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After learning about minimalism and wanting to embark on my own journey i realised that the easiest way for me to get started would be starting with decluttering and reducing my personal possessions. Listed below are 3 methods i have utilised in order to make sure i was able to thoroughly execute my minimising progression.
1. Divide decluttering process in to sections.
Say if you are planning on decluttering your bedroom, it is good idea to divide each section based on the types of furniture and items you have in your room. For example, 95% of my personal stuff reside in my own bedroom due to the fact that i share a house with other people. In my room i have my bed, bedside table, dresser, study desk and my closet. The best way i found that i was able to declutter effectively was by focusing on one area at a time. For instance, i decided to declutter my study/office desk as whole different section. Before starting i analysed each drawers and the contents in my table. I went through all my stationeries, text books, note pads, gadgets (such as usb, sd cards, chargers, headphones) and folders one by one.
The main trick is to create mini sections within each category of things when decluttering to make sure you are able to thoroughly go through all your items in one location. This method also helps overcome feeling overwhelmed by things due to the fact that you are simply tackling small sub sections one by one consisting of less items and moving on to next section one at a time.
2. Pin point the most used and loved items in each section.
What do i mean by this? Well, for example if you were to declutter your shoe collection, first gather all the shoes that you own. When you have managed to pile everything in one place, pick out your most loved and used pair of shoes first. Those are the items you know you use most often and also will continue to use. Once you have pin pointed your most used and loved items, put them aside and begin to reevaluate rest of your collection. Another realistic example i can give is when i was decluttering my make up collection. I was going through my eyeliner pile, when i realised i was able to quickly pin point which eyeliner i love and use the most. After that i was able to look at rest of the eyeliners i had and decide which ones to keep or get rid of it. The benefit of using this method is that it makes you quickly realise what you value the most and then be able to compare that product with rest of the items in the collection to be able to decide on what is worth keeping or decluttering.
3. Revisit and reevaluate.
The title of the post mentions 'how to dramatically minimise'. The truth is you may or may not be able to dramatically minimise your possessions at first decluttering attempt. However, if the first 2 above mentioned methods are used correctly, you will find that 60% of your unwanted least used possessions by default will already be discarded by you. What about the other 40% ? Well, sometimes when we are decluttering so many things at once, we often may have questions and thoughts pop up such "What if i need this item later" , "I might use this item someday" or "Maybe i can use this item up instead of getting rid of it". Therefore, quite often people give in to those thoughts and decides to keep holding on to certain things. That is why it is essential to every now and then revisit the different sections (method 1) and further reevaluate your collection. You may notice that sometimes revisiting and reevaluating makes it easier to let go off certain things that were initially harder get rid off.
