Does your shed look messy or disorganised? It may be cluttered with papers, magazines and books, clothes, posters and knickknacks, not to mention your sporting and hobby equipment. Putting your possessions in their proper place and throwing out unneeded items are two good ways to get organised. If you have doubts about throwing certain things away, you can store them in a box. If you have not used them after a month or two, throw them away.
Next thing you know, your house is messy again. This simply means you have a lot of possessions and you need to de-clutter. Keeping your unneeded items away is not just the best option. Perhaps you need to completely eliminate them from your shed.
How do you do that?
Step 1: Determine how much stuff you have and how much space there is.
To effectively do this, you must take everything out of the shed. No process of elimination here yet; just remove everything regardless of whether you use them or not.
Step 2: Sort your stuff.
To make sorting easy, apply the three piles technique — create the Keep, the Toss, and the Give Away piles.
Create a separate pile for rubbish that can be recycled. This includes papers,magazines, clean bottles, old books, and anything that can be recycled.
The Keep pile must include only the things that you need and use. If you’re not sure about something, put it in the Keep pile first. Everything else that is not in the Keep pile must be eliminated from your shed.
The Toss pile includes everything that must be taken to the dump. These include the unnecessary clutter you need to dispose of. Things that you don’t or can no longer use must go in this pile as well.
The Give Away pile includes those clothing and household items that can be taken to a Goodwill, a donation centre, or perhaps to your friend or family member who needs or wants them.
Step 3: Re-sort the Keep pile.
The Keep pile must be sorted again, particularly when it is larger than the amount of available space in the shed.
How to re-sort?
First sorting – Ask yourself: Am I going to use it within the next six months or next season (for seasonal items)? If your answer is no, then toss it or give it away.
Second sorting – Things with sentimental value are the most difficult to get rid of even when they’re broken. Put them in a separate bin. All other things that you don’t need but just can’t get rid of must go in this bin as well. After six months, you need to let them go.
The Final Step – Time to get rid of the Toss pile, the Give Away pile, and the Recycle pile. Don’t sort these piles again. Simply put all of them in separate bags and arrange for waste collection.
The process of eliminating rubbish from from your shed greatly requires time management and organising skills. Now that you have arranged all the things in your Keep pile back to your shed, create a special space for your future rubbish. This way, you are able to eliminate them before they get piled up again.
