Declutter Like A Pro With These 3 Simple Tips!

Hey y’all!

Ok, so I’m popping in with some helpful tips to get your home decluttered once and for all! I see it time and time again- many of our homes are full of things that are just there. Stuff that honestly has NO true value to us anymore, but just there taking up VALUABLE space.

Well, now you’re ready to conquer the clutter, right? You just need some tips to get you moving and actually decluttering like the true pro I know you can be!

Now, before we dive in, I want to be very clear that you know decluttering is the very first step in organizing. And, by starting your organizing journey, you’re just steps closer to creating those beautiful organizational systems you see on Instagram and Pinterest.

For every project I work on with clients to create functional and beautiful systems they are letting go of things that no longer serve them or their home.

They are letting go of things that are not serving a purpose, taking back their valuable real estate, and ridding their home of items they do not love.

They are getting rid of that stuff. 

 Whether they are discarding it, trashing it, or donating it- they are getting it out of their space.

 I wanted to lead with this, so you know that if you’re going to do a really good job at organizing your space, just know 9/10 times, you’re going to edit your things first.

Practical tip number one is to adjust your mindset. 

When I say declutter, edit, or purge. Please know that you’re not getting rid of things that you love.

You are not getting rid of things that you use all the time and you’re not getting rid of things that you know you need. That is NOT what decluttering symbolizes. I want you to adjust your thinking when you hear decluttering.

It’s about creating valuable space for the things that you love, need, and brings value to your life.

These are the three buckets. All of the things that you own should fit in these three buckets. When you adjust your mindset and not think of decluttering, editing, or purging as a negative term but as something you’re going to enjoy doing, a whole new reality opens up. It’s a positive thing!

This is going to be the very first step that you can implement and it’s going to help the decluttering journey be more successful for you.

The second thing, I want you to focus on is a space, and not the most overwhelming space.

If your garage has been cluttered for 5, 10, 15 years, my recommendation is you don’t start in that space.

It’s going to be very overwhelming for you, and it’s going to feel like a really hard process because of the amount of clutter build up that is in that space.

What I want you to do is focus on a space that is not going to immediately overwhelm you.

Maybe it’s under the sink in your bathroom or a linen closet?

Maybe one junk drawer in your kitchen?

Focus on a space that is going to allow you to get a mini win. What I like to call these are mini win cycles, because what happens is once you start decluttering consistently racking up these mini win cycles, you will get a little bit more acclimated of letting go of things. You’re creating win cycles in your editing/decluttering journey.

The small win cycles will then add up to bigger cycles of you being able to go into a space, a bigger space and fully declutter.

Start small and don’t overwhelm yourself. Keep things simple.

With these win cycles, it’s easier for you to make well educated decisions on the things that you are keeping and/or letting go of.

To recap, please make sure you’re focusing on one space that does not immediately overwhelm you and allows you to make really good decisions on keeping, trashing, or donating items in that space.

The third thing I want you to focus on is a time commitment.

I want you to go into a space, one space that is not going to completely overwhelm you and start with a specific time limit in mind. Remember, we’re not talking about a garage or the office space with all of the years and years worth of paperwork.

We’re talking about a space that is not going to completely stress you out- that you know you can feel accomplished if you spend 30 minutes, 45 minutes or maybe even an hour, in that space to fully go through the things and make a decision if it’s it’s going to stay or if it’s going to leave.

That way you’re going in with a very clear objective that you have a certain time set.

For example, I have a 60 minute timer set that I am going to go through clothes in my closet and I’m going to make a decision on if an item gets to stay because I love it, I wear  it, and I need it. 

Or it’s going to get the boot because I don’t love it, I don’t wear it, and I don’t need it.

Going in with a set time limit is really helpful for those who go into spaces and spend 2-3 hours and feel completely defeated because you spent way too much time and energy on a space.

You feel like you didn’t get through anything, generally because you got sidetracked- you came across a yearbook and went down memory lane and now four hours are gone.

And you’re like, wait….

I didn’t even declutter anything?!

Please go in with a certain time frame. It will be easier for you to stick to what the objective is and make quick decisions.

This is how you can get through decluttering sessions a little bit more seamlessly.

Alright, beautiful people, let’s declutter!