How to tackle your Spring Cleaning project
Spring has arrived and this is a perfect time to do some spring cleaning, clearing and sorting of your home whether it be in preparation of selling to downsize or move or even just in preparation of socialising again after both lockdown and winter. Here are some tips to tackle that project that you have wanted to do for so long but just don’t really know where to start…
Perhaps it’s that cupboard in your bedroom or the courtyard. Whatever the area that you are wanting to clear and sort there are a few steps that will assist you in achieving this.

SET THE GOAL
Give yourself a clear goal of what you want to achieve and a time period that you want to do it by. Don’t just say that you want to clean out your wardrobe. Be specific – you want to reduce and repack your shelves and hanging wardrobe within a two-week period.
BITE SIZE PIECES
You know the saying – ‘You eat an elephant one bite at a time.’ Allocate an hour a day to your project. This will help you to keep your enthusiasm up. Then spend that allocated time every day to making some progress on your set project.
USE THE ‘TOUCH ONCE’ POLICY
Start with collecting all ‘like’ items and putting them together. For eg., begin with T-shirts. This will let you see exactly how many of one item you have. To help you reduce remove items that are duplicated, damaged or just worn out. Have fashions or just your taste changed and something that you loved just doesn’t really appeal any longer? This will help you decide if an item is a keeper. If it’s not going to be kept any longer then allocate it either to the sell, donate or discard pile. Do this once: don’t keep going back to the piles and changing your mind.
ACTION THE PILES
Now get rid of the items in the sell, donate or discard piles as quickly as possible. The longer you keep them in your home, the more likely you are to rummage through them and take things out of them. Take this opportunity to give these items a second life by selling or donating them to someone else who can benefit from them.
SIT BACK AND REWARD YOURSELF
Take a moment to enjoy the satisfaction of what you have achieved!
For more information on how to tackle a downsize visit this article on Mymove.com. – https://www.mymove.com/moving/guides/senior-guide-downsizing/
This is a must-read before tackling your garage. http://www.napogetorganized.com/?p=4419
NAPO is the National Association of Professional Organisers based in the USA. They give some fantastic and practical advice on all aspects of sorting.
Sometimes the hardest step is the first one. BUT if you still feel completely overwhelmed and just don’t know where to start then Clear Path can tackle these projects with you, assisting you with sorting and organising all areas of your home.
For help from Clear Path visit the speciality moves page by clicking here or email info@clear-path.co.za or call Marylou 082 921 9553.