With the holidays over and done with, many of us are now looking to have a complete sort out. With new Christmas gifts and January sales items, it’s time to clear out some of the old and make way for the new.
The only trouble is, it can be hard to motivate yourself to actually start having a clear out – it’s a big job! Or even worse, you start, but just can’t find the energy to finish, leaving you with piles and piles of ‘organised mess’.
But decluttering can actually be quite fun. If you find it a hard and laborious task, then maybe you just haven’t yet figured out how to make it an enjoyable activity. Here are just a few ways that you can make decluttering and spring cleaning fun!
Get cooking
You’d be surprised at how much clutter there is in most kitchen cupboards. Tins of food that have been there for months, maybe even years, sauces and flavour sachets that you don’t even remember buying, flours, sugars, and baking items for the cookies you never got round to baking.
The chances are, there’s so much in your food cupboards that you never normally think of using. But of course you don’t want to just throw out food – food is food, right? So the best way to clear out your kitchen is to have a day of cooking and baking.
You can make a delicious dinner for the family, or some sweet treats. You could even make multiple meals and freeze some of them for a day when you just don’t have time to cook. Whatever you decide to make, you’ll free a whole load of space in your kitchen cupboards, making it easier for you to find the ingredients that you do commonly use.
Plus, you never know, you might find old saucepans and baking trays that are no longer any good, so you can have a clear out of those in the process.
Make it a competitive family activity
Asking the kids to help spring clean probably doesn’t evoke a very positive or enthusiastic reaction, but if you work a bit of competition into it, they’ll be all over it. You could have goals like ‘be the first one to fill three bags with toys/clothes that you don’t want anymore’ and then take them to the charity shop together.
Reward yourself
Getting rid of things that we’ve previously been fond of can be an emotional activity, so it can help if you give yourself an incentive. Maybe promise yourself a shopping trip after you’ve had a clear out.
Whatever you choose as your reward, it will give you something to work towards, and should stop you from backing out half way through, or even before you’ve actually begun.
A good reward or motivation is to plan a party or a social event after your clear out. This way, you’ll have a deadline, and a solid reason to finish. Plus, you’ll get to enjoy yourself afterwards, and show off your home.
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