I’m sort of a pack rat. I keep random trophies from vacations, playbills from concerts in fifth grade, novels I used to love, One Direction merchandise that I’m not sure what the hell to do with, old makeup…I keep a lot of things and I get into occasional moods of “LET’S CLEAN EVERYTHING AND THROW AWAY ALL OF THE CLUTTER!”
In these moods I find myself able to throw away things that were supposedly sentimental and I have this satisfied feeling whenever I throw something away. After I had to pack and unpack upon moving back from college, it really hit me how much of a pack rat I am and how hard it is getting rid of junk. Like, I have 20+ dresses, clothes from MIDDLE SCHOOL, hundreds of bottles of nail polish…too much stuff.
Look, I know minimalism is the new trend but I will never be a minimalist. I can’t. I’ve sort of tried, but I just have too much stuff and I’m an overbuyer with anxiety about using things up or running out of them. I’ve decided getting rid of junk is the best I can do, so, my packrat friends, here’s the guide to getting rid of junk.
1. Start with an empty garbage bag.
This works, it really does. When you have a trash bag you’re going to want to fill it. It’s so satisfying to fill an empty bag with things and by getting rid of things you have a sense of accomplishment. I ended up bringing up three empty trash bags and I filled ALL THREE! I felt so successful and free. I got rid of
2. Follow through.
Don’t start this process when you know you can’t finish it. If you have a few free hours that you can spend mostly uninterrupted, do it. Don’t take breaks and don’t say you’ll finish tomorrow. Don’t find something cool or fun (ie: Rubik’s cube or old yearbook) and spend your time playing with it or looking at it when you should be cleaning. If you really want to spend time on an item, put it aside as a treat for when you finish getting rid of some stuff.
Leaving your room in a half-clean and half-messy state of disarray will likely result in you throwing things under your bed just to get them out of the way. You want to get rid of things, not shove them somewhere else.
3. Make a pumped up playlist.
You’re going to need some upbeat music to clean to. The music will help keep you motivated and focused on the task at hand. With this being said, don’t spend your cleaning time procrastinating by making a “Getting Rid Of Junk” playlist on Spotify. I recommend playing “It’s A Hard-knock Life” from Annie (1999) because there’s nothing like Orphans singing about cleaning to get you pumped up, right?
4. Be really hard on yourself.
If you find that you can’t do this, enlist the people in your life who will call you out on your shit. My roommate is awesome at saying, “Are you KIDDING? You don’t need this. You have ten of these. This is ripped. You’re never going to use this,” and the works. Sometimes you need someone like that. Do not become an enabler and don’t bring an enabler. My mom enables my packrat style. I’ll be getting rid of junk and she’ll unknowingly guilt me into keeping it by expressing sentimentality or expensiveness meanwhile I’m ready to toss it. Avoid anyone who encourages you to keep things or give them a second chance.
5. Ask yourself the real questions.
Give yourself the honest answers! Now isn’t the time to lie to yourself.
Have I used this in the past few months?
Have you used that apple slicer? No? Throw it away. The only exception to this is seasonal items like Christmas decorations.
If this disappeared would I actually miss it or even notice?
Honestly, did you even know you had this? If you forgot about it, you won’t miss it if you toss it.
Is this expired/broken/ripped?
Throw it away. Throw away makeup that smells oddly powdery or like paint (it’s gone bad). Throw out something that’s broken or ripped because if you haven’t fixed it by now, you probably won’t ever.
Is this something I said I might need someday but still have yet to need?
For me, this applies to craft supplies or things I had the intent of giving a DIY makeover to. If I haven’t done it in the past two years, I probably never actually will.
Does this ACTUALLY have sentimental value?
If it’s something that was handmade by someone you love, that’s definitely sentimental. If it’s a stuffed animal someone bought for you it’s not as sentimental. You don’t need to be a savage, but remember that you have actual memories and you don’t need the actual item to remind you of an event. If you do, you could always photograph the item or write about it and then toss it.
6. Try on your entire wardrobe.
This is also a bonus workout because trying on clothes burns a lot of freaking calories. Donate the things you know you’ll never wear or things that don’t quite fit. If you say “I would wear this if…” or “This fits but…” then GET RID OF IT. It’s taking up space. Make a deal with yourself if some things are hard to part with: wear it this week or get rid of it. If you really loved it you would wear it.
7. Use things up before buying new ones.
I currently have at least eight body washes sitting in my drawer and yet if Bath & Body Works had a good sale I’d probably buy more. This is a PROBLEM. I’ve decided to avoid the store entirely to avoid falling for a good deal. I’m not buying body wash until I use up at least 85% of my stash. Follow this rule with most things, especially beauty products and makeup. Seriously, the chances of something going out of stock and you using all of it ASAP is pretty slim and you might find that you like another product better by then.
8. Finding a new place for something isn’t always good enough.
Just because you can fit your huge DVD collection under your bed instead of on a cluttered shelf doesn’t mean you should keep them all. For me, cleaning my room was mostly about finding somewhere else to put things, preferable somewhere out of sight like a closet or behind my bed. This is moving junk for you to deal with at a later date, not getting organized or clean. Think about this: if something were to happen you, someone would have to potentially sort through all of these belongings. Actually, less morbid, if you were to move to a new house or move out, you’d have to sort through and carry all of this stuff to somewhere new. All of this “important” junk is going to ultimately end up in the trash or rotting in the attic probably. Do you really need to shove it under your bed? Is it THAT important?
What are your tips for getting rid of junk?
