A messy house is a seemingly minor issue, but it can quickly develop into a larger one if you are not careful. First off, a messy house can contribute to a drop in mental focus, a rise in anxiety and a general feeling that you are disorganized in your life. This is because your surroundings can greatly impact your mental wellbeing.
After all, there is a reason why many productivity experts tell people to clear their desks before sitting down to work. The mind is tricked into thinking it is time for productive work, because it has nothing else to focus on.
Of course, a messy house is a problem for more basic reasons, too. You may struggle to find individual items, perform basic functions like moving around your property unencumbered, or find it difficult to free up space for new furniture or clothes.
Unfortunately, the longer you go without decluttering your home, the less inclined you will be to tackle the issue. Therefore, you need to clean your house as soon as possible to ensure the job is manageable. To help you declutter your house quickly, here is a useful guide:
Use a storage box
If you have let the mess within your house mount up over time, you may need to get rid of a significant amount of rubbish. In fact, you may have accumulated so much stuff over the course of months and years that it is impossible to dispose of in one trip to the local junkyard.
Moreover, you may be undecided about which items you want to keep and which you want to get rid of. This can be a lengthy process – especially if you enjoy collecting items with a sentimental attachment assigned to them.
Therefore, it might be useful to hire a storage box to help you clear out temporarily. You can remove items you aren’t decided about quickly, in order to free up space in your house.
In turn, this helps you clean the house properly without being encumbered by large items of furniture or vast piles of clothes.
Arguably the most compelling reason to use a storage box is that it can be moved by a professional team like Salem Storage to a different location. If you are thinking of storing the items off premises, this is a great option.
Be brutal about your possessions
A common reason why people suffer from cluttered houses is because they hold on to items for far too long. Whether it is old clothes you know you are never going to wear again or a pile of birthday cards from three years back, your space can quickly be eroded by unnecessary stuff. To tackle this, you need to be brutal.
Consider how often you use or interact with every item in your bedroom. There is bound to be vast amounts of clothes, posters, memorabilia, technology and other items which you don’t use enough. Instead of feeling sentimental, get rid of them immediately. It will clear up space for new possessions which will provide more value. What’s more, this process will help you to clear your head.
When you have hoarded possessions for so long, they can start to own you, rather than the other way around. By unceremoniously dumping them in a waste bag, you are reminding yourself that possessions are just inanimate objects that mean little in reality.
Start with smaller items
If you feel overwhelmed by the scale of the task in front of you, then break it down into manageable tasks. Given that you have let your house become so messy in the first place, you likely struggle with motivation or discipline to clean. Don’t get down on yourself about it, it is natural.
Instead, make the decluttering process easier for yourself by starting in one room, with smaller items. Once you develop a routine and build momentum, you will find it easier to start tackling larger, more arduous jobs.
After all, the cleaner your house gets, the more you will notice areas of untidiness, which will encourage you to keep going.
Prevent the same problem from happening again
No one wants to clear their house if they know it is going to descend into the same mess again. That’s why you need to develop a regular cleaning schedule, to make sure you don’t clutter up your house. Setting a time each week to clean will make it far more manageable to clean the property and ensure the same issue doesn’t happen again to the same extent.
Once you start to do this, it will gradually become part of your normal weekly routine and will feel less like a chore.
