If you’ve been following the blogs about minimalism, decluttering, and reducing possessions, you might have noticed something interesting – many of them talk about the importance of reducing your stuff, without discussing the methods for doing so. Some of them make it sound like you just wake up one day, decide to live with less than 100 things/live in a clutter-free home/finish up all of your open projects, sit down (or stand up, as appropriate), and just knock it all out. Presto, you’re a minimalist by dinnertime!
I can tell you for a fact that’s not me. I would wager that it’s not most of you, either. For those of us who are in the same boat (i.e. we’re not decluttering “rockstars”!), here are some tips from my own experience:
Maximize – Some days you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed – don’t sweat it if you’re not super-productive on those days. But on the days where you have a nice burst of energy, I’ve found that’s a fantastic time to get a little extra organizing and decluttering done.
Minimize – Pick a small area to work on at a time. Depending on your level of ambition, this could be as large as an entire room, or as small as a few drawers or a shelf. I’ve done things like “clean the kitchen counter before I go on vacation”, as well as “let’s clean out this drawer”. The size of the area doesn’t matter nearly as much as the fact that something is getting done.
Manage – Manage your expectations. Your house, apartment, room, or whatever space you’re working with probably took months or years to get the way it did. Don’t stress about getting it all done immediately – any progress is good progress!
Maintain – I try very hard to keep the areas I’ve already gone over reasonably clutter-free. If you start your massive decluttering project with the kitchen, for example, you’re still doing great if you do nothing other than maintain the kitchen in that state on a day-to-day basis. Take 10 minutes each day and go over the area you just got cleaned – that gives you a solid platform to move forward.
Motivate – If you can come up with something nice to use as a reward, it can be a great positive motivator. Sometimes the decluttering can be a reward in itself, but I’ve found it’s best to think of something a bit more tangible. Maybe you could treat yourself to some great ice cream, or buy yourself some small item that you’ve always wanted but didn’t have room for until you decluttered the space.
Obviously these five ideas aren’t the end-all be-all of decluttering, but I find them to be a nice framework for a reality check when I get stuck in the decluttering process. I can pause, take a step back (and a deep breath!), and appreciate how far I’ve come – rather than how far I have yet to go.
Do you have any creative ideas for keeping a positive focus while decluttering and organizing?
Some great ideas there and a good foundation to start with! I totally agree that once you have started an area it pays to maintain it daily. I start at the front door so Im greated to tidyness when I come in and then add on a little bit more of an area each time. Even if it is just once a day.
I love your idea of starting with the front door. It seems that’s where junk always winds up, doesn’t it? 🙂 Thanks for stopping by – I’ll be checking out your blog soon!
Thanks for the mention! And good job with this post. You’re proving you have what it takes to be an interesting and useful blogger.
Managing expectations is important. I find that maintaining is easiest in the parts of my house that I’m really enjoying having clutter free, like the kitchen counters. The bar between the kitchen and living room is another story entirely.
Keep up the good work…
Gip
You’re welcome! Part of the credit for this post really goes to you – your last post got my brain in gear to want to write this one. We have the exact same issue around here with the area between the kitchen and the living room – it’s just a clutter magnet! Thanks for the comment; hope to see you around here more in the future. 🙂
Well done – the most important elements in a format that’s easy to remember when I need a refresher (5 M’s). Under Maintain, I also try to remember not to bring any future clutter in, at least where I have a choice. Mail is one thing, new purchases are something else.
That’s a great point, Jo – new clutter is still clutter!
I started my major de-cluttering project on a three day weekend and was able to complete three rooms -it did take most of that weekend, but I was so motivated that I actually enjoyed the process. After that weekend, I kept a storage box out and every evening after work, for two weeks, I put at least 10 things per day into either this ‘give-away’ box or the trash can. This made it so much easier to tackle the next spaces. Now I’m down to completing the kitchen, three closets and one spare bedroom. Lots of clutter gone and I feel great – and the Salvation Army has lots of nice things to sell in their thrift store.
WOOHOO! Major progress over a three-day weekend is great stuff! The “ten out” idea is a pretty good way to go too – it lets you keep working, without having to find large blocks of time to work.
I’m sure the Salvation Army appreciates your decluttering too. 😀
Congratulations on the decluttering progress – and thanks for commenting!