How often do you give away clothes or other items you haven't been using? Although some people regularly remove and clean up unwanted items, many of us are far more lax in this regard. We grow attached to our items, and instead of throwing away something we don't need anymore, we hold on to it and store it just in case we may need it again, sometime in the distant future. After all, you never know, right?
We feel compelled to hold on to something because we all have had experiences where we've kept something we haven't used for years, and just after we've thrown it away, we suddenly find a use for it, and wish we hadn't been so reckless. Although the experience is really not all that traumatic, for many people this is the prime reason they don't dispose off items on a regular basis.
If you are one of those people who are fast running out of storage space because you refuse to throw anything away, here's how you can get yourself to dispose off items in a more organised and less painful manner.
Find storage space
Make provisions for a space where you can store items you think you don't need, and haven't used for a month. For this purpose, you could use a large drawer, a trunk or a suitcase. A large drawer would be more accessible than a suitcase and you can very easily retrieve anything if you find you need it. It will also be easier for you to dump things in that drawer as you will not feel as if you are getting rid of it.
Store unused items first
Don't think you need to throw away something every time you clean up your home. Of course, its great if you do, but if you find you cannot, simply put everything you haven't used for a year, in your suitcase. Don't worry about whether something is good or bad or if you may need it or not. Remember, you are not throwing it away immediately. So just put it all in your suitcase.
Use this suitcase for items like clothes, shoes, bags and other smaller things. Don't crowd it up with huge meters of fabric like used curtains.
Throw away the worst
Keep filling up the space you have allocated for storage, until you find that there is absolutely no space for anything else. When this happens, remove all the contents from your suitcase and see what are the things you can throw away with the least pain. First, get rid of all those old clothes that appear faded or that have lost their shape, as even if you do decide to wear them some day, you will definitely look shabby.
Repair or throw
Do you have anything that's torn, that you haven't thrown away in the hopes that you will stitch it up? If this is the case, then sit down immediately, stitch it up and wear it the same or next day. If you cannot see yourself doing this, throw it away!
If you see something you like and think you may use it, remove it from the suitcase and place it back into your closet. If you use it, great. If you still don't use it, throw it away.
