An article written by Mikael Cho and published by Lifehacker.com sums up a key point brilliantly: “physical clutter overloads your senses, making you feel stressed, and impairs your ability to think creatively.” Here’s the scientific backup about a study done by Princeton University about clutter’s negative impact on the brain. And, think about what you do when you’re planning a move. You empty closets and drawers and you otherwise . . . create clutter. So, what’s a better strategy?
Tip #1: Stage your home sooner rather than later.
When you appropriately stage your home, you automatically declutter because you want to present a streamlined look to your home. New to home staging? Morgan Moving & Storage offers home staging tips. Not sure where to keep extra belongings in the meantime? Here are portable storage options.
Tip #2: Donate what you don’t need.
As you decide what to use in your home staging and what to store, create a third pile: items that you will never use again. Do you have an exercise bike that you bought with the best of intentions, but . . . ? Clothes in a style that would only be useful in theater productions? Duplicates of items that you don’t need? Use Morgan’s useful guide about donating before relocating to find good homes for those belongings.
Tip #3: Ditch the kitchen stuff.
How many of your food items’ expiration dates are, well, expired? We know of one well-intentioned family who found something with an expiration date of 1987! Kid you not. Throw these items away! And, Money.USNews.com suggests that you “Use this time to also get rid of any cookbooks you haven’t cracked open in the past year, and any strange kitchen gadgets you really don’t have a use for.” Consider donating those cookbooks and quirky gadgets.
If you want to further reduce stress, get a free no-obligation quote from the moving company that gets you where you’re going without hassle.