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Decluttering expert’s 5 tips for parents when clearing out end of school year items
How to avoid guilt and procrastination when decluttering this summer - tips from professional organiser,
Cher Casey, PhD
As the school year winds down and summer holidays start, parents are being encouraged to try an end-of-term clutter clearout. This time of year sees family homes filled up with empty lunchboxes, outgrown uniforms, and a mountain of loose school papers.
Cher Casey, founder of The Mindful Organiser
Cher Casey, founder of The Mindful Organiser and decluttering adviser to Jackson Woodtuners, shares her top tips on how to approach decluttering, without guilt when throwing childhood items away.
Cher Casey, PhD, professional organiser and decluttering expert at The Mindful Organiser told Jackson Woodtuners,
“Because our lifestyles change with the seasons, regular edits ensure your home and its belongings stay relevant to your current needs. Milestones, like the end of a school year, provide a natural opportunity to reset. Smaller decluttering projects also allow you to break up tasks into smaller, more manageable steps and prevent from the burnout of attempting to tackle the entire house. Decluttering timely projects prevents the steady build up of clutter and encourages you to take regular stock of what you’ve used and what needs replacing."
Decluttering a child's belongings can feel like an emotional minefield. To manage the guilt and mindfully address your sentimental attachment, Cher advises.
1. Tackle sentimental items last
“Decluttering sentimental items should come toward the end of your journey. Do not start with your child's baby books or first outfit. Instead, build your confidence and decision-making skills by beginning with functional, easily replaceable items such as broken toys, unused craft items, and duplicate books..”
2. Sort by category
“Group items into specific categories, such as artwork, toys, clothes, or books. Then review items in each group, instead of reviewing things one at a time. This allows you to make clear and confident decisions based on volume and what’s needed, used and loved.”
3. Not all items are equal
“Keep in mind that not all sentimental items hold the same weight. Some will carry far more meaning than others. Focus on finding the true "treasures", the ones that instantly spark happy memories or embody a specific milestone. A few deeply cherished items are far more precious than bags of clothes.”
4. Capture the memory
“The feelings of guilt and loss associated with letting go can feel heavy, but you can use the moment to reflect and to bond with your children. If your kids are old enough, you can involve them in looking at their items. Spend time talking about what they were like when they were younger. You can take video or pictures of this process as a way of remembering and adding to the accumulated sentimentality of items without necessarily keeping them.”
5. Take a step back to find true treasures
“Ultimately, the memory exists in your mind and heart, not in the physical objects. Finding those precious treasures and letting go of the excess is a mindful way of celebrating your child’s history, not erasing it. Shift your mindset, and try to see this process as creating space - physical and emotional - for new memories..”
Cher concludes,
“If you only have one hour or need to pick just one "must-do" task, the trick is to avoid tackling too much at once and focus entirely on a single item or area such as the hallway, kitchen, utility room, or garden. Don’t rush working on sentimental items. Build up your decluttering muscle with functional items then work your way up to sentimental items. Reviewing treasures from your past should be a slow, conscious activity, so don’t rush or pressure yourself.
Decluttering these categories will change how you interact with your home and importantly, how you feel in it. When your high-use areas function smoothly, they set a calmer, more organised tone for your entire day, creating a positive ripple effect throughout your life.
For further information on decluttering and home organisation,
visit the Jackson Woodturners blog.
