As much as I am here to ask you to learn to let go, to build confidence in only keeping what you love and what is useful, there is the in-between.
The part where you know you don’t need that much of any one thing but you can’t yet bring yourself to remove it from the house. It is important to recognise that to a limit, this is ok. If you let go too early, you can end up regretting it and then no one wins as you lost the confidence to let go of anything and the problem gets worse.
That being said, you do not have to keep things unused if you plan on keeping them around. There are plenty of other uses for our keepsake items. You just need to think outside the box.
Below I have put together some of the common things that people struggle to let go of and listed some ideas for things you can use them for instead. Check them out, you could just be inspired to make your keepsakes useful again.
Mugs
Mugs are a hot topic in my TOC Method programme this month, I even wrote an email all about it to those who receive my weekly email. It only seems right that they got a section in this blog too.
Many of us get given mugs for gifts, for big birthdays, holiday keepsakes etc so it is understandable that we can struggle to get rid and only leave the amount we realistically need for hot drinks. However there are plenty of other uses:
CD’s & DVD’s
Lots of us don’t use them anymore, we stream all of our films but nostalgia kicks in and we find it hard to let go of them anyway.
You may not be ready to let go yet but what about some of these ideas?
Books
I have heard of some famous organisers in the past tell people that they should only keep 5 books. For book lovers, that can become really problematic when they like to re-read their favourites and their “to read” list is longer than 5 books.
It is all relative though. You will always find space for the things you love. So if books are your thing then having them on display won’t be an issue for you. Here are some unique ways though to maximise storage of them or re-use.
Holiday keepsakes
How many times have you gone away and picked up a souvenir? You might collect fridge magnets, it could be shells and rocks, it could be coasters, postcards or even T-shirts. Lots and lots of us do it. They sit in a box somewhere collecting dust but we can’t bear to let go of them for nostalgic reasons.
I could make an argument towards memories being in stored in other ways other than physical items but if you aren’t ready, you aren’t ready. However, maybe by using the items rather than them just being in storage, you will be more inclined to remember those fond memories more frequently and actually enjoy the souvenir.
I would love to know some of the things that you keep hold of but should really declutter. Could you find a new use for the items too? If you enjoyed this blog and would like to hear more regular updates from me and declutter and organising tips straight to your email, you can subscribe to my email list here.
The Organised Co. 