Tips on Decluttering Before a Move

It’s amazing how much stuff we can accumulate without realizing it. That’s all well and good until you realize that when it’s time to move, you have to actually do something with it all!

Even if you’ve purchased a gigantic dream home in the suburbs, chances are, you won’t want to take it all with you. In some cases, that means renting a dumpster to get rid of your old junk. Here are the best ways to declutter before you move in Nashville, TN.

  • Set a moving date and stick with it. If you’re like most folks, you need a hard deadline to spur you into action. No one really wants to declutter and pack, but it has to get done. Pro tip: set that deadline a few days before you actually move. You never know what challenges might come up while you’re sorting through your stuff.
  • Make a master “to do” list. Next, it’s time to make a to do list. Organize it in a way that makes sense for your move: general tasks versus room-by-room tasks, or split the chores up between your housemates. Perhaps one of you can handle the dumpster rental and hiring a mover while someone else packs and declutters the bedrooms. However you allocate the work, make sure the decluttering is shared. It can be emotionally and physically draining to sort through your stuff.
  • Decide what you want to keep and toss. Decluttering can be sorted into a few major categories: things you definitely need, things you might not need but you use often and things that you’re only holding onto because it’s difficult or guilt-inducing to get rid of them. In the latter category, separate those items from things you can donate and pure junk. Anything that qualifies as “junk” can usually go in the dumpster.
  • Make time to declutter before packing. You don’t want to leave the decluttering portion until the last minute, especially if you’re packing things as you go. One good way to get it over with is to schedule a “decluttering weekend,” where your household makes an effort to get rid of junk and donations. You can schedule a dumpster rental during this weekend, which will give you yet another hard deadline to observe.
  • Give yourself deadlines. Speaking of deadlines, don’t let the moving date function as the only deadline throughout the moving process. It’s too easy to let everything go until the last minute, so you’re frantically packing and throwing things into the dumpster a day before you need to get out. Set weekly or daily deadlines to break the work up into small chunks—then be ruthless with your decluttering effort. Do you really need that weird garlic peeling gadget that never seems to work? To the thrift store it goes!

When you’re ready to rent a dumpster for your decluttering effort, call Griffin Waste Services. Now that you know how to declutter before you move in Nashville, TN, it’ll be easy to get rid of all your old junk.

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