Whether it’s a stack of magazines in the corner or boxes of junk overflowing from every room, pretty much everybody has a collection of clutter. It’s easily done – from “I just can’t throw it away” to “I’m sure it’ll be useful someday”, an endless stock of excuses results in an endless stack of unnecessary junk.

A good old declutter can do wonders for you and your home and not just by lowering the amount of times you trip over items that just haven’t found a home yet! Experts claim that decluttering reduces stress levels, helps you become more relaxed, saves you time searching for missing items and even increases your self-esteem. Psychologists frequently cite the benefits of a tidy room – an organised space leads to an organised mind.

So how can you approach the great declutter without creating even more mess? The first step is committing to decluttering. Tempting though a cup of tea every fifteen minutes may be, it won’t get the job done.

Bag it

Find three bags and label them as follows: ‘Put Away’, ‘Send Away’ and ‘Chuck Away’. Everything must go in one of these bags. In the ‘Put Away’ bag goes everything that does not belong in the room. When it’s full, grab it and go deposit everything where it should belong. In the ‘Send Away’ bag goes everything you really don’t need. It can then be taken to the charity shop, sold on the internet or even at a car boot sale. Alternatively why not try Freecycle? That way someone will come and collect it from you – easy peasy! Now here’s where you really have to be brutal with yourself. Do you really need the item? Do you have another, better version of it? Have you used it in the past twelve months? If you really want to declutter, here’s where the big difference will be made. When this bag is full, put it straight in the car or immediately haul it down to a charity shop/collect together for selling. Otherwise it’s just going to be clutter. Clutter in a bag. The ‘Chuck Away’ bag is fairly self-explanatory. As soon as it’s full, put it in the bin outside. No excuses.

Working in a logical fashion is the best way to get the job done. Start at one end of the room and work your way towards the other. Don’t put things off – everything has to be done at some point. It might as well be right now. Setting yourself goals will help considerably. One room this week, another room the next. Even if it’s just a drawer at a time, little steps will get the whole job done eventually.

And for those who are simply lost causes and too disorganised to even keep track of what day of the week it is – get someone else to do it for you. Google has plenty of options, but if even that’s too much hassle, try Cluttergone.