Hi Beauties! De-cluttering has changed my life. I started this journey 4 years ago in 2021 and I haven’t stopped since. Now, I have space and time for things that energize and bring me up. I want to share my experience with everyone so you can also enjoy this possible freedom. Follow me for more tips!
In this blog, I want to share some tips with igniting this journey of de-cluttering.
Things can be overwhelming at first. It is usually not the big item but the small clutters that overwhelm me. I did not know where to start. Many questions keep popping up that give me decision fatigue:
- What if I will need it sometime soon?
- What if I can sell this?
- What if my husband will ask for it tomorrow?
- This is of sentimental value, I don’t use it but I want to keep it.
- I am so overwhelmed, I don’t have time for this right now
- This can wait I have other things more important to do right now (like scrolling on my phone aimlessly-LOL).
As a parent, the clutters are even worse. Toys, kids’ clothes, and accessories exhausted me. I had no mental capacity to deal with the amount of things we were given before.
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SO HOW DID I START?
My beginning was much of a last resort. I was so overwhelmed with physical things in my closet, bedroom, bathroom, living room, any room that I knew I needed to do something to keep my insanity.
I started with bagging everything up in the closet, things that I did not touch as much, brought them to donation centre which only led to me missing or regretting removing some of the items later.
But I kept pushing, learning from my past mistakes, and consistently de-cluttering. One day turned into weeks, into months, and into, now, 4 years.
I am glad to show off my closet. My clothes is at the bottom shelf, my husband’s is on the top. This is 50% of my clothes, right here! It is much less than what I had before, at least 3 times less.
I still have space for more items if I want to buy a few more basic items. This is just one room, but I have made positive changes in not just this one but most every other space in my house.
Choosing outfit for me in the morning is now way easier, laundry is much more efficient, and above all, I have more mental and physical space.
If you want this freedom too, move on to tips on how you can start!
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HOW CAN YOU START?
Tip 1: Write down why you want to de-clutter and a rough plan (can be as short as half a page!)
Is it for?
- for your mental wellness
- to save time that you usually spend on cleaning and finding lost items
- for a cleaner and more presentable space
- (write down your own personal reasons!)
The main reason for me is my mental wellness. I understand the logic that a cluttered house is expected of new parents, and a cluttered house usually means that the child is healthy and smart. However, I bear the impact of a cluttered house more than anyone else. As a mom and a woman, I am expected to clean and do house chores.
Things were getting out of control with 2 dogs in the house, a toddler, and other adults living there. And things got crazier when I practiced the LSAT and began law school 2 years ago.
If I did not start de-cluttering, I felt like I would have gone insane a little. I wanted to claim back my time unnecessarily wasted on cleaning, finding things.
I knew it was a tough and long journey as we accumulated quite a bit of things in all 3 levels of the house but if I did not start, I would get nowhere.
An example of a rough plan could be:
- Clean off the closet
- First step: remove clothes that are old and do not fit anymore
- Second step: remove clothes that you don’t no longer wear because you don’t enjoy wearing them anymore
- Third step: For clothes that are still in a good condition, find places you can donate to, somewhere that is convenient to go to (such as a thrift shop that is close to home); for clothes that are no long good to wear, consider recycling them in a clothes recycling place or use as rags!
- Desk: Remove papers on desk or drawers that are no longer needed; Recycle papers
- Bathroom: Take out garbage, and reorganize the jewelries drawer.
❗Tip:
- write the plan on a whiteboard or in a note and stick it somewhere you can see
- plan can be very short, and point-form. Your plan can be updated as you go!
- start small, with one drawer, or one section of a room!
Tip 2: Start small and with the obvious items!
It is always tough to start but after you decide that you want a change, and have a rough plan which drawer, you can now start. Decision fatigue will be the biggest friction in delaying your progress.
The most important thing at this point is to reduce friction so you want to get the ball rolling with the most obvious items such as trash. Trash could go straight into the garbage bin, so grab a black bag!
Trash could be
- paper that is no longer needed
- wrapping
- covers
- packaging
- broken items
After you clear out the trash, you can move on to clothes.
Obvious clothes to remove would be:
- no longer fit
- ripped
- too hard to put on
- old
- no longer used
- itchy, makes you feel uncomfortable
- you no longer feel attached to it such as they no longer spark “joy” in you (the Marie Condo method!)
Obvious toys to remove:
- broken
- old
- missing pieces
- dirty that cannot be cleaned
- note: paper toys can be recycled!
Make-up and skincare to remove:
- expired
- broken
Tip 3: Make it easy to de-clutter
One of the three strategies by James Clear in the popular Atomic Habits book is to make habits easier and more conveniently. You should aim to turn de-cluttering into a daily habit. That can be done easily if you take on a few small tactics as:
- always have a spare bag in the closet so that you can contain clothes for donation
- have a recycling bin next to the desk so papers and recyclable materials can enter there right away
- set a 5-minute timer each time you de-clutter so that you don’t feel the pressure of time crunch, especially when you feel that you are always procrastinating or find excuses to avoid the task
- ask other members of your family to help out, such as your partner to take bags to donation centres weekly. My dad helps me out with this and it has been a huge help!
Tip 4: Sort items right away when it enters the house
With anything that you bring home, try to put them away right away, either to the trash, recycling, or storage. I have gotten into a good habit of recycling mails and paper ads from the mail right after we bring them in.
Most of my mails now are digital. But some odd ones that I still get are almost always taken photos of, then shredded by hand, and entered the recycling. This way, I never have stacks of mails from years or months ago sitting on a shelf to garner dust.
❗Bonus tip! Enjoy your achievements!
One shirt out, one little more space that you re-gain means that you have more time and more space for your mental wellness. Enjoy this small win after you de-clutter a few items from your belongings. You could keep track of what you did and give yourself a pad on the shoulder each of those time.
The gratification can stem from your growing list of things you remove, or just from the freedom you gain back. No matter how big or small, allow yourself to feel proud. There is no small feat in this de-cluttering journey.
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