Decluttering Challenge: Day 1

It was interesting last night.  I set about decluttering my toiletries basket and one draw from a chest of drawers.  I thought I wouldn't have much to do.  More than half the stuff had to go.

What happens over time is that we change.  As we change the 'things' that once supported us are no longer important or needed.  They belong to who we were then not who we are now.

As I was working away last night (I did around half an hour in the end) I realised that in order to declutter easily you need to have the following in mind:

Decluttering Tips

• Decluttering can bring up a lot of extra 'things to do'.  If you are very decluttered this can be bad news.  Your focus needs to be on the decluttering not on giving yourself extra jobs.
  

• Don't overdo it!  Decluttering can be really energising and if you are enjoying the process you can bulid up a full head of steam and keep going for hours.  This is not necessarily a good idea - you can exhaust yourself and this can put you off for the next day.

Decluttering Challenge

I'm putting my money where my mouth is again starting this evening.   I'm going to go through my whole house decluttering.  This will include my garage, shed and car.  I will blog about it so that people can see decluttering in action from a declutterer!

The challenge is for me to declutter something everyday.  That's the challenge I set my clients.  I haven't decluttered thoroughly for a couple of years so it will be really good for me to see what its like to be on the other side again.

The aims then are to:

• declutter for at least ten minutes everyday
• describe my progress on this blog
• only keep what I use, really need, or love
• as I declutter find - ways to improve things around the house
  

Inspiration

I love the motivation and positive feelings I get when I've been inspired by someone or something but more than that I love to share things that I have found to be helpful. Here are some of the things that helped me on my decluttering. organisation and time management journey:

Clear Your Clutter by Karen Kingston
It was after reading this book several years ago that I started my own decluttering journey. It really inspired me. Its very easy to read and the principles it teaches apply to everyone.

Mark Forster
Mark Forster is a self-confessed, naturally disorganised person. His attempts to master this have led him to create some really helpful time management books. I've also attended one of his seminar days which was excellent. He is constantly reviewing his techniques and developing better ways to get and stay organised.

Get Everything Done and Still Have Time to Play
This book helps you to get from chaos and disorganisation to inner peace and control over your work and commitments.

How to Make Your Dreams Come True
An inspirational book which will guide and encourage you to fullfill your dreams.

Feel free to share any of your inspirations too.

Looking for Decluttering Help?

Sometimes your clutter may be too much and you want some professional help. The Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers (APDO) is an organisation which can help you to find someone in your area.

APDO have organised their site so that you can search in different regions in the UK. There is a little information about each APDO member and then links to each organiser's site.

They also have a page which has a very useful list of links that can help you with decluttering. The info is a little hidden as it is contained within a link to finding help in 'other countries.'

As this type of service is very new there are no set guidelines as to how different declutterers work. There is a code of ethics which members have to agree to when they sign up, however it is quite basic.

Feeling Comfortable
The most important things to consider when choosing someone to help you with clutter is how you get on with them. Decluttering can be a very personal and emotional experience. In order to feel comfortable you need to get on with the person who is helping you. Efficiency, skill and experience all come in at a close second in my opinion.

I have heard of people feeling bullied and uncomfortable. Even though clutter clearing can be intense it should also feel liberating and renewing.

Take some time to get to know anyone that you are considering working with.

Post Office Ease

Sometimes cluttered people get this way because they are too busy for one reason or another. Finding ways to make things simpler and easier can help. Recently I found out that you can print and pay for postage online.

Decluttering is also about finding easy systems and ways of doing things. Reducing hassle and complication reduces not just physical clutter but mind clutter too.

I was delighted to discover that you can now print and pay for postage labels online. If your package is small enough to go in the letter box then you don't even have to go to the post office with it.

You do need weighing scales and a ruler however so that you can pay the right amount of postage and a printer to pring out the labels. I use my kitchen scales.

If you do have to go to the post office it means that you don't have to queue up and spend a valuable part of your lunch hour waiting to buy postage. Or waiting with impatient children who are hungry and tired. You can just leave your parcel and get on with more interesting things.

Stop Clutter Coming In

If you intend to declutter then one of the most important things you can do first is to plan how you are going to stay clutter free. Start today and stop new clutter coming into your life. Here is a list of the main clutter culprits and how to tackle them today

Paperwork
Stop junk mail. The Mailing Preference Service (MPS) is a free service that gives you control over the junk mail to your home or business.

Deal with the post immediately - starting today. Stand over the bin and dump all items that are not important. This includes things that you 'might look at someday', or that 'might be interesting'. When you are decluttered you might decide to keep some things like this. For the moment - no - you are focusing on decluttering not on increasing your workload by adding things to your piles.

Stop Buying
Until you are decluttered make it a rule that you will not buy any more 'things' unless they are absolutely essential to your existence. This obviously includes food. But how many other things that we buy are absolutely essential?

Cutting your purchases will help to stop any more 'clutter' coming into your life. You will also see how much more money you get to keep for the things in life that are really important to you


Stop taking other people's clutter
Some people are always accepting other people's clutter. Its the magpie effect - nice shiny new things that you can take to your own nest. Only your own nest is already full. Get your friends to take their surplus items to charity shops or car boot sales.

Unsubscribe to email lists
Email can be a big clutter issue. Make it a rule to stop subscribing to any more sites until you are clutter free. This will help your inbox. Also unsubscribe to as many lists as you can.

Unsolicitated calls
You can take yourself off any call lists and this will stop companies ringing you when they have not been invited. This kind of thing is clutter too. The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is a similar service for your phones (landlines AND mobiles). It really can cut out most of the unsolicited sales calls.

Stopping clutter coming into your home is really vital because it shows a commitment to getting and STAYING clutter free.  Sometimes people declutter their whole lives really effectively only to find that a year later they are back to square one.

What Can I Declutter in 10 Minutes?

Decluttering in tiny steps breaks down resistance and gets the job done in bite size pieces. I always recommend doing ten minutes of clutter clearing everyday if you have been cluttered for a long time and have really been avoiding doing something about it. Sometimes people ask me what you can do in ten minutes. You'd be surprised by how much you can achieve. 

Suggestions for your ten minutes

• Pen pot
• Pin board
• A file
• A small drawer
• A handbag/briecase
• Several emails
• A book shelf
• One fridge/freezer shelf
• One storage box
• A make up bag
• A box of children's toys
• A carrier bag
• A pile of junk mail
• The boot of your car
• Your medicines
• Your shoes (providing you are not Imelda Marcos)
• The coat stand
• A window sill
• Of course you will also take on the bigger job but just do it in ten minute chunks.

Happy clutter clearing.