If you want to give a thoughtful Valentine’s Day gift, but don’t want it #cluttering up the house, try making something that can be consumed and enjoyed immediately by your loved one(s). Bread, biscotti, chocolate truffles, or a gourmet meal — anything that pleases their palates is a sure winner. Many adults appreciate a good bottle of wine, and while you may not want to stomp the grapes yourself, you can personalize the label with a love quote, Better Homes & Gardens suggests. Perhaps the recipient will offer to share the wine over a romantic dinner!
Tag: clutter-free
Pack Sensibly for Your Summer Vacation
Summer is the best time of the year to take a long, relaxing trip to see old friends, explore new sights and go to the beach. To make your leisure time even more carefree, remember that a little bit of #organizing can play a substantial role in your relaxation while on vacation.
In other words, it pays to pack sensibly and as light as possible. You probably don’t need all of that #stuff on your trip anyway, and if you forget something, chances are that you’ll be able to buy whatever it is just as easily once you get to your destination.
If you take a plane, most major airlines now charge substantial baggage fees and/or offer special no-frills fares that permit only a small carryon. Depending on the destination, you can often save hundreds of dollars by reducing the amount of stuff you take along.
To keep within airline baggage limits, decide what you’ll need to bring before getting the suitcase out, says Land of the Traveler. Make a list of the essentials — socks, underwear, deodorant, etc. — and set them aside.
Be practical about the clothing you bring. Choose versatile garments that mix and match easily to create new outfits. Stick to a simple color palette and choose items that can be dressed up or down with accessories. Then, lay out what you’ve picked and eliminate half of it.
If you’re aren’t flying, you’ll have more room available and likely more to pack, too. Successful summer road trips have special accoutrements such as coolers full of refreshing beverages, extra chargers, sunscreen, sporting goods and beach gear.
But even on a road trip, packing clothing that does double-duty can pay off, says What to Pack. When the sun goes down or the A/C is full-blast, you’ll need a blanket or hoodie. “In addition, especially for long-haul drives, pillows are crucial,” the blog says.
Whatever mode of travel you choose for your summer vacation, stick to the essentials. There will be less to keep track of, misplace or lose, and as a result, more time to enjoy your leisure time with complete peace of mind.
#Clutter doesn’t only exist in the home; it can follow you wherever you go, complicating the good times with excess stuff. This summer, pack only what you need — and take advantage of all of the freedom that your vacation affords.
Keeping the Resolution to Declutter
The new year’s resolution to declutter may be harder to keep than the resolution to go on a diet, the Washington Post says. To succeed, make a list of goals and schedule specific projects. The individual components of your decluttering plan don’t have to be huge; just pick a closet, shelf or drawer to start and spend 30 minutes organizing it. Clearing a horizontal surface such as a kitchen countertop or shelf, for example, will show results right away and motivate you to do more. If you can dedicate a half-hour per day to decluttering, it will add up to more than four full-time workweeks over the year. Make 2019 happy and clutter-free!
Happy New Year from ClothingDonations.org!
Resolve to Cut the Clutter in 2019
Now that the busy holiday season is over, it’s the perfect time to take stock of your home and all of the worldly possessions that continue to spill out of your closets and cupboards. Resolve to cut the clutter this year! Go through your closets and chests of drawers — is there anything there that you didn’t use at all in 2018? Get rid of it. Likewise with those crafty little projects that never got started: “Perhaps you have a chair you wanted to paint, or a picture frame you wanted to repurpose,” A Few Shortcuts says. “If you have been holding onto these objects for a year, it is time to let them go. Let go of old and undone projects so you can make way for fresh opportunities in the new year.”
Happy New Year from ClothingDonations.org!
Mayday! The Clutter Must Go
In medieval times, May Day began as a celebration of the return of spring. People would weave floral garlands, crown a local May king and queen, and decorate and dance around a May tree or maypole to ensure fertility for their crops. In the late 1800s, though, May Day became associated with the labor movement. Workers’ rights groups designated May 1 as a holiday to commemorate Chicago’s Haymarket Riot.
In these relatively prosperous times, you may instead recall the old distress signal, “Mayday, Mayday!” This expression, it turns out, has nothing to do with the May 1; it is borrowed from the French “m’aidé,” or “Help me.” And people who have too much stuff know all too well the helpless feelings it can produce.
Psychology Today says that physical clutter — which it defines as more knickknacks, paperwork and other junk than can comfortably fit into the space — can have an adverse effect on a person’s ability to move and think. Multiple studies say that streamlining one’s space can reduce stress and improve one’s life satisfaction, physical health and cognitive capabilities.
Physical clutter (and now, digital clutter such as email) competes for your attention, LifeHacker says; it takes away from the tasks at hand and robs people of creativity. In order to think effectively, you must eliminate it. Unfortunately, getting rid of stuff that has emotional value produces a pain response in the brain. It may actually be easier to apply constraints to the things you bring into the home than get rid of the things that are already there.
In addition to increasing stress, clutter can affect your diet, produce respiratory distress, harm relationships, encourage poor spending habits and bring on a host of other problems, the Huffington Post says. And when you have boxes of extra stuff stacked in your bedrooms, overflowing closets and stacks of dusty papers in your office, clutter has reached a crisis level. You need help! (M’aidé!)
Take a deep breath. Designate a place in your home where you can stage a major decluttering (perhaps the garage, where you can also stage a sale). Set up boxes and bags for the stuff you’re going to keep, trash, and sell or donate. Schedule a donation pickup with ClothingDonations.org and start sorting. Decluttering will get easier — and once you start, you’ll feel better in so many ways that you may make it a habit.