3 Simple Steps to Declutter Your Closet

Needless to say I am a shopaholic. I have accumulated so much stuff over years. I never realized how much I had until I had to move recently. Packing and unpacking was a big task. So I decided to sort through my stuff as I was unpacking in my new apartment. It was hard to begin with. The decluttering journey was painful.  But gradually I was ok with letting things go. I know I have a long way to go still. But I am proud that I made huge progress. I was able to donate numerous boxes of stuff to a nearby goodwill store. I actually felt better about this whole process in the end.

The hardest phase was when I had to part with clothes.  Yes I am emotionally attached to my clothes. Also all the clothes were expensive, good brands and  rarely worn. The ones I had worn were also well maintained making it harder to let go. As I started sorting clothes I was astonished by the amount of clothes I had bought . But in the end my closet looked so much spacious and well organized.

So here are three simple steps I came up with  to declutter a closet -

1. Step by step approach

I first decided to get all my clothes out of my closet. But there was no way I could go through every piece of clothing in a day. I  had way too many clothes. So I started to scan one part of my closet and then another and then another. It took me few hours a day on consecutive days. But I was able to accomplish my goal in the end. Also it was not too tiring.  I was able to fill the donation bags slowly and steadily, one at a time. As I made progress I realized donation bags were being filled faster.

2. The 3 Box method

I had set up various bins that had following labels-
    "must keep"
                        "toss"
                                  "never worn"
In the end I realized I had almost the same amount of clothes in toss and never worn. I had a made a conscious decision to not have  a bin labelled - "may be". I knew I would never be able to sort through that  " may be " set of clothes later. So I decided to go with either "keep " or "toss ". It was very hard initially to put anything in the "toss" bin. But I had made up my mind.  In the end I sorted size wise through the "never worn" section. I actually now have new set of clothes to wear which I did not know even existed in my closet. Also I have some brand new clothes that I can use to give gifts and thereby save some money. And finally I feel good about donating brand new clothes. And through all this my mom was there who encouraged and helped me tremendously.

3. Act Quickly

I had a hard time sleeping the first night after I started this process. I kept thinking all night long about the "toss " bin. I was tempted to sort it again and transfer some clothes to "must keep".  I did grab one piece too. But then I stopped myself.  I was cheating. I was not staying true to my myself and my motive. So I decided to put it back in the "toss " bin. And with that experience I drove to the donation store that very day. I dropped off the bags full of clothes. I felt happy. I think getting rid of the donations the very next day helped me tremendously to overcome the temptation of holding on to stuff.

 These 3 strategies helped me remove unneeded clothes.  I challenged myself to get rid of as much as I can.  I was able to see my closet in a new light. There was a  fresh breath after the clutter was gone. I learnt so much from this experience.

I hope these 3 steps will help you declutter. But no matter how you decide to start this process it needs motivation, efforts and time. Trust me! nothing happens magically.  You have to take the leap.