A conducive environment is essential for relaxation and increased focus. If the house is full of disorganized and unnecessary items, they’ll add to the piled-up junk that does nothing but consumes space.
Built-up junk at home can be hazardous, too. If the pile is blown out of proportion, the junk can physically harm family members. Falling debris and infestation of pests, like roaches and mice, might arise, which means that cluttered space can be a source of diseases.
More often than not, this situation surfaces if the household isn’t in control of their purchases and disposal. Another reason could be hoarding tendencies and the inability to control sentimental emotions that are attached to household items.
Fortunately, here are some ways to reduce junk build-up at home:
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Hire Junk Removal Services
If the junk build-up has become too much to handle and is becoming quite dangerous, leave it to the professionals. There are junk removal services, like www.samedayrubbishremoval.com.au, that offer excellent work in cleaning up the junk built-up in homes. Most of these removal services boast cleaning and job completion within the day. It’s hassle-free and worth it.
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Limit Unusable Items
Every junk in the house was something a family member once brought home. Consider slowing down in accepting promotional freebies, such as branded tote bags, key chains, mugs, and random stuff like fans. Nobody needs a hundred of those, especially for small households. Just because it’s free, it doesn’t mean they are necessary.
Furthermore, determine the number of essential things for daily use, such as shopping bags. One or two is enough, depending on the frequency a family goes shopping.
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Plan Purchases
Just like promotional items, purchasing items that aren’t needed is complete madness. It’s a waste of money, time, and, of course, space. It will do nothing but increase the amount of junk in the house.
Unplanned purchases most often get discarded but aren’t wholly thrown away due to the price or whatever reason. Therefore, one must plan purchases. Impulse buying will be avoided by using a shopping list and sticking to it all the time.
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Reduce Direct-mail Subscriptions
Aside from environmental reasons, wherein 100 million trees are cut down annually to produce paper, direct-mail subscriptions are a hassle in terms of disposal. To ease this problem, go for paperless statements instead.
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Control Sentimentality
Sometimes, built-up junk at home is brought by hoarding tendencies. Some people just cannot let go of their items. Fortunately, there are tips for hoarders that might help. It’s okay for few things to have some significant sentimental value. But if it’s all items, clearly something is wrong.
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Declutter Everyday
It pays a lot to constantly clean after making a mess. It becomes a habit to declutter, thus avoiding built-up junk.
Suppose one’s schedule is hectic. Spare at least 30 minutes a day to deal with toys, mails, clothes, and other things. Organizing these helps one from becoming occupied with one massive built-up junk in the future. If a daily routine isn’t possible, weekly will do.
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Donate
Another effective way to reduce junk is by donating. Give all the unnecessary items that aren’t needed to those who do. Some charities accept things that are reusable and are in good condition.
Donating is a win-win situation. One gets to declutter, and the other party can receive new items.
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Don’t Buy
Instead of buying items, consider renting or borrowing for things that are only used occasionally. It’s nice to own things personally, but not if they’re left unattended and end up becoming a pile of junk.
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Strategize
Lastly, a household must strategize to avoid junk from piling up. There’s a three-box method that is very helpful; categorize items and place them in three different boxes.
- Keep – For items one wishes to hold on to (store them neatly in a labeled container)
- Get Rid Of – For items one might want to sell, donate, or give away (can be temporarily stored)
- Storage – For valuable items that one has no immediate need for (put them in the storage area)
Storing items this way allows you to easily decide which to keep and dispose of.
Conclusion
Excessive and overwhelming built-up junk might be related to hoarding disorder. Although this is in extreme cases, one should be wary about the signs and symptoms. It might be developed due to unhealthy decluttering habits or lack thereof. Keeping the home clean also encourages a pure mind. Reduce the built-up junk and start decluttering.
