DE-clutter: per dictionary.com means “to remove mess or clutter”. This is what you generally think of, right. Getting rid of stuff.
You might wonder why you avoid decluttering. It sounds like a good idea. Sounds easy enough. Kate says it’s good for you. Everyone who does it says they feel lighter and happier.
And you still resist. You find excuses to not go through your stuff. You get more and more frustrated and think there’s something wrong with you.
Why?
Because you’re afraid of the loss. You’re afraid of the grief you think will come when you get rid of your belongings. You’re attached to your stuff. It means something to you. Your stuff has symbolism and the idea of creating loss on purpose is too much to face.
What can you do?
Look at it from a different perspective.
That sounds simplistic and slightly ridiculous, right? “You mean all I had to do this whole time was to think differently?” Yup.
Instead of focusing on what you should get rid of, think about what you’re going to keep.
Declutter also means “to organize and prioritize.”
When Michelangelo created The David (you know, the big famous statue of the naked guy casually standing around?) he saw the sculpture in the marble and chipped away everything that was not a part of the final piece.
You are going to create your masterpiece. Instead of looking at your house and seeing all of the stuff that has to go, find the stuff you want to stay.
Preparation
You might be saying “That’s all well and good for genius artist Michelangelo, but I’m just one of us regular human beings. How do I change my perspective?”
First, we take off a layer: Trash.
We all have it. Papers, wrappers, receipts, recycling, empty boxes… The list goes on. In theory you know what trash is. But it gets a little confusing when it’s mixed in with everything else. Or maybe you turned a blind eye to it a long time ago and don’t even see what’s in front of you anymore.
Turn your house into a grid. Get a copy of your Plat of Survey or sketch a quick layout on some paper. Create as many zones with your grid as you like. If you have a huge house 6 zones might feel like too few, if you have a tiny house 12 might feel like way too many.
Set your timer for 20 minutes and see how many grid zones you can clear of trash in that time. When the timer stops so do you.
I encourage you to not continue. You may feel like you have a surge of energy and want to get as much done as possible right now, but we want you to spread that energy out not burn it up in one go.
How to see your masterpiece in the marble
Great, now that you’ve done a once over of the grid, you can get down to the stuff you’re going to keep.
Pull out your grid and work through it again, this time looking for the stuff that you like, love, use, enjoy, or feel energized by.
Put all of that stuff to one side of the zone and then ruthlessly remove the stuff that’s left.
Okay, stop freaking out, you can put the leftovers in a bin to set in your car or garage. You don’t have to toss or donate it all right away. I mean, if you want to, I’m not going to argue, but this article is about focusing on what you love. I’ll lecture you about hanging onto stuff you don’t love in a different one.
Now you have a zone, room, floor or your whole house with a bunch of stuff you really like. Put it away intentionally. Step back and admire your work.
How do you feel? Relieved? Calm? Proud? Can’t stop thinking about the crap you removed?
Keep practicing. It gets easier with each zone you do. By the time you’ve worked your way through the whole house you probably won’t even remember what didn’t make the cut. You may even want to start all over again because you’ve learned so much you want to redo your first efforts.
Some perspective
It took me 3 months to go through my entire 2 story 1400 square foot house, not including the garage. And I’ve gone over it multiple times since then with greater and greater confidence and clarity.
The amount of time attending to your home will depend on a few variables: size, available time, amount of stuff, and motivation.
Using the timer to keep from draining yourself and having realistic, I said realistic, expectations and focusing on what you will be keeping to use and enjoy will make the whole process far less painful than the process you’ve been avoiding.
It can be an emotional and exhausting journey even when using these parameters. That’s where I come in. I’m a coach and decluttering expert who can help you reach your goals and create the home and life you deserve.
You’re going to love the home you have!