Decluttering Doesn’t Have to Hurt! One Simple Step (plus one bonus) Revealed
Caution-it can become addicting
When you have too much of something, you can’t find a home for it all.
Your surplus of items not only becomes clutter, but now you’re faced with decisions and actions that can eventually drain you, such as: “Where should I put this because there isn’t any room?” or, “Company’s coming over, and I don’t know what to do with these things?”
How familiar is this scenario: You’ve just done laundry but can’t fit all the clothes into your dresser drawers or closet.
Now, what? Do the clothes sit on top of the dryer, or better yet, some furniture in your room?
I know! It’s frustrating, yet we repeat it each time we do laundry because we simply have too much clothing.
Maybe you’ve attempted downsizing your possessions countless times and give up due to sheer overwhelm. If so, here’s how you can start purging your items little by little, so it doesn’t seem so daunting or feel like an all-day chore.
Gamify the process to build a new habit
The easy-as-pie step to take is:
Match the # of items to purge with the # of the current month.
For example, in February, you only have to find two items to discard from anywhere in your home, because February is month #2 of the year.
Two items-how hard is that?
Not hard at all.
It could be clothes, shoes, books, toys, serving trays, you name it:
- Two shirts
- One pair of shoes and one dress
- One purse you will never use and a chipped serving tray
- One book and a candle that has no more wax to melt (you know you collect those half empty glass candle jars)
By having a specific # of items to purge, you have an end in sight, and it doesn’t seem like a monstrous, neverending task any longer.
Do you cringe at the thought of decluttering your office because it looks like a tornado hit it? You probably don’t even know where to begin, which increases the likelihood of you not accomplishing your decluttering goal.
Oh, the agony!
But-if you know you only have to look for 6 items that month to get rid of-that’s easy. Your task already seems less menacing, which means you’re more likely to complete it.
Adopting this monthly method may seem like a simple (which it is!) and small step-but it can have a tremendous impact on your living space and the mental stress you carry from seeing clutter and having to take care of it day in and day out.
“The things you own end up owning you.”-Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club.
If you’re still motivated to continue looking for more once you’ve met your goal-great! Keep going, you overachiever you.
Now, you may be thinking, “two pairs of pants and a candle isn’t the cause of my clutter problem…..”
Isn’t it, though?
Ok, maybe not that one candle-but do you really have just that one candle, or do you have 10?
By decluttering this way, month after month, you are freeing up more room, as well as the time it takes to dust, wash, fold, find a spot to put it in, etc.
A bonus tip to power up your decluttering progress
A great way to supersize the impact, or add some oomph is to follow the rule of 1-in / 2-out each time you buy something. That keeps clutter from accumulating and reduces the volume of it at the same time.
For example, let’s say it’s July, so you know you have to purge seven things (because July is month #7). But, you also went shopping last weekend and bought a new pair of shoes and a dress. Not only do you have to reduce your belongings by 7, but you also need to discard/donate two items for each new item you have brought into your home.
Make sense?
If others live in your home, try to get them on board so they can reduce their belongings too. After all, their stuff adds to the clutter in the same household.
