Note: This is a guest post from Colleen Madsen of 365 Less Things.
I have never considered myself a natural organizer. But in 2007, my family moved to Australia from the USA. Because we were moving into a smaller home, I found myself needing to unclutter a large number of items. Fortunately, we were able to accomplish the task…but mostly, because I had no other choice.
Shortly after the move, a new stage of life surfaced. My husband was about to begin semi-retirement. And to prepare for our new life together, I set a personal goal to again reduce our possessions. Coincidentally, on January 3rd, a segment aired on morning television about people abandoning their New Year resolutions. Turns out, on average, most people only stick to their resolution for three days. Even though I had never been one to take on resolutions, I found great motivation in beating those narrow odds… in fact, the challenge was nearly irresistible to me
I decided at that moment to set a new resolution to minimize our possessions. I determined to remove one item each day for the next 365 days. I started with three items to make up for the missed days, and promptly began removing one thing a day for the rest of the year. I am happy to say I not only completed my resolution successfully but it was so simple and satisfying that I continued uncluttering in my slow and steady pace (an average of five items per week) for an additional two years!
Over these last three years of clearing clutter, I have removed over a thousand things from our home. Also, through the process and through my writing, I have had the opportunity to help many people realize their own goals as well. These conversations have sharpened my desire for simplicity and taught me important insight about uncluttering. I have learned that understanding just a few key principles can help anyone just learning how to declutter.
The 10 Most Important Principles I Have Learned to Help Anyone Unclutter:
1. Stop the Flow of Stuff Coming In. Uncluttering is a waste of time if you simply replace the old stuff with new. You’ll need to begin by slowing the flow of things entering your home. Determine today to buy less. Trust me, you won’t regret it. The freedom from desire to acquire is a beautiful thing.
2. Remove at Least One Item a Day. The process does not have to be a mad frenzy that disrupts your entire household. Over the years, my home has become quite minimalist by simply choosing one item a day to get rid of. This gradual process began to change the way I think about stuff. Eventually, it became a way of life rather than just a crash diet of stuff.
3. Get Rid of the Easy Stuff First. There is no need to make things difficult by trying to get rid of the hardest things first. Most likely, it will simply deter you from the task altogether. Instead, start with the easy stuff and then as you strengthen your will to reduce, the harder decisions will become easier.
4. Put a Disposal Plan in Place. Before you begin, investigate selling, recycling, donating and give away options for the items you choose to remove. The more prepared you are for the task, the simpler it will be… and the more likely you will be to follow through. Ebay, Freecycle, and our local thrift store became my favorite disposal options. However there are endless others to explore.
5. Decide to Not Keep Things out of Guilt or Obligation. Your home should only contain the things you love or use. Don’t let incorrect thinking or other people dictate what you should keep or give away. Remember, if the items are yours, it is your choice to decide what to do with them.
6. Do Not Be Afraid to Let Go. The urge to hold on to items you think you might need someday can be eliminated simply by being realistic about what need really is. Many items in our homes may be useful, but they are not particularly necessary to our happiness, well-being, or the functionality of our homes. Seek to understand the difference.
7. Gifts Do Not Have to be Material. There are so many ways to honor loved ones without giving gifts that end up as clutter. Encourage people to follow this concept when buying gifts for you. Some alternative gifts are gifts of experience or adventure, a gift of time spent together, even cash gifts are appropriate in some instances. I have two clutter-free gift guides at my blog if you are looking for ideas.
8. Do Not Over-Equip Your Home. A home does not need enough linen, crockery, cutlery, or pantry supplies to serve as a hotel. Be realistic about your true needs. In the rare event an unusually large number of guests arrive on your doorstep, you can always borrow from friends, family or neighbors.
9. Do Not Throw Out Things that are not Yours Without the Owner’s Permission. Everyone should have a choice about their own belongings, even small children. Honor them by allowing them to choose. You can encourage hoarding tendencies in others by ripping things away from them before they are ready to let go.
10. Do Not Waste Your Life on Clutter. Every item you own takes time out of your life: time to manage it, clean it, repair it, and maintain it; time to choose between objects of a similar category; time spent shopping for it… and that doesn’t even mention the time spent earning the money to pay for it in the first space. Decide to sacrifice less of your precious life on the pursuit and ownership of stuff.
These ten principles have kept me resolute for the past three years. I had no idea when I began this mission how much stuff I would relinquish over the next three years. What I originally thought was going to be an arduous task quickly became a way of life… so much so, we have just put a deposit on a beautiful, even smaller, apartment with fabulous views of our coastal city, a swimming pool, and gym all within walking distance of everything we want. Semi-retirement is becoming a beautiful thing. Uncluttering made it possible.
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Colleen Madsen blogs regularly at 365 Less Things where she inspires others to reduce their stuff one day at a time. You can find her on Twitter.
Further Reading:
The Declutter Your Home Checklist
Image: Yorick…
Hi! I just wonder how funny creatures we human beings are….first of all buying a lot of things and wasting money on them, then thinking about ways how to get rid of them. I used to be a big clutterer but not anymore, espacially after reading this article. Great job Colleen.
I am moving to New Zealand from the U.S., and I definitely know the process that you went through before what I call The Big Move. I have been decluttering the house for more than a year. It is unbelievable how much stuff we had and didn’t use, and I am not done yet! I look at everything and ask if it’s worth paying to ship it to the other side of the world. If not, it’s gone.
When I moved across the country and before I began my own divesting, I left three boxes of things from school in my brother’s garage. (With his blessing.) One contained all of my trophies from soccer and softball.
A few years later I went back to reclaim/clear out everything, only to find that he and my sister-in-law had tossed all but one softball trophy in a fit of organization. Oh, how I wished they’d picked any other box. I was so mad.
I took that lonely trophy home with me and placed it on a windowsill. Two weeks later, a windstorm knocked it to the floor and shattered it. Trophies gone.
The lesson? I’m still here, and so are my memories of playing the games. But my brother and I would be better friends today if he’d called me before he tossed my stuff.
I have four children who are adults now. They all played baseball and won many trophies.They were dust collectors in my computer room and I was tired of dusting them. I photographed them in a group for each child then took the name plate off and gave the trophies to a community group who will give them as prizes for handicapped people. I put the name plates on scrap book pages of each child in their scrapbooks. I had asked them about this before I did it.
I started decluttering a few years ago, discovering I was a minimalist deep inside. It has been unbelievably energizing and freeing! #9 is the hardest for me, though it really isn’t about “stuff” anymore. Instead it is about the size of our house. When we sold our old house (2300sqf), I really wanted a “just-right” size house, which to me meant no more than 1800sf for a family of four. My husband wanted one extra bedroom for an “office” that he could escape to when he needed to be alone. We looked for almost a year and couldn’t find the right arrangement to suit us both. Finally, I backed down and we bought a 4-bedroom, 3-bath house at 3000sf. It has the double garage he wanted, the extra bedroom, the big lawn, and it is in a suburb. I’m trying really hard not to hate it, but it’s not at all what I wanted. It’s too big for me, I can’t walk to anything (our old house was in an old neighborhood within walking distance to everything), I can’t have a garden because the yard is his “baby”. I don’t think clutter will ever be a problem again, because I whole-heartedly cling to your #1, but this house and car-dependent new life feels like another form of clutter to me. He’s a wonderful man in every way, so don’t think I’ll of him, it’s just that we have very different views of “comfort”. He says he’s willing to look again in a few years for something in a walkable neighborhood, but we’ll see. He loves this house and is eminently happy here. Anybody else have this kind of “clutter” problem?
You sound so unhappy. Is there really no room for compromise on the garden, if anything? A man who’s wonderful in every way should be able to hear you when you tell him you’d be a happier person in the current house if there were space for that one thing. Not only that, it could improve your quality of life … and his, for that matter.
Erin, I face the same problem with my husband. All three of my sons left the house after graduation and went into the Air Force. We moved to Florida and I wanted a small cottage home with a little yard. We ended up in a bigger house with a huge yard! We have to pay people to maintain it now. I just keep getting rid of stuff and living in less of the home, I have some empty cupboards and closets and drawers. We are considering a move soon and I am hoping my husband has an ah ha moment and we can get a small place. He too wants to move out of our walk everywhere neighborhood out to a big place in the country.ugh.
I needed to read this today. After a recent top to bottom cleaning of my house, I reduced a lot of clutter. Now I think I’m addicted as I feel so much better with less. Perhaps I should try a one-a-day method as well. hmm….
Great article.
I have started a “Declutter 5 Project” that I am hoping gains some traction.
http://www.minimalistlifestyle.wordpress.com
#declutter5project
Thanks Colleen, very timely! Spring is here & it’s time to change wardrobes. Out went all the winter items that I either didn’t wear this winter &/ or know I won’t wear next year.
One of my issues/concers is when items – whether clothes or shoes or household items – are still in very good condition …. Where to take/donate them; especially high quality items?
I grew up in a house with very opposite parents. My mother lives in a house full of so many interesting items which she says “these are my journey”. When my dad died 10 years ago we were really amazed at how little space he took up; how few possessions. It had always been the same, he needed very little in the way of ‘things’. I find myself somewhere in between.
Colleen, I think it really starts with number 1; Stop the flow of stuff coming in!
Thanks for Fab article
Oh Colleen, what a beautiful surprise to find you here. I always appreciate your advice.
For me, the key step was your first: “1. Stop the Flow of Stuff Coming In.”
Once that occurred, the rest seems easy, although like you, I am taking it slowly.
Thanks for the great ten tips
I printed out this advice. LOL!
I have to agree with the people who mentioned scanning. You can get rid of so much clutter with a clear mind by just scanning in receipts, documents, user manuals, etc. It’s always there if you need it later, but bits and bytes take up a lot less room than paper. Just make sure and back up your data or use a service that does.