My easy, fun system for decluttering books

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.

Comments

How to waste a year's wages

A friend recently asked me why it is that so many people (on good incomes) are struggling to save. Often the big three money areas are housing, transport and food. In one sense these are necessary items. But what we spend on them is often way more than necessary. I crunched some numbers on how much extra my wife and I could spend on these things - if for some reason we wanted to burn our money. 1. Housing Our apartment is fairly nice, but also cost-effective. I've mentioned how choosing it saves us $1,800 per year , compared to a similar one we saw. The high end of 2-bedroom apartments in our suburb is $305 per week more than our apartment. Not $305 per week. $305 per week more than ours is. I cannot get over that. Sure it's new and modern-looking, but that's a lot of money. It's an extra $15,860 per year above what we pay. 2. Transport The Australian Automobile Association lists the costs of owning and running a car. It includes many often-overlooked c...

How much super will we have?

Will we be OK in old age? How much will we have? One of the great things about living in Australia is superannuation. Our employers are required to pay into an investment account for our retirement. In recent times, my wife and I have been in several conversations with friends who are wondering (or worried) if their balance will be enough. That's what inspired this article. Great question It's a great question to ask, especially around the age of 35 to 40. At that point, old age is less of a distant abstract concept. It's becoming a medium-term reality. At 35 the number of years of living off super is possibly more than half of your remaining years. At 40 you may consider yourself about half way through your working life. Looking at your balance, it's easy to think that twice that balance may not be enough. Read on, because I have good news for you. It's better than you might think As I've mentioned in earlier posts, compound growth means the investment grows f...

Less Clutter More Cash - now available

Do you feel like you have too much stuff? Is your home full of things you never use? Would you like to swap them for cash? We did My wife and I have sold more than 550 items online as we downsize and we've learnt a bit along the way. I've put some of our best tips into this handy ebook. I hope you can use these tips so you too can have less clutter and more cash. Enter your email address below to receive the book for free. Less Clutter More Cash Get my new ebook for free. PS. This will subscribe to the But Wait There's Less email list, so you'll know when the new updated version of the book is available. You can unsubscribe at any time.

But wait... there's less!

Search This Blog