by Jennyce Garber
If you are a fan of With Time to Spare , perhaps you’ve become acquainted with Mel who was recently featured in two articles, “Thrive where you live” and “From Virginia to Hong Kong”. These articles describe her downsizing efforts and her new smaller apartment in a 69-story high rise in Hong Kong.
When I asked her if there were any customs or organizational tips that she has used in Hong Kong that she would want to continue if she were to move back to the States, Mel spoke about her biannual custom of purging her possessions.
Mel explains, “An organizational tip that I’ve used both in the U.S. and in Hong Kong, is to go through all of our closets and drawers every six months. Obviously, I don’t do it all in one day, but I try to clean out one closet or cabinet per day over the course of a couple weeks.”
Mel’s simple approach
Mel continues, “I take a drawer, for instance, and dump the entire thing on the floor and sort it into piles: give away, throw away, put back in this same drawer, and find a better place in the house for it. If I haven’t used something in the past six months, it normally means we don’t need it. It’s hard to motivate yourself to do the six-month purge especially if you think, “I’m pretty sure I know what’s in that drawer already.”
The results of this kind of purge, like with all spring cleaning, are freeing. Why not use this month of March to do as Mel does. Spring cleaning and organizing will free you from the useless accumulation of unneeded stuff and will give you a fresh start.
Mel concludes, “I always feel so much better after it’s done. I rediscover things I’d forgotten that I could be using, and make space for new things.”