There are different methods when it comes to declutter your things. What works for one person may not work for another. We all have different reference points and therefore need to do things in different ways. Some people tackle the task right away and go like a tornado through the home, while others, as with most people, need time to process the process. How you choose to do it is entirely up to you. There are no right and wrong. The end goal is still the same which is a life with fewer things which creates time and energy for other things to enter your life.
Before you start decluttering, I suggest that you think about, and write down, why you want to clear your things. What is the purpose of it. The purpose helps you stay focused and when you feel setbacks, you read your notes about why you are doing this. My own purpose was that I wanted to reduce the time I had to clean as I had to say no to friends and activities because I had so much stuff that I needed to spend the whole weekend cleaning. I had no time for anything in my free time other than cleaning, maintaining and organizing the things I had where many of the things were pure junk. The things gave me no direct value other than they took my time away from those who meant the most to me. And the older I got the more overwhelmed I became by all the things around me, I found it hard to focus, hard to breathe, hard to think about anything but what I have to do with these things. Things took over my life, things decided over me. I wasn't the free spirit I wanted to be because I was stuck and suffocated by a lot of things.
It's not unusual for people to do what I did, say no because there was no time. Said no to activities with friends and family because there was too much to do at home. It's also not unusual to say, for example, "I'm going to travel as soon as I've just cleaned up here at home" years go by and no trip happens because as long as all the things are left, you're in the same situation, locked among your things. Sometimes it's also the other way around, you try to find things outside the home because you escape the home environment because it creates stress and obligations that you can't cope with. I have a mantra I usually say "what I do today I don't have to do tomorrow" it's not really true because some things are repetitive every day such as the dishes, but it's true to the extent that I try to avoid putting things off and to procastinate when I say that mantra to myself.
So let's look at what options you have for decluttering -Let's say you are overwhelmed and feel like life is already chaos. Then I suggest that you start small by selecting a box/carton in the appropriate size. Then you fill the box with things you want to go through. That box is all you have to work with. Nothing more. You work from the box and clean out junk and throw it away. Then you pick out things to donate and put it in a designated bag or box (remember to take a bag you can't see through to avoid seeing the things and regretting it, and if you take a box take one where you can donate the entire box. You only have to go through the items once). I will now give you two suggestions what you will do with the rest of the things that you will save. Either you go around and place them where they should be or you save them in the box or other place while waiting for you to declutter the home and then want to place your things you chose to keep. There are pros and cons to both ways, but if you have an extremely large amount of things, I would recommend the last method, that you save them to the side until you are completely done with the area the things should be in, so that you don't have to pack them into the box again when you get to that area of the home and because you will have better control of how much you save if everything you save should be put into the same box waiting for you to finish. It is more normal than not to declutter layer by layer so you will still want to do another round at a later time. - Another way if you are short on time, (however remember that if you have had time to collect the things, you also have time to get rid of them), is to set a timer for 10-15 minutes and get as much done as possible in that time. If you have extra time, set a timer for each room.
- If you want to make this a big project instead, the KonMarie method is a good way. Then you start with the clothes and gather all your clothes that you own, yes all of them, on your bed or other flat surface where you only have the clothes and start going through them. Love, use is saved and the rest you declutter. Have black garbage bags ready because you will probably be removing a lot. Then you continue with books and do the same way, on that paper and various gadgets. If you have a lot of one thing, for example a collection or, for example, kitchen items, you put them in their own categories. Save the sentimental stuff for last which I suggest you do whatever method you use.
- If you are more of a competitive person, I would guess that this method is more for you. Day 1 you declutter one thing. Day 2 you declutter two things. On day 3 you declutter three things and then you continue like that until day 30 when you declutter 30 things that day. Then of course you can play with this declutter game and do it in different variations, for example you mix the days so that day 1 might be one thing but day 2 might be 15 things depending on which area you tackle that day.
- If you are a bit more spiritual, I suggest that you declutter with the intention of creating air around your things. Create space for the energies to be able to move around the home without stagnating on well-filled and dusty shelves. Stagnant energy feels sticky and if you have a lot of things that are never used, it can feel like you are stuck in life and can't move forward. If you like to have a lot around you, I suggest that you replace some things with live plants instead, as plants help lift the energy and have other positive benefits as well.
There are, of course, many more methods you can use, but what I have briefly described here is a variation of these. You need to use the one that suits you best. The one that feels most right for you. I am confident that you will be able to do this, you just need to realize that it takes time. As long as things come into the home, you will also need to declutter and the more you practice, the better you will get at it. Good luck. I'm here if you have any questions. You can reach me either through my email which you can find on the contact page, through my Youtube channel (link is in the contact page) or here in the comments.
