Want some easy and mostly painless ways de-clutter your books? Here are some tips that will make the job easy.
De-cluttering books can be tough. I love my books, so letting any of them go can really hurt. But the reality is that if there are books scattered throughout the home, on surfaces and floors where they can get damaged, or overstuffed into shelves where they are so bent that they look like they are doing the wave, well that isn’t really love, is it?
Think of your books as your collection, your own personal library. Only allow in books that fit that collection and are worthy of being there. Weed out the books that don’t add something to your life or that don’t earn their keep.
Take your books section by section, surface by surface or shelf by shelf as you de-clutter them. Have three boxes ready to go for books that you are de-cluttering.
One box should be labeled out. Any books that go in that box cannot be taken back. It is the box of no return.
The second box should have a question mark. Any books that you think might be able to go can spend some time in that box. This is the danger box. Be careful that everything doesn’t wind up in there. You’ll still need to sort that box and cut down on its volume, too. The only books that should go in this second box are books that you are really agonizing about. The purpose of this box is to help you get through your sorting quickly and make some progress.
Anything you are keeping can go into the third box. You can also just put the keep books back on your shelves, if you wish. We’ll organize them all later.
Check back for the next article, where there will be some simple, practical guidelines to help you decide what to keep and what to pass. It can’t get easier than that.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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