Decluttering Tips For Living The Simple Life
Just when I thought I had purged enough…I purged some more. People all around me ask “What MORE do you have to get rid of?” My answer is simple MORE. In the past, I’ve spent frivolously on things I “needed” however, that’s not an excuse to hang on to them and clutter up the space I have.
For the past couple of years I’ve been working towards simplifying my life, which includes my home. I want to make my life as simple as possible and that includes not holding on to things I might need “someday”, things I spent “good money on”, and things that are still good but I don’t use.
My initial thought on simplicity was that I’d get rid of what I didn’t need and presto life would be simpler. Which is true. The catch: There is actually a lot of stuff you don’t need.
Cut, cut and then cut some more
1. Visualise. Take a minute to picture what you want your home or work space to look like. Are all horizontal surfaces free from “stuff”? Do you have your bookshelf organized alphabetically? Whatever it is take a moment and picture it in your head.
2. Take a good look. See your space for what it currently is. Are there receipts crammed in baskets or between books? Do you have electronics intermingled with your books? Do you have too many items in your kitchen cupboards that they fall on you every time you open the door?
It’s important to really see what you have as a starting point and to think about how you’re going to get it to the state you pictured initially. Don’t feel bad about what you are starting off with, accept things for what they are. Sure the best time to have de-cluttered and gotten organized may have been years ago, but the second best time is now.
3. Take your time. You shouldn’t feel that this all needs to be done right now today. In fact, it shouldn’t be done all at once as it can be extremely overwhelming and cause a fair bit of stress. Start small and simply make progress.
4. What to do when you don’t know what to do. This is something I run into a lot. When I de-clutter I get rid of most things that I don’t need but there is always something I struggle to get rid of. When this happens I now put it in a closet or a box so that it’s out of sight. I’ll revisit that closet or go through the box in 6 months time and see if I still want to hang on to the contents. Most of the times this works really well. After some time apart I can see these things for what they really are, things. If they don’t offer value or add to the simplicity I’m after out they go.
5.Cut and then cut some more. When we downsized our home last year we took the opportunity to get rid of quite a bit of stuff we had been hanging on to. It was great, we thought we had made decent progress and we had, relative to what we started out with. After a couple of months in our new home we took another look around and found more items that weren’t working for us and that were taking up a lot of precious space in our much smaller home. So we cut again.
We’ve done about 4 or 5 rounds of cuts in the past year. With each round we look at our stuff much more critically. We no longer hold on to things that we might need someday, as someday rarely ever comes. We no longer hold on to things out of a sense of obligation or sentiment. We have a pretty simple rule now if it doesn’t work for or with us it’s out.
Quick tips to get you going
- Do one drawer or shelf a day and be ruthless. Before you know it you’ll have your whole home done and you can start over again
- For sentimental items and nick-knacks take a digital photograph and donate or sell the physical item. A lot of time with sentimental items it’s not the physical item that has the meaning it’s the memories and feelings it invokes when you see it. You’ll get all of those same feelings when you look at the picture.
- If you can’t decide on what to do with something put it in time out. Find a closet or a cupboard or a cardboard box and store the item you can’t make a decision on. After a set amount of time (3-6 months works well for me) revisit the items and see if you prefer the space you’ve gained by removing this item or if you’d rather have the item. There’s nothing wrong with bringing it out of storage if it makes you happy.
- Keep a box handy to coral all unwanted items. Keep it in an accessible area and when it’s full take it out to the car or garage immediately so you’re not tempted to go through it again. I like diaper boxes and liquor boxes because they’re not huge and so they’re easy to carry when they’re full.
- Set a timer for 10 minutes and work on one corner of the room you’re in. If you get on a roll keep going but if after 10 minutes you’ve had enough, stop at least you’ve made some progress.
- Ask for help. If you find you are too attached to everything you have ask a family member or close friend to help you. They are completely unattached to most of what you have so can help you see things for what they really are. Things.
I’ve learned over the past couple of years that de-cluttering is definitely an ongoing process. Just when you think you’re done “oh look there’s a vase I NEVER use” so…get rid of it. This won’t work for some of you and that’s okay. If you truly enjoy being surrounded by things that bring back memories and invoke positive feelings then that’s truly great. If you’re like me however, and clutter is a source of unhappiness for you, then start today and take one step towards simplifying your space. You’ll be happier for it.
See also:
Eliminate Clutter Part 1: The Cost of Clutter and Where Does it Come From?
Disorganized? Blame It On The Universe!
Purge Just 7 Things – A Weekend Challenge
Got Books? Tips To Decluttering and Organizing Your Personal Library
Photo courtesy of: Sherri
16 Responses to “Decluttering Tips For Living The Simple Life”
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Your Life | Live it. Love it. is a book designed to encourage you to examine where you are right now and inspire you to get to where you ultimately want to be.
Great tips. An interesting thing I’ve found is that as the mind declutters and releases, life naturally simplifies.
Kaushik´s last blog ..Call off the Struggle
Sherri, decluttering our home is exactly what we’ve been working so hard on lately. We’re even planning a humongous “moving sale” from selling things we don’t need, then use that money to pay down our debt.
We’ve so much “stuff” that has been given to us that takes up soooo much space in cabinets and closets etc, it’s unreal. Some things I’m listing on eBay too, and whatever monies come from those listings will go toward paying down our debt. You’d be shocked to see how many wine glass sets we have been gifted – and we don’t even drink wine!
Lin Burress @Telling It Like It Is´s last blog ..Blurt! The Uproarious Word Race Game Review and Giveaway
It was like you wrote this post just for me. I am going through this process right now and these tips are going to be so helpful in reminding me why I’m doing this. Thank you, even if you didn’t write this with me in mind.
Jill´s last blog ..Day 1 – Believe
Some excellent tips for my “on-going” battle to de-clutter!
Karen Chaffee´s last blog ..Muse In A Hammock
Hi Sherri! Great post!
I am at the overwhelmed stage. I have always struggled with clutter. Now I have my mother-in-law’s clutter right beside mine, since we moved her into assisted living. She has twice as much as I do. I am making progress, but it is so slow. I find myself being really resentful, because I am having to deal with this. She has two daughters, and they don’t want to deal with it.
What she has is just a fraction of what she originally had. We’ve moved her a couple of times and dealt with storage units and a small business. I have really had it with all this stuff.
If I didn’t love my husband so much, I would have left a long time ago.
Of course, this all happened just as I was making some headway with my own clutter.
Having more stuff than you can use or love is actually being out of integrity. Once I realized that, I complete things and that also means when I see something that is out of order I deal with it straight away. Out of order refers to things I don’t use and are taking up space I could use for something else. This really works for me, this mental shift.
Wilma Ham´s last blog ..Exciting and tough; this learning to play a totally different game.
this is a wonderful post! In the back-to-school season I am so worried about all the things I need to acquire. And believe it or not, I am gearing up for the holidays already, and trying to imagine what I can give others that will not turn into clutter! I especially like your tip about keeping a box handy…I am going to have to do that in my bedroom for unwanted clothing! Great post.
Very timely post for me! I am in the midst of some serious decluttering. I like your point #1. Doing it one drawer at a time, is so much less daunting and over time you make a real difference in your clutter.
I’m going to try your timer idea!
Kaizan´s last blog ..The Simplest Most Effective Time Management System Ever
Thank you all for your comments! I’m so glad you found this useful and a lot of you are on your own path to simplifying that’s great.
Mary, I’m sending you a separate email but I am really sorry to hear about all the stuff you’re having to deal with.
It didn’t start out as clutter, but it sat and sat and became stuck energy, so now it is clutter. Major clutter. We are usually dealing with stuff gathered by ourselves from an earlier time in our lives. We are not that person any more. You try to bridge the difference and it definitely takes emotional and mental time and energy. No wonder we are tired when we finish each time. I go very slowly. I am up in our attic, looking over what I own. I am not that person any more. I look at the things and think, “Who was I?” And I see someone who used to think having stuff would help protect him from being lonely or socially lost. What a bunch of stuff. I had over 25 old, heavy standard typewriters. Now there is a hot item! But I managed to get free of all of them through our local Freecycle group. I now have two typewriters which is probably one too many. Now it’s turntables. To play LPs. I have about twenty-four of them and need to prune them down to four. You feel so good to get the space back. At first you like owning things but then you miss your space, and start falling over things, the empty space in your home now takes on a greater value to you than the stuff sitting in it does. I used to have a hard time letting go because I felt I had to find someone to caretake each item I was getting rid of. Now that would take a few minutes. Especially with a load of old typewriters! Imagine. Trying to find new caretakers for everything! Talk about the need for control. So all that is gone now. What happens is you get a more liberated outlook and attitude. When it leaves your home, you are suddenly free of having to subliminally “caretake” of all that stuff. It helps me tremendously to go up into the attic and just sit for awhile looking and looking. I usually bring about four empty boxes and after a period of contemplation and introspection I stand up and begin walking around the space slowly picking things to let go of and dropping them into the four empty boxes. When the boxes are all full, the harvesting is done and I tape the boxes shut so I will not peek and backslide, wanting to keep this or that. They are now ready to go back out into the community to charity or local rummage sales, &c. I hope my post will encourage all persons who are overwhelmed by the size of their task and give them a lift to just work more deliberately to get free of their unused items so others may benefit. I once read giving the unused things away is a way to express gratitude for the blessings we have received in our lives. Good luck to you clearing out your clutter. Submitted by: Chris Grasse in South Portland, Maine, 13 September 2010.
I agree with the last tip. An organizing expert may also be of help, to deal with the clutter, and keep it under control, by setting up proper systems. Seek out a professional organizer who has had experience with compulsive hoarders.