2. Don't be held hostage. Beware of being held hostage by your
possessions. When your stuff begins taking over your life and you spend
all your time climbing over things, looking for missing items, and
fretting over where you'll put your next treasure, you are wasting
precious time that you can never buy back.
3. Help your kids If your children pick up on your Pack Rat style, they
will have the same problem when they're out on their own. If you begin to
get organized now, your children will see how important it is and
hopefully, follow your lead.
4. Recognize clutter. As a rule, if you don't use it or enjoy it, then
it's nothing more than clutter. If you don't know what it is, it's
clutter. If it's too nice to use, it's clutter. Toss it or give it to
someone who will use it and appreciate it.
5. Make it a tossing game. Get your family into the De-cluttering Game.
Make a party out of it. Play music, have refreshments, Toss-Toss-Toss.
Have a pending reward ready, such as a big family dinner at a favorite
restaurant after you've significantly reduced your clutter!
6. Make a someday box. If you save things you feel you may use someday,
create a May Come in Handy Someday box. Place those things inside and when
the box is full, discard something before you put anything else in.
7. Use the rotation box system. Use the Rotation Box system. Instead of
displaying everything you like at once, display a little bit at a time.
Keep the rest boxed up in storage. Every few months, put a few of these
things in your box and take a few other things out for display.
8. Fix it or ditch it. Have you ever put aside broken items with the
expectation that you'll get them fixed one day? Chances are, these items
are still where you left them and they're still broken. Immediately
schedule a date on your calendar and repair them when the date rolls
around or toss the items right now while you have it on your mind.
9. Take a photo. Take photographs of possessions you don't want to
forget, but don't have the space for. Save the photos in a scrapbook or
photo album. Keep the memory, rather than allowing the memory to take up
space.
10. Avoid going half-way. Avoid the Halfway-house Syndrome. You know.
That's when you put things aside that you're not sure what to do with.
These temporary storage areas almost always turn into permanent storage.
Force yourself to make a decision whether to keep or toss.
