Declutter Tips for Any Season

Spring isn’t the only time you can have a big clean-out! It is always a great time to reconsider what we want to take with us into the future. Here are some suggestions to get started.

Memberships and Subscriptions—Companies offer us the ease of automated subscriptions and memberships because they know many of us will forget about them. They keep charging us month after month for things we don’t need or even want. Make a list of the ones you have set up. Make sure to look at last year’s credit card bills to find every last one. Then, reevaluate what you want to keep and what can go. Think hard—do you need another year of that magazine or gym subscription? If it’s not adding value to your life, the answer is no.

Computer Files—It’s unbelievable the clutter that builds up on our computers over the year. Go through all the things you’ve saved to files, note-saving apps, bookmarks, downloads, etc. Be ruthless. If you’ve forgotten about that website or document, it probably means it won’t change your life by deleting it.

Website Subscriptions—We all sign up for dozens of newsletters over the year, and rarely do we open them. We keep deleting them or worse, let them build up in our inbox. Take the time to unsubscribe from all newsletters or emails you no longer want to receive in this coming year.

Banking and Bills—If you haven’t set up automated banking for all of your bills, there’s no better time to do it! Gather up all those paper copies and enter them into your bank’s online app. Even bills that have varying amounts each month, like your electric or gas bills, can be paid through online banking. You can pay them on time and in full each month with a couple of clicks.

Email—You’ve already unsubscribed from emails and newsletters you no longer want to receive. But what about all the random emails that are clogging up your inbox right now. Go through each one and either delete it or add it to an email folder, so you know where it is if you need it later. You’ll be able to find what you need and will be amazed at how less stressful it is to check email when you keep your inbox clean.

Household—Even though we’ve focused on your digital life so far, don’t forget about all the things in your environment that you no longer need. Start small by decluttering one room at a time. Even 10-15 minutes a day will help you start the year free of clutter and items you no longer use. And, it feels great to give those items to charity.

Sammy, captured here unplugging, is a part of the Positively Daily family and a ‘ghost writer’ for us to share tips and suggestions for general topics and posts