Plan ahead

In everything that you do, always start with a plan. Specifically, come up with a schedule and SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. This will allow you to assess and schedule your decluttering activities more effectively.

For instance, you can allot a day solely for the clearing of old toys. Although it doesn’t seem much, at least you’d get to see a clearer idea of your progress. And since you’ve already set your target, you won’t have to worry about what's enough and overwork yourself until you feel satisfied.

If it’s still confusing, you may begin answering these questions to build your plan:

1. What part of the house needs immediate decluttering?
2. Which ones can I work on my own?
3. By the end of the week, what do I hope to achieve? Is it manageable?
4. How much time can I spend decluttering?

When you’re lost, you can always check your plans. That way, you don’t have to start all over again whenever you become overwhelmed and forget the changes you envisioned.

Prepare labelled bins

Now that you’ve come up with a viable decluttering plan, it’s time to start the work by preparing 5 bins in the following item classifications:

1. Rubbish: This bin is for items that possess no value or purpose for the household. Examples of these are crumpled wrappers from last week’s parcels or old irreparable items.
2. Recyclable: Items for this bin are those that can be reprocessed as a raw material or a new product like paper, plastic bottles, and tin cans.
3. Fixable: This bin is for items that can still be repaired. These can be your old lawnmower or your children’s shelved bicycle.
4. For Donation: Have you outgrown Mr Snuggle? Then this is the perfect container for him and all the other things you don’t need but might be wanted or needed by others.
5. Sentimental and/or Functional: This bin is for essential items that you just rediscovered from the clutter. Make sure to set them aside early on since they might be misplaced again.

Clear one space at a time

Even with the plan and prepared bins, household clutter can still overwhelm you. To prevent this from happening, you must take your time in decluttering. It might be tempting to clear all the mess at once, but you might just end up running in circles and eventually tire yourself out without actual progress. Hence, it’s best to only clear one space at a time.

You can start with the rooms that occupy the least space, like the bathrooms and bedrooms, to warm up. Next, you proceed with slightly larger spaces like the living room and the dining area. Then, save the outdoors for last since more significant pieces of rubbish are usually found.

Hire professionals for rubbish removal

After decluttering the house, you’re still left with large pieces of trash on your lawn. But, you’re now out of energy, confused about where to dispose of these large items, and doubtful whether you made the right decluttering choices or not. Well, it’s time to sit out, give yourself a pat on the back, and call for expert help.

Rubbish removal is not as simple as it seems. It requires proper techniques, skills, and equipment to remove the rubbish without endangering the environment and the community. Hence, it’ll be best to leave these matters to the experts, like Kurt’s Rubbish Removal.

Create a new organising system

Now that you’ve decluttered the whole household, you have to ensure that your home stays decluttered for a more extended period. This way, you’ll be able to keep your sanity as the world continues to battle COVID19 while you remain trapped in your home.

To do this, you have to start creating a new organising system. These can be your new shelves, a paper filing system, tasking among members, and anything that will help you manage the clutter in Sydney’s lockdown.