CONCLUSION: KEEPING UP THE GOOD WORK

You should only need to declutter your home once… as long as you don’t reclutter it, of course. Once you’ve waved goodbye to all your excess belongings and experienced the benefits of living a streamlined lifestyle, you’ll have a great incentive to keep things running smoothly. Just remember:

 

1  Always put things away after using them.

2  If things don’t have a place, find them one or get rid!

 

Take care not to acquire too much new stuff to replace your old clutter. When you’re thinking about buying something new, ask yourself these simple questions:

1  Will I use it or will it enhance my life? Are you buying a laser tape measure because you need to take lots of measurements? Or are you buying it because you’d quite like to be the sort of person who owns a laser tape measure?

2  Where will I put it? Can you picture a space for your potential purchase at home? If not, don’t buy it. Go home and prepare a space first!

 

Follow these rules and it will be easy to keep your home clutter-free, but don’t forget to do the same with your personal life. Now that you’ve freed up some time for your hobbies, make sure that you don’t spend it taking on extra chores or responsibilities instead.

 

Remember that routine is your friend. If you want to make a change to your life, make it a part of your routine in any way you can. (A lifestyle change – such as starting a new job or the kids changing schools – can be a good time to introduce other changes to your routine, too.)

 

Regularly reassess your plans and priorities; don’t wait for New Year to think about your goals. When you sit down (hopefully with your feet up) at the start of the week to plan ahead, take a moment to look back at the previous week too. Did you meet the careers adviser for advice about retraining? Did you set aside time to try that new dance class? If the answer’s no, remind yourself why you set these goals. Find an even more prominent place to pin up your list of goals and take a step towards the first one tomorrow.

 

Most of all, remember that if you get your shit together, you can change any aspect of your life for the better. You can move mountains if you want to – especially now that you have the time to do it. All you have to do is pick up your spade.

“TELL ME, WHAT IS IT YOU PLAN TO DO WITH YOUR ONE WILD AND PRECIOUS LIFE?”

MARY OLIVER