Feel Free! Start the beginning of 2022 by decluttering, releasing emotional baggage and anything that doesn’t serve you. So, you can concentrate on other things in your life.
Decluttering is simply clearing away unnecessary clutter or eliminating excess stuff you have to create space.
While organising your items in their proper place and have a place for all those things you genuinely love, and that make you happy.
Decluttering shouldn’t make you stressed; it doesn’t mean that you have to remove everything in sight.
It could just mean several things:
It would help if you found a good organisation strategy for some of the things in your home that feel out of place.
Get rid of the excess clutter that doesn’t serve you in your life today.
“Doesn’t serve you” has a different meaning for everyone, so it’s up to you what this physically means for you.
The main things that don’t serve us are the items we keep and hold on to from the past. The items that don’t make us happy or enjoy anymore. We keep things because we feel we owe it to that person to keep them.
You are removing all items you don’t use, taking up space, or having no practical use or things you no longer need or don’t want anymore.
It’s time to get real with all your possessions and either give them away or throw them out.
This is an opportunity for creating your ideal lifestyle! It is up to you; your home is your space to be lived in and doesn’t mean that you have to live like your staying in a 5-Star Hotel room. If that’s your style, go right ahead.
The saying is, “LESS is MORE !”
Remember, if you get value out of an item, keep it and don’t let anyone else persuade you to throw it out.
If you love certain things and want to keep them all, do so, but then store them in an organised, uncluttered way.
You don’t need to be perfect and get the house done in a week; be reasonable about the time this will take you.
As you didn’t accumulate all your possessions in a week, most probably many, many years like me.
“Slowly does it.….. and wins the race.”
When you clear the space around you, it can be very therapeutic as you clear your mind at the same time.
Always keep things that make you smile 🙂
Time to declutter!
Don’t be exhausted by the word “DECLUTTER”
So many people hear the word ‘DECLUTTER’ and panic or get anxiety as it means work. Lots of work seems to be left to the end and gets done when necessary. And maybe the knowledge that will bring up memories and emotions.
We all know it will be up to you to do it, but if you are lucky and get a helping hand, that would be great even if it’s just for some of it.
It doesn’t have to be daunting as you can put as much energy into it as you like and know there will be light at the end of the tunnel.
The initial work of decluttering is the hardest to do but when this has been done, you don’t feel the dread or exhausted thinking about the cleaning because it becomes manageable and easy.
Benefits of Decluttering
When we keep everything neat, clean and organised, the space we live in looks spacious and we feel good within ourselves.
It will be easier to find things as how much time do you spend looking for things. I would guess a lot as that was me as well.
You will let go of any emotional baggage that you holding onto when you get rid of your old stuff from the past.
Keeping your stuff to a minimum and out in the open has its advantages:
Less dusting
Looks neat
A quick tidy up, putting items away in their place
Less time
Easier to clean
You can always fit in a quick clean up if a guest is coming over or you have a surprise visit from the in-laws.
Feel better in general in all ways, your body, mind and soul.
Have time for other activities you like to do and things that make you happy.
Remember that you can’t have your whole house in tip-top condition 24/7 as that’s not living and that you and family members do make a mess or can be untidy. Just don’t undo all the work you have put into decluttering by falling back into old habits and need to do it all again.
Ways & How to Declutter
I encourage you to start doing this slowly but properly, a bit each day, especially when you get in the mood to feel much better about yourself or need a change.
If you do feel motivated and have the time, by all means, do it but try not to spend more than an hour. As it is easy to lose momentum or feel overwhelmed quickly and that’s the last thing you want to do.
Always declutter the areas that are open and most frequently used.
1. Room by Room – 10 to 20 minutes a day
Choose 1 main area you need to declutter and make some progress each day even if it’s only 10 or 20 minutes.
By the end of the week, you should see some differences that will make you feel good and want to continue until it’s completed.
Start each area or room you’re cleaning by looking for anything that doesn’t belong to that area and put it where it should belong.
What is important is every item need a place to live or place than returning it back to its proper place.
A general tidy up, cleaning the floor, any surfaces, rubbish or empty containers, etc.
Then make some space on the floor for 3 piles or containers so you can easily remove them.
‘BIN’
‘RECYCLE’
‘KEEP’
Find any items that you can instantly make a decision on immediately and put it in the pile.
Anything that you’re not sure about just put them in the area of the room so you can return to them later when you have more time.
When your time is up, place the stuff in the re-cycle bin and normal bin.
Next time you’re in that area decluttering, sort out one shelf or draw at a time.
Try not to have a pile for maybe? I might use or need it later?
This can be a big trap to keep so much extra stuff that you may never use.
If you need to, by all means, but maybe keep it to a minimum of 2 containers as long as you can store them somewhere out of the way.
2. Whole Room – probably takes up to 5 hours
I don’t recommend this but is an option for decluttering.
Take everything out of the room, (place it somewhere), you get to see a birds-eye view of everything you have, and then sort it out into the 3 different piles either bin, recycle or keep.
This gives you a chance to re-arrange the room, if need be, then place all the items back where it belongs.
This system is not really practical for most of us as you most probably don’t have another room or space to put it all in and don’t have the time to do it all at once.
When decluttering becomes tedious and time-consuming you won’t do the job properly as you just need to get it done but also won’t continue doing anything else because it’s just too overwhelming.
3. Focus on a certain Item
Another way of removing your excess clutter is to find all the items that you want to focus on and group them all together.
Go all over the house get that particular item and place them in one area, for example, cushions, candles, bed linen, stationery, books, spices, etc.
The amount of stuff will most probably surprise you but this way it gives you an opportunity to see exactly what you have and be honest with want you have accumulated.
We all tend to go shopping and are attracted to the same things and convince ourselves that it’s a different design or lovely and we need it.
So, by sorting it out this way, you might realise you really don’t need another one or two, even if it’s on special or you’re attracted to it.
Also, this way allows you to sort through and pick out the very best so you can get rid of the ones that you don’t love or need anymore and move on.
Okay – If for some reason you need all of them this gives you the opportunity to find an effective way of organising them. Yes, I did say that!
4. General Declutter around the house
This is a quick overall decluttering in each room or area of the house.
Everything neat and tidy, everything in its place, all surfaces dusted and wiped down and the floor cleaned.
This is the time you can quickly put something in a cupboard or draw (to sort out later).
You most probably only have time to do the above tasks so don’t overextend yourself to do more than this. Instead, make time for another day to clean a draw or a cupboard, one at a time, so you complete a more detailed declutter in that area.
Feel Free by having a place for you, you only!
Make a place for you, you only, a quiet space so you can meditate, be still, do your self or inner-work journalling.
A place you can call your own, your precious space to go to, no one else can enter and yes, be strict about this.
Make it comfortable, have only the things that you love, don’t forget some lovely candles or a lovely smelling diffuser.
Nobody ever resents or regrets spending time decluttering, you always feel better happier and maybe even excited that you’ve done it.
Keeping every room neat and tidy.
I’m sure we spend half of our lives looking for things wouldn’t it be so much better if we had a place for everything and we know it will be there when we need it.
Everything should be in its place and everything should have a place.
When you need something you’ll know exactly where it should be.
I will have extra tips for decluttering and also a list of common mistakes of decluttering in the near future, so keep an eye out for these.
Remember! ‘Less is More’
Simplify your life and live your best life with less.
Start with decluttering or just revamping your space.
