Decluttering Archives - SOS: Simple Organized Solutions LLC

Swedish Death Cleaning is More About Decluttering Than Cleaning

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2018-06-11T18:35:21+00:00 June 13th, 2018|Categories: Decluttering, Downsizing, Home Organization, Seniors|Tags: decluttering, discard, downsizing, seniors|

Swedish Death Cleaning, what is it? I’ve been hearing a lot about this lately and did some investigating, this is what I learned. A woman named Margareta Magnusson wrote a book called, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family From a Lifetime of Clutter. She wrote this book after she had to deal with the possessions of her parents and her husband after they passed away. The Swedish culture has a practice called döstädning - dö translates to death & städning translates to cleaning. The idea is not so much about cleaning as it [...]

Purging Holiday Decorations

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-12-11T12:52:31+00:00 December 13th, 2017|Categories: Decluttering, Donation, Holidays|Tags: donate, holiday decor, purging, recycle|

The holidays are upon us and there is much to do. From creating menus to shopping for gifts to putting up holiday decorations. The earlier we start on our to-do list the better. Decorating is one of those things that can be done early. We may not think about purging as we decorate but it’s a great way to reduce the amount of decorations as well as creating more storage space. Not everyone decorates for the holidays but many of us enjoy showing our holiday spirit in this way. We accumulate many decorations over the years. We acquire holiday decorations [...]

Should I Sell or Donate Unwanted Items?

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-09-27T15:23:59+00:00 October 4th, 2017|Categories: Decluttering, Donation, Recycle|Tags: donate, organizing process, purge, recycle|

During the purge part of the organizing process, I’m often asked if an unwanted item should be donated or sold. This is a great question! The short answer is that it’s an individual preference. In my experience, most people know what mechanism they want to use to discard unwanted items. There are some items that have been in families for generations, and the current owners think they may be of value, but they’re not sure. For those items, I recommend getting an appraisal to determine value. Then decide whether to contact other family members to see if they want the [...]

6 Tips to Organize Your Thoughts

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-09-12T12:54:50+00:00 September 12th, 2017|Categories: Decluttering, Focus, Productivity|Tags: brains, mental clarity, multi-tasking, organized, reframing|

Anything can be organized, even your thoughts. We say that we can’t help the way we think, but we can! There may be things in life that we have no control over, but our thoughts are not one of them. When a thought comes to mind, you make the choice to accept or reject that thought. Your choice may be conscious or subconscious, but either way it’s your choice. Our brains function basically like computers. They are constantly processing information; incoming thoughts and outgoing actions. At times, so many thoughts are floating around in our heads that we can’t keep [...]

Where to Donate Your Treasures

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-06-05T13:30:58+00:00 June 7th, 2017|Categories: Decluttering, Downsizing, Recycle|Tags: charities, donate, purge, recycle, tips|

I’m often asked, ‘where do I donate _______?’ (fill in the blank). When I’m asked this question is typically during, or after a purge session. Whether it’s spring cleaning, or time to downsize, you may come across items that are not trash-worthy. These items still have mileage in them and you don’t want them to end up in a landfill. The obvious solution is to recycle them. Recycling has a variety of meanings; send to a recycling facility, repurpose/reuse, sell or donate. This post focuses on where to donate specialty items. There are many charities that accept donations. The [...]

Too Many Choices

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-05-18T15:45:34+00:00 May 24th, 2017|Categories: Decluttering, Home Organization, Problem Solving, Reduce Stress|Tags: indecision, proactive, stress, tips|

Too many choices can cause indecision, which leads to frustration, and consequently, stress. Think about it. Have you ever been to a restaurant that has a menu with so many pages it looks like a novel? The wait staff wants to take your order but you can’t decide, so you ask for a few more minutes. Those few more minutes go by and you still can’t decide. Maybe your dining partners have the same issue. You end up stressed out and order something that you may not be happy with because you had too many choices. How about your overstuffed [...]

Misplaced Glasses

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-04-21T17:23:09+00:00 April 22nd, 2017|Categories: Decluttering, Focus, Home Organization, Reduce Stress|Tags: clutter, distraction, stress|

Anyone that wears glasses, has at some time, or many times, misplaced them. Those that wear reading glasses only, may misplace them more than those that wear glasses all the time. This probably occurs most often when we’re tired or distracted. When you’re tired, you don’t want to fall asleep with them on and risk damaging them, so you take them off and put them down. You’re sleepy so you don’t really pay attention to what you’re doing when you set them down. The same thing happens when you’re distracted from a task that requires you to wear your glasses. [...]

Life Situations That Create a Need to Declutter

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-01-03T12:29:20+00:00 January 4th, 2017|Categories: Decluttering, Downsizing, Home Organization, Moving, Organizing Tips, Rightsizing|Tags: after a death, clutter, declutter, moving, organized, storage|

Life situations that create a need to declutter are many. These situations typically create a change to your living dynamic. Many are resistant to change and it’s understandable, especially at those times when you feel a loss. However, sometimes it helps to take an action to work through that sense of loss. Decluttering is a liberating feeling and may just be the right action for you. Life situations occur whenever there is a change in your living situation. This becomes an opportune time to declutter and organize for the new to come into your life. The scenarios below provide some insight [...]

Is Your Basement A Dumping Ground?

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-03-06T18:24:36+00:00 March 19th, 2014|Categories: Decluttering, Home Organization, Organizing Tips|Tags: basement, organizing, peace, process|

Basements are the foundations of our homes. They can be versatile in function. Most have infrastructure components such as a furnace, electrical panels and a water heater, that at some time or another will require repair or maintenance. Some are used as extended living spaces. Some are used for storage with an area for laundry, and others combine all these functions. Keeping all the various functions of your basement organized, can be challenging, especially the storage areas. This article will focus on the storage areas. The types of items you have in the storage areas and how to store them so you [...]

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How to Stop Clutter Before it Starts

By SOS Simple Organized Solutions| 2017-04-11T10:43:31+00:00 March 4th, 2013|Categories: Decluttering, Home Organization, Organizing Tips|Tags: clutter, reduce stress, tips|

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” ~Benjamin Franklin Clutter has a way of sneaking up on us. It creeps in on us while we’re sleeping and steals our peace. Things have a way of accumulating in our spaces while we attend to activities of daily living. With everything going on, you may not notice right away. Then one day, you begin to feel uneasy, more stressed than normal and you don’t know why. You may think that it’s your hectic schedule, pressures at work, or maybe challenges with your kids, and that may very well be the [...]

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