Clearing out your House? Here’s Everything you Need to Know
Who doesn’t want a better organised life? We all want to feel more in control of our lives and able to keep our head above water, but often the way we live leads us to feel just the opposite. We fill our homes and offices with more things that we need and before you know it, we have a cluttered living and working environment, and a cluttered mind to go with it.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed with ‘stuff’ and cluttered into a corner, having a clear out can be hugely therapeutic, so with the help of the professionals at Waste Clearance West Lothian, here are our top tips for clearing out your house and making a start on getting your head into a clearer space too.
Make a Plan
Whеn thе сluttеr lеvеlѕ іn оur hоmеs ѕtаrt tо rіѕе, so do our ѕtrеѕѕ lеvеlѕ. If you find yourself in this situation, then take a deep breath and start by resolving to do something about it. Make a plan. Accept that it’s going to be a tough job and ask for help if you need to.
Clutter can often be so overwhelming that it prevents us even making a start. That’s when a sense of being stuck sets in, which can be very demotivating and depressing. So, however small the start is, it’s important to make a start. Even if it’s tiny – one item put in the bin or taken to the charity shop – it’s a start.
Make it manageable
A good place to begin is with identifying all the energy-stealing clutter that needs to be cleared. Write a list of all the areas that need tackling. Then split the jobs up into bitesize mini-tasks. Do you have a garage full of junk? Well, rather than just saying, “today I am going to clear the garage” which is likely to be an unachievable, not to mention overwhelming aim, start by saying, “I’m going to clear one square metre of floor space in the garage” or “I am going to clear that one shelf”. Do it bit by bit and keep your goals manageable and realistic to avoid getting overwhelmed.
Limit the first session to no more 30 minutes before having a break. If it helps, plan a reward after every session. Gradually, after the first three or four sessions of just 30 minutes, you can increase the amount of time you are spending on the task. Your sense of achievement should start to carry you through longer spells of time on the job.
Don’t keep looking around and panicking about how much more needs to be done; focus on what you have achieved already and the fact that nothing has beaten you thus far!
Clearing headspace as well as the clutter
Decluttering can be an extremely emotionally draining as well as physically draining job. It’s important to recognise that clearing through the remnants of your life can bring up strong emotion, but whatever the cause of the clutter, remember why you want to achieve this task.
Think about how much better you will feel, and how much more in control of your life you will feel once the clutter is gone. There’s no greater sense of relief and achievement than looking around at a tidy clean home after having lived in a cramp, cluttered and dirty space for years. Visualise how you want your home to look and focus on that if you are feeling like you’re working hard and getting nowhere. Every single item that’s cleared out is a step in the right direction towards your goal.
Ask others to help
If you’re really struggling with clearing the clutter by yourself, and feeling unable to proceed then it really helps to get others on board. Having someone else do the job with you not only speeds the whole process up, makes it less physically demanding on you and makes it more enjoyable too, but it can really help you get over the emotional blocks that sometimes stop us parting with our stuff.
Having someone else ask you why you want to cling on to something you don’t need and haven’t used in years, can make us look at something in another way. Ask someone who is understanding of how emotional the process will be, but who is a good organiser and can be ruthless when necessary!
Ноw tо decide if you need to call in a professional Ноuѕе Сlеаrаnсе Ѕеrvісе
House clearance companies specialise is clearing people’s homes of their unwanted clutter and rubbish. The following are a few situations when you might need the services of a professional house clearance team:
- You have become overwhelmed by clutter
- You’ve tried to clear it yourself, but aren’t getting anywhere
- You aren’t physically able to manage the job
- You want to create new space
- You need to clear a family member’s house
- You are renovating a house
- You wish to make your home ready for sale
- When you are moving out
- After the bereavement of a family member
Clearing a house is a job that can take a great deal of time and a lot of energy. In each of the cases mentioned above, and many others, the job of clearing and sorting can be too time-consuming and challenging to manage without proper help. A professional house clearance service such as Waste Clearance West Lothian will take the burden from you and save you the physical and mental strain that is often involved in such extensive clearing.
Take care
Lаѕt but nоt lеаѕt, thіnk аbоut уоur health and safety when decluttering. Make sure there are plenty of windows and doors open while you get the job done to let lots of fresh air circulate. Wear a dust mask if the job is particularly dusty and dirty. Таkе ехtrа саrе whеn lіftіng hеаvу objectѕ. Веnd frоm your knееѕ and kеер your back ѕtrаіght. Іf уоu are sharing the carrying with someone else, аlwауѕ dіѕсuѕѕ hоw уоu wіll lіft thе іtеm first before attempting to move it and work out where you’re going with it. If you come across any waste that is hazardous to move, or you have a pest problem, always call in the professionals.
Conclusion
Clearing a space of clutter can be a physically and emotionally demanding job, so it’s important to make a plan, ask for help from family and friends and get the professionals in if it’s too big a job to handle yourself. But it’s important to make a start and focus on your end goal, because the results that a clear house can bring to your mind and your life can be truly transformative.