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Got a wardrobe that’s full to bursting but you somehow have nothing to wear? Or an inbox so full of unopened emails you don’t know where to start?
Sprucing up isn’t just for spring – summer can be a great time to reorganise both your home and your life.
Here are five effective ways to declutter your life this summer:
Embrace a minimalist wardrobe
Step away from the shiny new outfits.
We know it’s tempting to splash out on a new look for summer. But the chances are there are plenty of gems already languishing in your wardrobe that have only been worn once or twice. And some that will never be worn again.
We’ve all kept that one dress we thought looked good in the changing room, or that pair of trousers that we swear we’ll fit into ‘after we lose a bit of weight’.
First of all: stop feeling guilty! Changing room lights are notoriously deceptive. And clothes are meant to fit us – not the other way round.
Instead of hanging onto lots of pieces ‘just in case’, be brutal and have a proper clear-out of your wardrobe. Many of us have a smaller number of staple items we wear on rotation, while the other pieces never see the light of day. Why not build a classic capsule collection out of your favourite pieces that can be mixed and matched, and consider donating or selling items you haven’t worn?
And if you’re hanging onto something because it no longer fits – there’s absolutely no shame in sizing up or down. Remember, clothes look best when you feel comfortable and confident in them.
Do a digital declutter
It’s not just physical items that can get messy. Take the opportunity to give your digital space a spring (or in this case, summer) clean, too.
Starting with possibly everyone’s least favourite job: sorting through spam.
The chances are you’ve shopped online at a few places and are now getting lots of newsletters, promotional messages, check-out reminders etc. Even signing up to a restaurant’s free Wi-Fi service can leave you on the hook for junk emails. Spend just a couple of minutes clicking on the ‘unsubscribe’ link at the bottom of unwanted marketing messages, and you’ll be rewarded with a less cluttered inbox going forwards.
Once you’ve done that, you can move into tasks like organising files on your drive, especially if you have a chaotic desktop with lots of unnecessary shortcuts. Or a Google Drive with lots of individual files, but no folder groups to make them easier to find. Here are some more handy suggestions on how to declutter your digital space.
Don’t forget about your phone – delete any apps you no longer use, and run your phone’s cleaning programme to get rid of unnecessary old files.
Bundle your utility bills
Did you know you don’t have to handle lots of different bills coming in at different times of the month?
You can bundle your household services into a single, easy-to-manage monthly bill instead. It’s a massive timesaver, and can also save you money too.
As the UK’s only genuine multiservice provider, Utility Warehouse (UW) lets you put your energy, broadband, mobile and insurance on one account. And with additional discounts available, the more services you add to your bundle, the more you save.
As well as only having one bill come in a month to keep track of, you can also manage all your services on a single online account and/or free mobile app. So that’s fewer passwords you have to remember.
Create a cleaning schedule
Don’t feel like you have to do one massive cleanup – it’s actually often more efficient (and far less tiring) to break it up into bite-sized chunks.
Try focusing on one area of your home at a time, and create a weekly, monthly and/or seasonal cleaning schedule for each, depending on the task. Make sure you get the whole household involved too, and assign different tasks to different family members. Cleaning up will go a lot faster with more people involved.
Unmuddle your mind
Sometimes before you tackle any outside messes, you have to tackle the ones inside first.
With so much going on – both in your own life and the world in general – it can feel difficult to have a few moments of mental quiet to digest everything, let alone unwind. Meditation, yoga and journalling can be great ways to get a few moments of reflection to yourself. But if they’re not quite your speed, going for a walk or just making room for a couple of minutes of quiet time at home every day can work well too.
Don’t underestimate the impact social media can have on your mind, too. Unfollow any accounts on social media that you’re not interested in any more, block the ones that you feel actively harm your mental health, and limit the amount of time you spend on these apps.
With more time to decompress and destress, planning to declutter the rest of your life becomes a little easier.
By tidying up this summer, you can make more life in your room for relaxation and fun. Don’t worry about doing everything all at once – it’s always going to be an ongoing process. So don’t be too hard on yourself for not completing any one of these areas, and just go at your own pace.
Happy decluttering!