Digitize
Whether it's old pictures, important mail, documentation or to do lists - having a digital file is less space consuming, more effective and reduces the inevitable counter clutter that appears when we simply have too much paper! You don't have to put your whole life into the digital world but perhaps you have a particular problem area... for example, to do lists, memos or random scraps of paper with important numbers on them. Change this habit and try out one of the many great apps or programmes where you can upload your notes and to do lists.
Health and Beauty
A particularly prominent space of clutter for many women (and men alike). To start with decide on a space to store your health and beauty items, give them a home and by keeping them in one place you are less likely to start smaller piles all over the home. Take everything out of it's bags, boxes and storage systems and only put back the items you love and use. Discard or donate duplicates, if you tried something and didn't like it pass it onto a friend who may like it. This doesn't mean owning as few health and beauty items as possible, but only owning the things you really love. For me, this means having a very basic skincare collection yet more makeup than the average person, because I enjoy it and it makes me happy.
Digital Clutter
A strange one considering the above, but don't clutter your computer with 'junk' - just keep the important stuff! One of the easiest places to declutter instantly is your digital life, whether that's blurry photographs from your online albums or no longer needed documents saved on your desktop. Try to eliminate any unused programmes and free up some space on your desktop or laptop. For photographs, I try to keep the best of the bunch and get rid of any pointless pictures or duplicates; you can also store them on an external hardrive or a simple USB memory stick for safe keeping.
Hobbies
This doesn't mean throwing away your hobbies but simply only focusing on the hobbies you actually enjoy and take part in regularly. Get rid of the just in case I fancy sitting down for 5 minutes one day kinda hobbies that resulted in impulse purchases to free up time and space to spend on something you really enjoy doing. Regularly look through your hobby related belongings (i.e craft supplie, equipment etc) and if there is something you are not using or that you no longer need simply donate, sell or trash it! If you're too concerned about the money you spent on your new exciting hobby that never actually happened (that new bike collecting dust?), then pass it on to someone who would use it or sell it.
Junk Drawer/s
Everyone has one (or in my case, 4) yet these are the easiest places to declutter. I can almost garantee that at least 75% of the drawer is immediate trash; I'm talking used batteries, wrappers, keys for locks that no longer exist, broken headphones and an emergency supply of headache tablets from 5 years ago. If you can, eliminate the junk drawer all together - everything you need has a home. For essential 'junk' like a notepad, a pen, important letters etc that find themselves living in your junk drawer give them a nominated home where you can see them - this way they are less likely to 'pile up'.
Fridge/Freezer/Pantry
Take the time to go through every item in your fridge, freezer, cupboards and pantry. Discard any out of date or unusable food items and insure that everything has a place. If there are foods that are suitable for donation (e.g new foods you didn't like but purchased 10) then donate them to a local food bank or even a neighbour!
Wardrobe
Again, a very simple area to immediately declutter and one that you can enjoy straight after! Get into the mindset of only keeping the things you love to wear, there's no need to jump from an overcrowded closet/wardrobe space for 4 to a capsule wardrobe but let go of the items that no longer fit, make you uncomfortable, don't suit you, are broken or unwearable. Letting go of these items alone can make a drastic difference. If, after that you are still seeking more space and less clothing then try and pair it down to the basics. Find your colour palette, your style and your preference and only keep clothes that fit those criteria.
Bathroom
Quite simply, do you really need 7 half full bottles of shower gel, 4 different shampoos and five conditioners? No. Find products you like and use, stick to them and stop wasting money trying out the latest 'deals' in the stores. Finish using up any products you have, or if you don't like them put them in the trash - then only buy what you need, along with perhaps one reserve bottle of your favourite products. Sort through unused, old or no longer needed linen and towels and keep the bathroom cabinet contents to a minimum.
Under bed storage
Ask yourself a question, when was the last time you dug through the boxes under your bed to actually use something? If the answer was in the past 3-6 months then by all means - keep it. If like me, you failed to even answer with a time zone then bin it. Under the bed storage is often full of 'just in case' items, be realistic, if you don't use it stop allowing it to be clutter in your life.
Emails
If you're someone who never has less than 204 emails in their inbox, it's time to change. Mark any necessary items as junk automatically to avoid clogging up your important emails. Regularly delete any unwanted or old emails, or move them to a separate folder for a set amount of time. Delete or unsubscribe from any newsletters that you just don't read, or mailing lists that tempt you with offers and purchases. Logging in to find an inbox with just a couple of new emails will make your mornings less stressful and more efficient.
