How to de-clutter your space & improve your wellbeing by Kat Tate

Article - How to de-clutter your space & improve your wellbeing by Kat Tate

Kat Tate – De-clutter Queen

Director of Kat & Kaboodle professional organisers. Member and Online Editor for the Australasian Association of Professional Organisers (AAPO).

Kat Tate has always loved helping others to get organised and live more simple, peaceful lives. With her Sydney-based business Kat & Kaboodle, she helps ‘busy bodies and clutter queens’ to get organised in home, office and life, so they have more time to do the things they love.
She offers oodles of organising tips and tricks in regular media interviews, on her website and through the monthly e-goss In the Box, as well as in her blog Confessions of a De-clutter Queen.

Website: www.katandkaboodle.com.au

How to de-clutter your space & improve your wellbeing

Often when our surroundings are disorganised and cluttered, so too is our mental and emotional wellbeing.

These days we are working longer hours and cramming more into each day, leaving us with little time to keep on top of all our ‘stuff’ and get everything in order.

However, by de-cluttering your space and organising your home or office, you can greatly improve your productivity and overall sense of happiness and wellbeing.

The good news is that no one is born organised. In fact, organising is a skill that anyone can learn. All it takes is practice, patience and perseverance.

To help you on the road to organising bliss, here are some top tips for you to try:

1.	Plan your dream space: Think about how you want your space to look and function and why your current system isn’t working. Do you dream of a minimalist living room, but are being held back by years of clutter crammed into cupboards? Would you like to be able to open your wardrobe and see organised options, instead of piles of clothes and mountains of shoes? Decide on a goal that you will work towards over the next few weeks. It’s a good idea to write down your organising goal (if you’re a visual person, you might like to draw pictures and paste images from magazines that illustrate what you want to achieve). Place your plan in a prominent spot so you can keep focused on your goal.
2.	Break it down: It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when there are many rooms in your home or areas in your office that are cluttered and chaotic. However, like the old adage says, ‘how do you eat an elephant? Small bites!’ Choose just one room or area to organise at first, and spend just 30 minutes to an hour de-cluttering and sorting. The time will fly and the progress you make will motivate you to keep going.
3.	Reward yourself: For every hour of organising, or for every space you de-clutter, reward yourself. This could be as simple as relaxing with a cup of tea and a book, going for a calming walk or calling a friend. Working towards a reward will spur you on in your organising endeavour.
4.	Keep, Toss, Donate or Move: Label four bin bags or containers with each of these headings. Go through your clutter and place each item into one of the four bags. If you have used it in the past 12 months, and if it functions properly or looks beautiful, place it in the Keep bag. If it doesn’t make you feel good about yourself, is broken or doesn’t fit, place it in the Toss bag. If you come across items that you no longer need or want, but which are in good quality, place these in the Donate bag, ready to take down to your local charity shop. Lastly, if you come across items in the space which belong in another room, place these in the Move bag and later put them in their rightful home. It’s important to be ruthless when deciding what to keep and what to purge from your space. I urge you to really think about how the item makes you feel. If it brings up bad memories or regrets (such as too-small jeans that you’re hoping to fit into ‘one day’), throw it out. I promise you will immediately feel energised and uplifted.
5.	Categorise: You will now be left with a de-cluttered space and all the items you want to keep in it. To organise these items, clear some space on the floor and place all the items into categories of ‘like with like’. For instance, if you were de-cluttering your closet, you would place your clothing into piles according to clothing and shoe types. Once each item is categorised, it’s time to containerise. There’s no need to rush out and buy expensive organising products – often having a hunt in your home or office will unearth an array of containers you can use. This could be as simple as tissue boxes with the tops cut off, or old Tupperware containers. Your local discount store will also stock a great array of inexpensive products in which to store your items.
6.	Containerise: Place each pile of categorised items into the containers (if you are organising your wardrobe, use suitcases or baskets to store your out-of-season clothing, so that your wardrobe only contains current season outfits).
7.	Label: Use a pen and sticky labels or a labeling machine to label each container. A golden rule of organising is ‘a place for everything and everything in its place’. By labeling your containers, it’s easy to put items back where they belong (this also helps younger members of the family to put items back in their place).
8.	Maintain your space: It’s easy to keep your newly organised space in order. Spend just 5-10 minutes each day putting items in their place and keeping surfaces clear and clutter-free.
9.	Schedule your time: Set aside an afternoon each week to go through your mail and bills. This might be a Friday afternoon or late on a Sunday. It should only take 15 to 30 minutes to sort through your incoming mail and schedule and pay bills. A good tip is to open mail over the bin, so that you can easily throw envelopes and junk notices away without a second thought. It’s also a good idea to set up a spot in your home or office specifically for dealing with bills and mail. Keep stamps, envelopes, a stapler and a diary or calendar in this spot, so that you can quickly and effortlessly process everything in one go.
10.	Celebrate! Getting organised takes action and once you have de-cluttered one space, it will be easy to keep going. Celebrate your progress regularly – perhaps invite your loved ones over for a dinner party to show off your newly organised space and toast your success!