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“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” —Dale Carnegie
The idea of living a simple life with less stuff sounds attractive to many.
But often, they begin to feel overwhelmed,
Learning how to declutter your home and (and as a result, decluttering your life) doesn’t need to be as painful as some make it out to be. And the benefits are numerous.
The Benefits of Decluttering Your Life
There are many benefits to owning fewer possessions. Even then, it’s tough to move into action. That is… until the many benefits of getting rid of clutter reveal themselves:
Less to clean. Cleaning is already enough of a chore, but having to clean around things you have zero emotional attachment to (or worse, actively dislike) makes cleaning the house much more stressful.
Less to organize. Finding things suddenly become easier. Things don’t just “disappear” anymore. You can actually move around your home and enjoy the space, instead of moving around things that are in the way.
Less stress. Looking around at the clutter is a nausea-inducing sight once your home becomes cluttered enough. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to look around and see a home you love?
Less debt. Spending less time shopping for material possessions and adding to the clutter means your wallet and bank accounts remain fuller, your credit cards’ statements are lower, and your home doesn’t get filled with costly things you don’t need.
More financial freedom. Most American households live paycheck to paycheck (59% according to a recent survey done by Charles Schwab back in May 2019.) Nearly half of those surveyed carry credit card debt. Decluttering, paired with minimalism, will help you build up savings to keep you protected in case of unexpected emergencies.
More energy for your greatest passions. With less debt, more financial freedom, and
Ok, so now you know the benefits of decluttering your life, but you may be getting tripped up by the very next question… where in the world do you begin?
10 Creative Decluttering Tips
If you’re struggling and need guidance on how to declutter, you’ll need to get creative with your plans. Here are several interesting decluttering tips to get you started on decluttering your home:
- Start with 5 minutes at a time. If you’re new to decluttering, you can slowly build momentum with just five minutes a day.
- Give one item away each day. This would remove 365 items every single year from your home. If you increased this to 2 per day, you would have given away 730 items you no longer needed. Increase this number once it gets too easy.
- Fill an entire trash bag. Get a trash bag and fill it as fast as you can with things you can donate at Goodwill.
- Donate clothes you never wear. To identify them, simply hang all your clothes with hangers in the reverse direction. After wearing an item, face the hanger in the correct direction. Discard the clothes you never touched after a few months.
- Create a decluttering checklist. It’s a lot easier to declutter when you have a visual representation of where you need to get started. You can use our decluttering checklist.
- Take the 12-12-12 challenge. Locate 12 items to throw away, 12 to donate, and 12 to be returned to their proper home.
- View your home as a first-time visitor. It’s easy to “forget” what your home looks like to a new visitor. Enter your home as if you’re visiting the home of a friend. Write down your first impression on how clean and organized the home is and make changes.
- Take before and after photos of a small area. Choose one part of your home, like your kitchen counter, and take a photo of a small area. Quickly clean off the items in the photo and take an after photo. Once you see how your home could look, it becomes easier to start decluttering more of your home.
- Get help from a friend. Have a friend or family member go through your home and suggest a handful of big items to throw away or give to someone else. If you defend the item and want to keep it, your friend has to agree with your reason. If they don’t agree, it’s time to get rid of it.
- Use the Four-Box Method. Get four boxes and label them: trash, give away, keep, or re-locate. Enter any room in your home and place each item into one of the following boxes. Don’t skip a single item, no matter how insignificant you may think it is. This may take days, weeks, or months, but it will help you see how many items you really own and you’ll know exactly what to do with each item.
No matter which decluttering tip you choose to get started – whether it be one of these ten or one of countless others – the goal is to take your first step in decluttering your life with excitement behind it.
There is a beautiful world of freedom and fresh breath hiding behind that clutter. Deciding how to declutter your home is up to you.
For more decluttering tips, watch this short video we put together. In it, I provide 10 quick decluttering projects, each completable in just 5 minutes or less:
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General FAQ About Decluttering Your Home:
How do I create a decluttering checklist?
Creating a checklist is one of the easiest ways to keep track of what can and still needs to be reduced from your home. We’ve put together a Declutter Your Home Checklist you can use to instantly make a noticeable difference.
Just pick any 5-10 items from the list to start and you will be amazed with how quickly momentum builds up.
Do I need a professional organizer to help me get rid of clutter?
Absolutely not. Getting rid of the clutter in your home can be done by yourself. It can even be a fun family activity when using the decluttering tips found in this article.
How can I declutter quickly? Can it be done in a day?
Removing clutter from our homes and our lives doesn’t need to be rushed or done in a single day. It’s something that can be done over time and may even need to be done on a semi-regular basis. As long as you start the process today, you’re further along than you were yesterday.
Will owning less make my home look empty or boring?
Simple doesn’t mean sparse or boring. The opposite is true. With fewer mess and distractions, your home can become more peaceful. You can view your home as a space for rest and comfort, instead of a source of stress.
What’s the difference between declutter and unclutter?
They’re both interchangeable, though I prefer using “declutter.” The “de-” hints at being complete and permanent. I like to think of decluttering as something that solves the problem forever.
When should I declutter?
This is a personal question. When you find yourself overwhelmed by your possessions and tied down, it usually means you’re ready to start making a change. Note that this feeling is just a broad litmus test. The feeling of overwhelm can be different for everyone.
About Joshua Becker
Some people need help to declutter, and as a private housekeeper, I provide boxes and trays to my clients and help to motivate them to begin, as it will save them money if less of my time is spent shifting stuff so I can vacuum and clean. I also offer to take whatever they don’t want off their hands, which makes the project less hassle for them and I do this on a donation basis.
Help declutter life!
So many useful tips for decluttering!
I just started following your blog, and slowly getting into minimalism myself.
Unquestionably believe that which you stated.
Your favorite justification seemed to be on the internet the simplest thing
to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while people think about worries that
they plainly don’t know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top as well as defined out the
whole thing without having side-effects , people could take a signal.
Will likely be back to get more. Thanks
Very nice site. One thing I thought of for my situation was to just work one item type at a time. For example…today maybe a person could just do books and magazines. You can still use the 4 box idea for sorting them. Maybe next time only work on clothing? On another day kitchen items…etc. I did this for a few months once and it was so stress free and easy. Then one day I started in again and realized to my shock there was nothing left to get rid of…and the house was clean! So I got in my car and went to the beach for the day! Yipee!!! But this decluttering method totally kept me from feeling overwhelmed.
Excellent advise I do the same as you !
I really like “your” method of decluttering… Thanks, think this way would work for me, too. God bless..!
C Seabird, I forgot to add your name to my reply. I wanted you to know that I was speaking of your way of decluttering.
Good post about decluttering. I always have this problem when it comes to clutter.
What I do is to use floating wall shelves,which can add attraction to my room as well as take out unwanted things from the room.
http://bestshelvingunits.com/floating-wooden-square-wall-shelves/
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I really like your tip “fill one trash bag.” That seems like a really awesome way to get rid of some of the rubbish lying around your home. I’ll have to keep that in mind and see if I can remove some different things and make my home much more organized.
I’ve had a lot of success decluttering using The Minimalism Game. It’s a month long decluttering challenge that builds momentum over the month. There is a great online community taking the challenge each month. I share my experience here – https://moretimethanmoney.co.nz/tag/minsgame/
I like the idea of 12-12-12, a good way to keep on top of things.
Due to health problems I am unable bend for long or stand. I takes me three times to do what I used to this in self makes things harder it is mostly clothes on the floor I just do not know where to start I am exhausted before I begin full of energy then zilk
Hi, i totally understand that, since i am disabled myself. Youtube could try to start with 3 x 1 minute per day and add a minute per week or per day until u reach your physical limit.
I also use a large spring-loaded tong from the hardware store. Ist great tool to grab something without bending. Here in europe a special Product for the disabled would cost approx. 40 -50! Euros but in the hardware store u get it for 2 (!) Or like 4 per mailorder.
*you not youtube, autocorrection, sorry!
I too suffer from chronic back pain and try to avoid picking things up from as far away as the floor lol with clothes I have a set of small shelves next to my bed and I fold and place clothing, socks, shoes etc that I’m wearing for a few days on the shelves, so when I sit up in the morning everything I need is there. Also I have to wait till pain meds kick in before gtg on hands and knees and collecting things off the floor. While I’m down there i collect and put stuff up higher, on chairs, benches, shelves whatever. I keep bills and papers together in trays with sides that i buy for a few dollars at coin save shops. Then i have all the paperwork in one place for the week. My washing when it comes in from outside I put on spare bed and sit there n fold etc And I’ve had to resort to sitting on a bar stool when cooking, so much easier. . Hope this helps.
I have the same physical problem. I have started just pulling up a chair to whatever pile needs my attention.
I remember when I had surgery and was in similar condition to what you describe. I would grab a laundry basket and a trash bag, sit on a chair near the stuff I was sorting, and use a pair of long barbecue tongs to pick things up off the floor and put in the bag or the basket. Worked well for me. I moved several chairs to various places in the house, so there would always be a handy place to sit while I was working at something in that room.
There is also a sturdy little seat on wheels you can buy. It’s actually meant for working in the garden. I don’t have one and it may be a bit low for you, but maybe worth looking into.
I was also overwhelmed by all the stuff in my house. It was too much for me to do a lot at each time. So I am throwing something each week with the garbage pick up even if it is only one thing. Things that are too good to throw away I find a way to donate it even if it is a little at a time. I love to read and I buy books so after i am done with them, I donate them where they will take them. The library also took all my magazines. Cleaning a whole room at a time and make it big is way too much for me so this way it is not hard. It is not as fast but it is steady. It is incredible the difference that it makes. Cleaning a drawer also makes a difference so if you can only clean one per week, make it that way. Do it the way that it makes you comfortable. it is your journey.
Great advice on decluttering your home. Now that we’re moving into autumn it’s even more important to have an organised home. Have shared with my business followers because it’s bound to be of interest!
Wonderful article.I can mention that the best minimalist of all centuries was Jesus followed by Saulo Paul and others who gave us a lot of minimalist prospective and ideas.So, definitely this is nothing new. what of course is new about is how American society or maybe other societies introduced us a world full of things that at the end never will make us 100% happy,right!????
Yes Jesus called it ” keeping your eye simple” and your body will be bright. Timeless
6 months is not long enough when a person lives Ina seasonal country, I have winter coats, boots that are used only 3 months of the year…
Some great advice here. If you find you need a little more of a structured method for clearing your clutter, why not check out this my Home Declutter Kit http://kck.st/2e8YIld
I really liked your article and intend to put it into my plans for today.
I wish I could print it.
Take photos of the ideas that you like. Then email them to yourself.
Try to copy and paste what you want to print to a word processing program like WORKS or WORD and saving then printing it. :-D :-D ฯ
Very helpful tips Joshua! Fill a large trash bag is a great and easy way to start decluttering but it will be wasted if you throw it away. Instead of throw it, I think we should give to who need it. Cause the things you throw away can be treasure to someone.
Thanks for sharing your ideas Joshua!
Very true… every 6 months I make sure I take a close look at our closets… as I have a growing kid.. it’s so normal to accumulate loads of unwanted stuff.
So I put all the unwanted stuff to a trash bag n put it away for recycling boxes usually kept in shopping complex or in his school.
This was my house is not only clutter free also stuff reach the needy.. and I don’t have the guilt that I wasted so much money..
That is exactly what I am doing right now. All things I am throwing out are of good quality and will take to the local op shop for somebody else to use and the money will help the organisation. I love op shops not only for me but the help it gives to others.
Great tips! this site also helped me declutter putting the tips together really helped thank you! http://f19e849abtco3p38pmo83r2s00.hop.clickbank.net/
Hi Joshua, was wondering if I could get your permission to quote from this blog for an article I am writing? Could you drop me an email please and I will provide more details. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing your story. I needed it today, gave me the perspective I needed. Also, helped me examine my heart and motives.
Joshua,
I love your articles. I am on a quest to simplify and minimalize in many areas of my life including material goods. I have been purging many things we no longer use and have been able to donate most of it- going room by room to get rid of clutter. I have already minimized my wardrobe once and am developing a capsule functional wardrobe. I am also thinking through every purchase to assess for need vs. want. I find your information so helpful. Thank you!
If it was that easy to get up and declutter. I always need help and that comes at a cost which i can’t afford. I will keep trying.
I have always struggled with decluttering. I have a very long way to go. We have a large family with lots of children. It is hard to try to simplify things when I have so many people working against me all hours of the day. Three of the kids are stepchildren. While they are very helpful I can only ask them to do so much. The rest just piles and piles more every day because I am exhausted. One tip that I would like to share with others because it seems like I have read every tip is to change the way I think about “cleaning.” I hate to clean. But I DO like to do home improvement. It sounds like such a silly thing, but it REALLY helps me to not think of my daily tasks as “cleaning” but as “making things better.” I love to think of ways to make my house better, more organized, more efficient, nicer. So instead of cleaning I wake up thinking of ways to “make things better.” It helps me to think I’m actually improving on the clutter and constant mess situation instead of just moving dust around the same old mess. Hope it helps someone else change the way they think about the mess and find motivation. <3
I totally love this! It’s such a simple way of changing your mindset for the positive. It goes from feeling heavy and daunting to light and like I have more of a choice. I’m going to do this today–wake up and “make things better”.
Thank you!
Glad to find this site and read all the insightful comments. Someone
wrote of the struggle to resist bring home ever more material things.
If you’re a working person earning an hourly wage, before you make a possibly unnecessary purchase do this: calculate the price of the
thing in terms of the number of hours you would have to work to pay for it and ask “is this worth ___ hours of my time?” Practice this enough and it’s guaranteed to make you into a thrift store hunter if you’re not already.
Great point, Mary!
Good post.
I thought I had too much stuff until I read this. I clearly don’t own nearly as much as most people!
And 333? I wear a t shirt for a few days then change it for a clean one. My single canvas wardrobe is half empty, and I own two pairs of shoes and one coat.
My weakness is books and craft/art supplies. But I need them all.
I honestly can’t find one more thing to get rid of that I dont use or need. And now Im surprised at how the other half live
One technique which sometimes works for me is to look at an item which I am reluctant to part with and think “if I were to wake up tomorrow and someone had stolen this, how upset would I be?” I find that this though process helps to judge just how useful and sentimentally important the item is to you.
HELP!!! I’m OCD and my boyfriend and I moved into his parents house after his mom passed a couple years ago. She was a major clutter queen! It literally took me a month to make a pathway from the front door to the back. Its a two story four bedroom house that was completely packed. In the past couple years I have managed to get the living room, our bedroom, and the kitchen to a level of tolerance. Unfortunately, in the two years we have been here I’ve learned how much my boyfriend is just like his mom. As I’m exiting the door with a bagful, he’s bringing one in…not to mention I get very little help from him. Meanwhile, I’m going absolutely insane in my head with anxiety walking around the house. To top it off, I got pregnant with our now 9 month old son during this time as well.he’s getting more and more mobile everyday and I really need to get us done and moved before he starts really walking and possibly hurting himself. Please, don’t get me wrong. I love my man, I would never have agreed to move a state north from my friends and family to help conquer this task if I didn’t. I love my son to bits and I have managed to baby proof large sections of the house but he is growing faster and faster it seems and I fear the areas I have provided him will very soon be too little space; the curious explorer that he is. So to sum it all up, OCD, living in boyfriend’s mom’s (and now his) clutter with anine-month-old baby and seem to be the only one really dedicated to trying to clean this place out… HELP!
Would your boyfriend be willing to take your baby to visit your relatives for a long weekend while you and two or three friends give away and throw away to make a large dent. If he is a hoarder as well he may not be able to do so without even greater anxiety than your experiencing living in the mess. Best wishes and congrats on becoming a mom.
Thank you for this list and your inspirational blogs! The best declutter idea that worked for me was to go through my entire home with two sets of boxes. In one set I put items that I didn’t use on a weekly basis but did use within the last year -these boxes I put in an indoor closet labeled by room/type of item. The second set of boxes were all items unused in more than a year. I put these in the garage. What was great about this is that it instantly significantly decluttered my home without all the agony of deciding what to let go of. Over the next several months I pulled a few items out of the boxes and left them out. After about 8 months I went through all the boxes and easily gave away almost everything.
I love the idea of giving away one thing a day. One of my goals is to really rid myself of stuff. Thank you for this motivation.
May I say what a refreshing change it was to stumble across this website. Lots of terrific ideas, & some incredibly good advice, all delivered in a friendly, helpful manner. No scorn or disrespect. Well done! Let the declutter commence …
Dont yoyo. And buy more junk. And dont have remorse when you cant remeber if that peice of junk was an airloom. You goondoom. Silly toon. Just throw it away. All of it. Buy a tiny home. Live in it ,because thats what homes are for you toon town bojo. And remember when you throw it away it doesnt exsist anymore. So now you are truely clutter free, just dont go outside your croondunes.
You are all crundunes. Including myself. More plastic in the ocean than in chinas factories. Guilty am I. And guilty are you. I herby sentence us all to ice caps melting and a slow deterioration of our lands and overcrowding. Or donate it to goodwill corparation. Or give it to the needy just so they know what they are missing and how much more you have. Crundunes
I love to do a combination of the excellent tips you have shared here. For me, the easiest thing to do is to pick just one area of the house that is bothering me, set the timer for 15 minutes and have a good solid declutter of that one spot. It might be a drawer in the kitchen, the floor of the wardrobe or under the bed. Usually I am finished long before the 15 minutes is up. It’s surprising how much energy that gives you in your day.
Y’all are cruel, almost sadists. Yeah we got those here. No wonder help is being sought.
These are quick and easy tips. Often times its hard for people to get stsrted on the decluttering process. These seem like quick and easy tasks to get someone started. Thanks!
VIP thought, not mine: if everything is precious, nothing is precious! Mine, from experience: if there is too much, the good stuff gets lost in the bad stuff! Would say the bad is not always bad, just of secondary or negligible importance in comparing. Another mine: if it has served its purpose, that was the point. Does it serve a present purpose now? Valuable when you have items left from relatives died– if it made them happy, yes for the, but what does it do for you. Final thought: temporary compromise– if you have ten things which have possibilities, or you are reluctant to part with, keep one out of five, and revise this later. As Sage wisely says, keep the memory in your heart, and id the memory does fade, that is ok, no regrets, there are new memories to make.
We have recently made the decision to move across the country to the other coastline. We are not taking more than we can get on the plane. We have unloaded everything for a move before, but not quite to this extent. It has really opened our eyes to what is truly necessary in our life and what is just clutter. It has been a good lesson learned and so liberating!
Do not agree with everything , but good tips here for sure ! Cheers !
Thank you. I read One point (#1) of your article. You said choose one number at random from the link of 18 five minute tips. I chose the “Pick a Shelf” randomly.
And I cleared not one but four surface areas (tops of four low cupboards that had just ended up with tons of stuff). Started a few hours ago and they’re *all* done.
I still have to give away a lot of stuff but can’t tell you how pleased I am that’s everything done! Thx the inspiration.
(Now only if I had taken a ‘Before’ pic!)
Who gets to say? The grown child should consider the parent’s opinion.
There are tons of tips and tricks on how to live like a minimalist, but I’d love some feedback on how you’re life has improved with these steps! It would be pretty insightful to hear how others are doing along the journey!
[email protected]
I started my Journey about a week ago . The one thing that come’s to mind is Freedom & feeling more Youthful . Even though I’m middle aged , my stuff/clutter was making me feel Old, bogged down, tired , sick . I really feel rejuvenated !
Well-said, and very encouraging. Hope you’re still feeling that way! Thanks for sharing.
Quinoa has become one of the staples in our pantry. It is among the amino acids that can absorb calcium and it also produces the nutrient, carnitine.
One notable quinoa health benefit I found is its ability to relax the blood vessels.
I know I have too much stuff. I have been decluttering but it I get disheartened and lose interest. I really do want stuff gone though so I have to keep going back to it. I think I’m going to use different tips in different areas. For example the fill a bag tip would work for toys and clothes and the four boxes in rooms with less stuff to get rid of. I just donated three bags of clothes earlier and honestly I know there’s still two to three more bags that needs to go so I went looking for motivation. Now I have it so I’m going to bag up the clothes one bag per day and I will be free of all my old clothes this week !!!
Woo hoo !!
Thanks for the tips! My parents have real problems throwing out anything. They always say: ‘I will need this in the future’. And things just pile up, our garage is overflowing with junk. My dad even didn’t let me throw away the old toilet :) After I throw it away he couldn’t forgive me for months.
Then I moved in to my own place and really wanted to have things differently, but then I have also realised it’s easier to be objective when other peoples things are in question, for your own it’s not that easy.
But I am constantly thinking about how to get better at decluttering. For some period now I even started using some iOS apps which help with that issues, the one that I like particularly is called Clutr (http://clutr.co/), and so far it has helped me throw away a lot of junk.
Hoping to really declutter in 2016 :)
Junk mail and magazines coming in the door were a big problem when I moved into my husband’s house. I showed him how to read most of his magazines online and added a trash bin by the door cutting 90% of the mail from even coming in the door and sorting it for recycling at the same time.
Finding your article was an appreciated and different approach on decluttering! I just assumed I was living in a clutter-free environment because everything is in it’s place, so to speak, but then I really looked around each room – too many “decorative” items that just take up space!I I may have everything in order, but if anyone had to sort through all this “stuff”, it would be overwhelming. I have decided to get a few boxes and remove one item each day and then donate all of it. This will also go beyond just the decorations – will apply to kitchen items and everything else that I just have too much of! The only question I have is how to get family members to do the same when they are not interested.
I tried this method in 2015. It worked really well. At first I kept a diary and wrote down what I tossed each day – this was to keep me on track and inspired. After about 100 days I gave up on the diary and kept going. It’s easy – but at first you can’t see a difference (hence the diary). But keep going and by the end of the year you will see amazing results.And it takes very little time to open a drawer or cupboard and pull out and item to dispose of. I didn’t reorganise or any thing like that – just removed items. This year I am concentrating more on reorganising as I now have space. Feels good!!
I like this idea.. Not try to re-organize but just cull… Perfect. Later you can organize things.. Perfect.
Very good tip, declutter then organize later. I realize this would help me feel less overwhelmed. Think I’ll go sort out my kitchen junk drawer!
I like the idea of 4 boxes must give it a go.
I’m going to show this to my mother and hopefully it’ll inspire her *deep sigh*. I love the woman, but she is an extreme pack rat, to the point where her lifestyle is harming her health. My sister and I have been cleaning her house, which is full of 50 years of garbage, for the past 3 weeks. This weekend we are having a 40 yard dumpster party and will have a bunch of guys come in and do the rest of the dirty work. She’s going to go ballistic, which is very VERY scary. I just don’t understand how anyone could build an emotional attachment to STUFF. We’ll need all the luck in the world on this one, that along with a living will…
You have to be careful with trying to throw older family members treasures out as each single thing has a meaning to them. Before my mum died of cancer my sister wanted to bring in a skip bin and ditch everything in front of her which to me is cold and callous. I said to mum ( who had 100sof ornaments and clothes) to place in a pile the things that she couldn’t bear to part with and we would store them in our shed. Yes there was a lot of things but it put her mind at rest while she was trying to fight her illness and after she died there was not as much to get rid of and with her treasured things in our shed well the family went through them and we donated the rest. Mum wasn’t living in her rented home but wouldn’t give it up as she had been there for many years and I respected that but she needed care so was staying with us and by sorting her things once we all knew that she wasn’t going to get better made it easier when the time came and we got to see what she treasured the most. Try to live for a moment in their shoes and think of letting go of all your treasures that you have acumulated over the years.
Your Mum was lucky to have you, Carol. I’m sure you brought her great comfort. Blessings to you.
You’re so awesome! I don’t believe I’ve read anything like this before.
So great to discover another person with some original thoughts
on this subject. Really.. thank you for starting
this up. This web site is something that is needed on the web,
someone with some originality!
Great post! Change your perspective. Unclutterer offers a powerful approach to decluttering when they offer a number of strategies to help you change your perspective and begin to notice some clutter you may have missed. It is a life changer
You’ve done a great job! If you can’t donate or find a way to repurpose items, then they should be bagged and put out for trash pick-up.
wonderful suggestions but I seem to read these ideas but nothing happens. I have a few times tried a few of these suggestions but end up going back to a very cluttered house. I need to know once and for all to keep it decluttered for good. I need to know how to manage on those days when I am not well and cannot do the clean up or the decluttering so things do not pile up again. How do I avoid this. ideas
Annie I’m hearing you. The best idea I’ve read is to make a habit of doing the small things everyday eg dishes, hanging up your clothes. Then when you’re feeling okay tackle the big things eg clean out a cupboard.
I’m working on decluttering my place using the KonMari method. She sorts not by space but by category, which really helps. I managed to get rid of a lot of excessive clothes papers household items and photos without emotional and guilt feelings
There are two definitions for “decluttering.” 1. To get rid of all the stuff you no long need/want (toss, donate, etc.). 2. Straightening up and putting things away (declutter the counter).
Every night before I retire, I “put 10 things away.” Usually, it turns out to be 40 or 50 things, if it’s really bad. Each item counts as one: jacket over the back of the chair, for example (2 socks count as one pair). This makes it easier to get up in the morning for a straight living area.
I’ve gotten the teenage neighbor to help me go through things in the basement. I decide what to keep, donate, toss and she puts the stuff in the appropriate boxes and carries them upstairs. I’m older with a bad back. It’s “cheap labor” and she earns a little spending cash. Win/Win!
If you have gone through the motions of decluttering (#1) and later you find yourself buried in “stuff” again, maybe you need to check your behavior. By this I mean, you may do a lot of spontaneous shopping. What I do, is: When I think I need something, I write it on a list. Then I “Shop.” Meaning, when I’m out, I check different stores, prices, sales, etc. When I find the best price or a sale, I pick the item up if I’m still wanting that. eg: I needed a new pool cover. I would liked to have had a “trampoline-type” that retailed approximately $5000. Instead, I bought a regular (ugly) tarp-type for $199. Two seasons later, the $5000 one went on close-out for $2000. I scoffed it up. It may have seemed like a spontaneous purchase, but it had been on my list for quite a while. Oftentimes, I change my mind and decide it’s not something I need or want. Always sleep on major purchases.
I had an experience yesterday thinking I needed a cupboard with doors to put “stuff” into it well I thought about it and even looked online as to what was offered then I thought some more and finally I asked myself —- buying that cupboard will make you happier ???? And the more I thought I decided no it would not ——- so I have decided to not buy it
Just before I decided to de clutter & live with less. I was actually thinking of buying an extra cabinet to reorganize my kitchen stuff . Now I’m so happy I didn’t after I get ride of some , I will have plenty of room :)
Wow, Donna! Thanks for the wonderful strategies. Hope you’re enjoying your hard-earned simplicity.
Hi Annie,
One of the things that helps me get going is by making lists. I have a running to-do list for my decluttering projects that are in broad categories (sort photos, sort books, clean the garage, clean the basement). I then make a simple to-do list that I would like to finish each day if there are no obstacles or interruptions. In other words, I write out my dream to-do list.
If I have lots of energy and feel good then I will I will say to myself, “Okay, today I will check off ten things on my list.” (That list might look like, “Clean out all the books from the top shelf on the right,” “Sort out my sock drawer and ditch the old socks and hopelessly single socks,” “Go through one file drawer of papers,” “Try on and donate shoes that don’t fit/don’t wear,” “Wash, dry and fold one load of laundry,” etc. etc.)
If I don’t have much energy or am not that well? I don’t beat myself up about like I used to. I just say, “Okay, today is not so hot, so let’s aim for five things today.” If I get all 5 done? Great, I accomplished that goal. If I only get 3 things done? It is still progress.
Baby steps is much easier at times and for some people than trying to do everything at once. I have tried that and failed miserably with my own things! On the other hand? I can MUCH more easily go through other people’s things with abandon (esp. if I don’t like the person that much/am not that close to them, etc.) It is always harder with our own stuff it seems.
All the best to you.
P.S. Only way to have things decluttered once and for all would be to not buy or bring another thing into your home. I imagine only a few people could do that. That would have to be a goal to work up to. Besides, a person can have little stuff and their house is still messy or cluttered. I see it as a combination of having the ability to house and maintain things once decluttered as well–That old adage, “A place for everything, and everything in its place.” It takes the average person a month of doing the same thing every day for something to become a habit. Flossing your teeth, making your bed, whatever it is. I suspect that time-frame could apply to putting things back immediately when you are done with them, etc. Repetition is all a habit really is. As we all know, habits can be good or bad ;-) Cheers and blessings.
Lovely post, Teresa. Thanks!
Put return to sender on the junk mail and put back in mailbox, it will be returned and the sender will stop sending you junk mail, its very expensive..
if your mail says ‘adressed mail or admail’ on the upper right corner. it never goes back to sender, it just goes back to the postal plant to be shredded. The sender never receives the returned mail, as they only paid for one way shipping. The best way to fix this problem is to call or mail the sender directly and request them to remove you from the mailing list.
– a Canada Post employee
Brilliant strategy, Cathy! Thanks. As my mother liked to say, “Turnabout is fair play.”
I love what I got from #9
Look at things I’m not sure what to do with or how to get rid of it and ask “if I did not have this and I saw it in a store, would I buy it?”
A different way of checking how much real value it holds for me today.
For #3 I suggest using a big *black* garbage bag. I think of it as The Black Hole. What goes in never comes out, it’s just gone!!
Another thing I have started doing, for the endless junk mail we get – it really can pile up sometimes and I HATE having to go through it all and not to mention the time it takes to shred most of it. It adds up! I got a bankers box (with a lid) and all the credit card offers, insurance offers and stuff with personal invitation numbers, account numbers etc, it ALL goes straight into the box. Most of it I don’t even open anymore. I never realized how much TIME I was putting into JUNK mail. When it gets full I can take to UPS and they will put it in the shred bin while I watch for $1 a pound. Junk mail has been a big part of my paper issues. Now once I get to the bottom of it all I already have a solution working for me to keep it all under control.
Good point with the junk mail. Long ago, I realized that I was spending sometimes a few hours at a time going through piles of junk mail, and why? Just so unsolicited garbage can take up MY precious time and make me work for free? I started a rule many years ago: when I check the mail, I walk straight to the garbage bin outside as I shuffle through my handful of mail. I throw away everything that I know isn’t needed – which is very often every single piece of mail, actually. This way, it never even comes into the house (or starts piling in the car, another famous annoyance). It’s been a really useful habit, even though my daughter makes fun of me for drawing such a hard line :)
When you throw your junk mail away, please make sure your details can’t be read – I didn’t with one letter and someone opened a credit card with all my details and it’s taken me 17 months to clear up £10000 debt in my name that isn’t mine! Fortunately a lot of the debts were from card purchases abroad (in person) and I can prove I wasn’t in that country but it’s been a lot of letters, phone calls and headaches to sort this out.
That is one of my biggest fears
I put my junk mail in their prepaid envelope if on is provided and send it back to them, over time it gets cut WAY back. They just paid postage to get their own crap back :-)
Don’t do that. They don’t care. It’s all a numbers game to them. You’re just putting more strain on the mail system by sending stuff back. I understand the little bit of satisfaction one gets from doing that, but it’s only in your head. The hourly employees who get your mail back just throws it away without even a thought. It’s much less dramatic than you might want it to be.
Now a days, most don’t include a postage paid envelope. I retired from USPS.
It’s the company who sent out the prepaid card that must now pay to have it brought back. This charges the very company sending it out and helps to pay salaries at P.O. I used to tell my customers when they would inquire on how to stop junk mail, to please just throw away or shred whatever they don’t want. By just discarding what they don’t want helped to keep me employed, and fed my four children. I am grateful for businesses that use USPS. It must be cost effective or they wouldn’t be sending it out.
I virtually eliminated my junk mail problems with credit card offers. By using the number on the back, I registered to OPT OUT and it slowed down to a manageable crawl.
Ooh I never noticed the number on the back to opt out! I use Paper Karma – so far so good! My husband is the subscriber actually, and sometimes when we’re at friends’ houses, he will offer to Paper Karma their junk mail too! He’s adorable.
If you put return to sender.and place back in mailbox, it goes back and your taken off their mailing.list and soon that pile of junk mail gets smaller…
That is a good idea will have to try that
Only if the mail was sent Priority willcan the carrier return the mail. Most “junk” mail is labeled Bulk which does not get returned to sender. If the carrier retrieves bulk mail which they shouldn’t, but if they do it will only go back to the post office recycler which ultimately gets paid for by the county aka tax payers.
F.Y.I. your tax dollars do not cover the post office anything. U.S.P.S receives no u.s. tax dollars they rely exclusively on sale of its products & services, to fund all its operations. So please don’t spread rumors so people feel they own the post office. Just remember you did not give not one single solitary red cent you didn’t receive a service for.
Thank you posting this answer Sueque. I worked for the Postal Service for 31 years and people don’t seem to understand that the taxpayers do not pay anything towards the USPS.
That all sounds great except for the dollar a pound, sounds steep, a box of paper can weigh close to 30 lbs, I would rather burn it than pay to dispose of the junk someone sent me, Canada Post offers a firm to sign and they won’t put fliers in your mail box, it helps , the rest goes in a recycle bin I have to pay for regardless of whether I use it or not, wouldn’t the world be a better place if it wasn’t full of crooks looking to steal your identity? , thanks for your input, cheers, Francis
Actually most identity theft is now done on line, that’s where the most bang for the buck is for the thieves. Hacking into databases and downloading thousands of credit card numbers, which are then sold on the black market. Trust me, nobody is sifting through your trashed papers to “steal” your identity. If it bothers you, just buy a shredder. I toss papers I don’t want or need in my recycling bin without shredding anything. Never had any problems. Places like Office Depot and Staples also have bulk shredding services although I don’t know what they are charging.
I work with Canada Post, and we see a lot of mailboxes broken into at apartments or people’s house mailboxes, mostly during tax time, rebates and when people receive their monthly bills. Identity theft is easier when you get enough of their mail.
In many communities, the local government or business will offer free shredding services periodically. So you can bring the papers to the designated location and date to have papers shredded. In Alabama, these free services are offered by local business, banks, media networks. While in California, the county or municipal government offices provided such services. To save money, it might be wise to check out these services in local communities.
I pay my 10 yo grandson that $1. He enjoys shredding it. He earns $ to spend at the Dollar Store and I still don’t run the risk of someone else getting my personal information.
Please go through your junk mail. What I thought was junk mail, turned out to be a letter from Unclaimed Money from another state, where I lived almost ten years ago. After filling out the forms, I received two checks for a total of almost $4000! True business.
I have the same issue with personal mail. Anything with our names or personal info goes into a lidded box. Never thrown away or recycled. After the box is full I burn it all. We have an outdoor fire pit that I use and sip a cup of coffee while I do that once yearly chore.
There are several sites you can go to on the Internet to stop unwanted junk mail from coming to your home. It’s just like the National Do Not Call List for telemarketers. I did it a few years back and don’t get junk mail like I used to!
Love the idea of the black hole. Will certainly use it. Thank you !
Awesome tip, Stacey!!! Thank you,