Clutter Challenge: How do I organise my collection of books – I have so many!

Do you have a book fetish?

Do you find yourself buying new books that you have absolutely no time to read because you think you will “one day” or that it will look good on your bookshelf? I do.

But I also have one golden rule – once I have read a book that I really love, I need to pass it on to someone else whose life will also be enriched by the story. Why have it sitting there unloved and cluttering up my bookshelf?

And remember the golden rule, letting go of the old will make room for the new!  Here are some other golden rules when it comes to decluttering and organising your bookshelves:

• Instead of starting to read new books, re-read some old favourites.
• Let go of books you know you won’t re-read.
• Put it in a “three months to re-read it” pile. Write in on your calendar and then pass it one if it isn’t re-read.
• Donate your surplus of books to your local library or school.
• Keep current reference books if they are as up-to-date and are more accurate or specific than what you might find online.
• Keep at least one dictionary and thesaurus – especially for Scrabble!
• Keep handy regularly accessed cookbooks – but if you use it less than once a month you might want to consider giving it away.
• Only have a reasonable pile of books you plan to read and don’t over commit. Any more than that and your unread books may start to overwhelm the bookcase and it will stress you out that you don’t have time to read them.