As we kick off this month of decluttering, we should first explore a few schools of thought on the simplification process.
One thing in, one thing out
Happy with your space and number of possessions? Then this is the method for you. Most of us are not there yet, but this is a good practice to put into play even now. For example, say you recently bought 3 shirts to replace some old ones in your closet. Following this rule, you would immediately donate/recycle/trash the old shirts as soon as the new ones come into your house.
It may sound like a small thing, but this practice will keep you from accumulating more unnecessary stuff as you work to declutter the rest of your house and set you up for good habits going forward.
Relieve yourself of a thing a day
Can you part with one thing every day until you hit your simplification “sweet spot?” There is a group on LiveJournal documenting their decluttering efforts, and each post is usually a list of what was taken in as well a “relieved” that day. (It can make for some really funny reading, until you run across items that you actually own.)
When you relieve yourself of a thing a day you have to keep in mind what you are taking in as well, so if you bring in a new book 2 other things have to go to keep the number of possessions at -1 from the day before. This method can be amped up based on your level of motivation on a given day.
Small is the new significant
Decluttering does not have to be a huge ordeal that takes up your entire weekends for a month. The Japanese principle of Kaizen states that numerous small improvements done continuously are more effective than big improvements done sporadically.
Do you have 15 minutes a day to clean out a drawer, recycle old magazines, or combine your duplicate cleaning products? That is progress, and every day you can easily build on it by making another small continuous improvement. Remember, small is the new significant.
One complete project at a time
It can be overwhelming to think of decluttering your entire home and office, especially if you are the only one who wants to do it. By breaking the job down into smaller complete projects, it will be easier to reach your goal.
If you have one day a month to devote to decluttering, think about a project you can actually finish. And by finish I mean completely decluttered, trash taken out, donations made, and recyclables in bins. If you leave any little piece of this undone, it will only add to your clutter and frustration. Better to completely declutter 1 closet than to attempt 3 and have bags of clothes to donate in your garage for the next year.
Cash for clutter
You’ve probably seen those shows on TV: Clean House, Clean Sweep and the like. Part of the entire decluttering/organizing process in the show is a yard sale to raise money for redecorating, and people are often surprised at how much money can be made.
You can sell your items through a yard sale, online at Craigslist or eBay, or through consignment shops or specialty stores.
One key to this method is to have a “staging area” in your home. By removing the items from your daily life, you can continue your decluttering process until the item is sold.
One rule is to have a sell-by date – a yard sale on the calendar, a schedule for listing items online, or a date to deliver items to consignment and specialty shops. Otherwise, your staging area will turn into a huge clutter zone before you know it.
What style works for you?
I’m currently using the cash for clutter system with Craiglist and plan to focus on small is the new significant this month. Of course we’ll probably use a bit of all of these methods throughout the month, but focusing on the one that fits you best will help you stay on track.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post on how to sell your items via Craigslist and eBay, followed by Friday’s post on working through false sentimental attachment. We’ll then have a weekend to think about this, and then Monday will kick off a week of posts on decluttering your kitchen followed by a Friday challenge.
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For a list of all the decluttering articles, click here.
About Betsy
Definitely doing small things every day. By this way I can prevent spending too much time with decluttering in the future.
Once you incorporate the decluttering actions into your daily habits, the become a second nature and you barely notice them.