Now that spring has sprung, it’s the ideal time to tackle that spring cleaning around the house. For many of us, that means cleaning out our closets and getting rid of things that have been hidden in the back just collecting dust. But for some, that task isn’t just a chore they don’t want to deal with, it’s the whole idea of giving up items that’s hard for them.
Author Jandra Sutton is one of them and she says over the years, she’s tried various decluttering techniques, including Marie Kondo’s KonMari method, which has you ditch things that don’t “spark joy.” And while that works for some things, Sutton still found herself struggling to let go of items she thought she’d might use or wear one day.
So she came up with a fix that works for her - a middle step between keeping and discarding things.
- Instead of forcing herself to get rid of things, Sutton added a third category to her closet cleanout - items she hides.
- It’s for the things she’s not ready to ditch or donate but isn’t sure she wants to keep.
- Those things go in the “hide pile” until her next cleanout.
- And because she’s hiding these items from view, she doesn’t feel the guilt of not using or wearing everything and she’s not constantly reminding herself that she bought something she doesn't use.
- Then a couple times a year, she revisits the pile and if she hasn’t used the items since the last cleanout, Sutton says that proves it’s something she doesn’t need and she can easily get rid of it.
Source: New York Post