Decluttering can be overwhelming because you might not know where or how to start. If you are asking yourself, why you have so much stuff or always picking things up. You might need to declutter your space. There are so many positive benefits to decluttering besides just living on less. It can increase creativity, less anxiety, save money, more confidence, more space, make your place look bigger, and my favorite decrease overstimulation.
Decluttering and organization is the one thing I don’t overthink. It comes naturally and easily to me which I am super thankful for. The one thing I always recommend when cleaning or organizing is to have an intention or reason. Right now, my reason is that I want to be able to live in an RV sooner rather than later. Another intention is I want everything to be grab and go. For example, I want all my spa stuff in one bag.
I don’t like clutter and everything needs to have its place. I am currently working on creating a more simplistic and minimalistic lifestyle. Minimalism and simplicity are about living on less and being intentional in my space. I have also become more aware of things I own and throw away. I have been researching things that can be used reused and possibly reducing my waste.
How To Start Decluttering Your Home
- Don’t try to do everything in one day – I have tried to do this before and I ended up getting rid of things that I regret. I rushed through everything to declutter everything.
- Give yourself grace – becoming a minimalist or declutter your place will take time. You will have setbacks. It’s ok! The habit is going to take time to develop.
- Have a plan – it can be broken down by what room or space you are going to do each day. Or how many items that you want to get rid of. Have a plan on where you are going to put items you want to donate. Last time, I purged our house everything I wanted to donate went out to the porch. Everything I wanted to throw away went by the door that goes to the backyard. (Our trash pickup in behind the house)
- If having a plan isn’t your style, have a goal. Over the past several years, I had a specific number of items that I wanted to get rid of. Most of the time it was whatever the year was divided in half.
- Start at the easiest room and work towards the hardest – this is what works best for me because it’s easy wins and builds confidence to work towards the hardest room. Some people might want to do the reverse and that’s fine. It comes down to having a plan.
- Declutter and clean. When I declutter a room I might as well clean the area. It ends up being a declutter and deep clean.
- If I don’t declutter a certain item, I do keep an eye on how often I use it. If I don’t use it by the next purge it’s gone. One tip that I have learned with clothes on a hanger. Turn the hanger in a different direction, and if it’s not turned around the next purge you know it needs to go. A tip from I read from Simple Lion Heart Life is to put a sticky note on everything in the kitchen.
- Let go of the cost. If it was expensive but you aren’t using it and it’s just taking up space get rid of it. TRUST ME I know how hard this is because I have said the thing over and over about several different things.
- Take breaks. That is going to be different for everyone, but I took a break after every room. It gave me a chance to look at the clean room and be proud of what I have done. It gave me a chance to relax and decompress a little bit before going to the next room.
- Organization Items – This is going to be different for everyone. For me, I like to have everything in bags or containers. I like to purchase things beforehand in a variety of different sizes and then return what I don’t use. I like having options.
- Declutter first, organize second. I saw this rule in a lot of different places but I did them at the same time. That works for me because as I am organizing if I have multiples I’ll get rid of the extras.
- Declutter is not an event, but a lifestyle. I couldn’t agree more with this statement. I have always loved the simplistic and minimalistic lifestyle, but I have not always fully lived the lifestyle. There have been times when I thought I needed a bunch of things but I didn’t.
- If something comes into the house, something must leave the house – I followed this “rule” for a while and it really seemed to work for me. Before I purchased something I had to think if I already had it at home and what was going to leave if I purchased that item.
- No spend policy – I have a friend who is doing a no-spend on herself for the year. She has rules and things that she can spend on herself.
- Declutter is not just physical things – declutter can include digital items. It can be apps on your phone, cleaning out Google Drive, and even contacts.
- Quality over Quantity – This is where I am currently at. The things that I have are quality over quantity or inexpensive. I working on having quality items including clothes.
Minimalistic Lifestyle is something that takes time. For me, it’s something that took a while for me to completely embrace. I hope that these tips have helped or inspired you.
