sfPhotocraft
Today I’m sharing another section of my action guide, Sustainable Change, with you. (Here’s the first part and the second). It’s short and to the point: get rid of the clutter. I think it’s particularly fitting because this weekend I’m helping a friend with a huge yard sale. She and her husband have recently gone through every room of their house and taken out the stuff they don’t need. And now they’re going to make a little extra cash from it. Very cool.
After our recent move, we’ve found even more stuff to purge, so I’m hoping to add a good chunk of change to our One Month to $1000 Challenge jar, which is filling up. So, here’s the very brief guide to simplifying your possessions.
Clutter is counter-productive. I can’t stress this enough. That’s why it needs to go away. Have you ever tackled a really messy room and then smiled triumphantly at the peaceful, organized space that you created? How do you feel the next day after the kids or your husband has gone through and left their mark? It’s a bit defeating and discouraging, isn’t it?
You can get rid of those feelings and the constant battle against the mess by minimizing your possessions. Get rid of the stuff that has taken over your life and say hello to a place that takes little time to clean, giving you the freedom to pursue your passion.
Action Step:
Start with one room. Go into it with a trashcan and two boxes, one labeled give and the other keep. If this is too daunting, start with your desk or a kitchen drawer. Begin sorting items into the boxes. If there are some things that you’re just not sure of, you could put them in a maybe box for 6 months and get rid of them if you haven’t used them. Though, I tend to go by the “if I don’t love it, I don’t need it,” rule.
Repeat the cycle with other rooms on other days – or devote a whole day to doing this. Then have a yard sale or make a trip to your local thrift store to donate it. The key is to get rid of items that you don’t need. What you’re left with is a clear, organized space that doesn’t need to be cleaned constantly.
If you need more help, or want to move on to other areas of your life, I highly suggest two books (these are affiliate links, by the way):
Leo Babauta’s book, The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life, covers clearing everything from your living room to your computer desktop.
If you want more in-depth help on conquering your clutter, I highly recommend Dusti Arab’s book, The Minimalist Mom. She approaches clearing the clutter from a mom’s perspective, something that I really appreciate after reading minimalism books that don’t really address the little kid aspect of things.
Now go just a little deeper
Now that you’re on the right track with getting rid of stuff you don’t need, I want you to just take some time and think about how it got there in the first place.
Do people give you things a lot? Are you constantly bringing home awesome deals? Are there special gnomes in your house that bring in more stuff instead of making it disappear? Just think about it. When I did this, I realized that I have a shopping problem. When I feel depressed or get bored, my first reaction is to want to shop. That’s definitely not good.
Why does stuff keep coming into your house? What could you do to change that?
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About Nina Nelson
I love hearing others talk about decluttering. I’m BIG on that! I helped a friend of mine who was always complaining that they didn’t have enough room (3 people in an 1800sf house) and she didn’t like coming home. We spent all last year going through all rooms/closets/cabinets to clear them of junk. She was bad about keeping things because someone gave it to her even if she didn’t like it. So our motto was “do you love it?” or “do you use it?” if not they went. I love doing helping people do this and knowing that my friend now loves to come home makes it worth it. And some handy organizing ideas for what stayed helped too!
I know for me that if I have too much stuff I can’t breath and feel like the house is closing in on me. I routinely go through my home and get rid of anything we haven’t used in a while, much to David’s dismay.
thanks for sharing this!
LOL! Poor David. I do the same thing to Ian. I’m so glad your helping others to conquer the clutter! It’s so gratifying to see the positive impact you’ve had on somebody just by doing something you love.
Such an excellent post. I definitely need to do more of this in the kids’ rec room & school room. With a large family, I’ve discovered somewhat of a stumbling block to the de-clutter movement…
Hand-me-downs.
With seven kids, stairstepped down, there is great wisdom in recycling/reusing everything from clothes to toys to home school curriculum. Those top-o-the-closet-shelf dolls or lego models make great gifts for the younger siblings…and we end up recycling toys instead of buying new. However, all those hand-me-downs take up space, and add to the clutter.
It’s a challenge, but I’m getting better at organizing things; plastic tubs slim enough to slip under beds, clearly labeled with size & season. A specific ‘re-gifting’ toy tub for the older sibs to dip into at holiday time. Yet my home school closet runneth over…with really great curriculum & books, from kinder to 10th grade, boxed & labeled & stacked to the ceiling…yowza!
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I SO hear you. This, and my massive herb collection, are my two biggest challenges. What I’m starting to do, though, is go through the hand-me-downs and sort them into clothes that I have a really hard time finding used in good condition – jeans, jackets, shoes – and clothes that I find/receive a lot of. Then I figure out the absolute minimum that I’ll need and keep that.
What I take out can be gifted, taken to a consignment shop or posted on thredup.com. I’m also asking friends if they could use some of the boys’ clothing. Since Isaac and Isaiah are 5 years apart, I figured it’s better for the stuff to be getting used by someone who needs it rather than sit in a tote in my attic. When that person’s done, they can give it back if they so choose, or I’m sure I’ll co-inciGodically have it given to me/find it very inexpensively when it’s needed.
Thanks for the useful tips. While I like the results of organizing, it takes a high activation energy for me to do it. I think I need to come up with some kind of reward system for myself.
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