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My easy, fun system for decluttering books

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Going through all your books can be a daunting task. My system helps me get the situation under control, prevent overwhelm and get on with what I love. Reading.

Fake decluttering

A bookcase can be a magnet for clutter. I know mine was. After relocating knick-knacks, it's time to organise the books. I arrange mine in height order so they form a gentle slope.


Clearly this doesn't clear out any books, but it's fairly quick and already it's looking and feeling a lot less cluttered.

That's a psychological win - a feeling of momentum. Like I'm half way there in not much time at all. A good way to defeat the feeling of overwhelm.

Even at this stage a visiting relative complimented me on how organised we were. If only she knew how easy that step was. :)

Pick out the definites

Generally there'll be a few "keepers"; precious gems that you have to hang on to. Separate them.

Some books you can already say goodbye to. Separate them too.

I put each of these on different shelves and put an object between them and the rest of the books. My keepers are in the green area and my sellers are in the blue area.


As I mentioned in part one, a lot of my books are either unread or not read in a long time. So I have a large undecided section. Also, I've already sold quite a few. You're situation may look different depending on your reading habits.

The best bit: reading

Some decluttering can be hard work. But now this is simply reading.

Each time I finish a book from the left hand side, it goes in either the green keep area, or in the blue sell area (and listed online for sale).

Hopefully the green area will grow just a little bit. Given my reading habits (it's rare I read a book twice) most of the books should go to the blue area - and then be sold.

The end results should be that I'm left with a much smaller, curated collection of books that I really love. Yes.

Tips for selling

PS. If you've are looking to sell your books or other items online, you may want to grab a free copy of my ebook Less Clutter More Cash for tips and advice.
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