Let’s be real. Trying to throw out your old clothes can be like getting a tooth pulled. It sucks and it’s dreadful. No one wants to do it, and it’s hard to admit when you don’t need a particular item anymore. I hate to break it to you, but it’s time to throw away that hideous jean skirt.

A great way to force yourself to get rid of your clothes is what I call a clothing diet. This method is one of the most effective ways to declutter. How it works is that you limit yourself to wearing only six to 10 items for one month to figure out which pieces are most important to your lifestyle.

If you don’t want to go to those drastic measures, there is another easy way to clean up your closet. Go through your clothes and find the pieces you know you will never wear again because they are damaged or stained, they were bad decisions or hideous or you don’t feel or look awesome in them.

When it comes to closet decluttering, you have to be ruthless and honest with yourself. Have your roommates or friends help you with the process. With certain clothing items, ask yourself, “Will I ever get around to getting the stain out?” “Will I get this zipper fixed?” “Will I need to go on a diet to fit into these clothes?” Try hosting a clothing swap party with your friends or sorority sisters or look into donation centers for the clothes you don’t need.

If you haven’t worn something in ages, you can use the clever hanger trick. The trick suggests using hangers to mark what you have actually worn over time. First, turn the hangers of all your clothing away from you, then as you wear things, turn the hanger around. Set a calendar reminder to go off in six or 12 months, then when your time period has passed, open your closet and remove every piece of clothing on a backward hanger. Chances are good that you can give those items away without pain because you just demonstrated that you don’t wear them.

The Golden Rule of decluttering: If you haven’t worn it in six to 12 months, get rid of it.