You stand there looking at all your stuff and realize you have too much, the stuff has taken over your life. This wasn't how life was supposed to be with toys everywhere, you have to make yourself smaller in the hall to be able to get past all the things, you feel like the dining table is so full of things that it's almost impossible to sit there and eat without a big purging before you can start, ads everywhere that just seem to pour in through the letterbox, empty cans all over the bathroom and you hardly know anymore what's working and what's not. I hear you. I am here for you. Together we will tackle your mountain of things pouring out of all corners and edges. We will divide this into categories, of course you can adjust the days according to the number of rooms and how much time you have. Just think about one thing with time, if you have had time to collect everything, you also have time to get rid of everything. Here we go.
Day 1 – sit down and write down how you want it to be at home. Goals you have. It doesn't really have to do with decluttering, but piling up everything you can think of that you want to do or achieve if your home was cleared, tidy and nice.
Day 2 – take a regular garbage bag, choose a room and only pick up clean trash, stuff that can go straight into the trash. Then repeat this with the number of days versus the number of rooms you have. Carry the garbage bag out between days so that you remove things from your home every day, then it feels easier.
Step 3 – let the family know what you intend to do and try to get them on board. It is advantageous if the children, if they are old enough, can make their own rooms with the support of you as an adult. If you don't have the family on board with this, you have to set a good example. Children don't do as we say, but as we do.
Step 4 - pick out boxes and bags that you can sort your things in. Write the following suggestions on these, charity, throw away, recycling (take a box for paper, one for plastic, one for glass, etc.). It can also be beneficial to have a relocate box for things that have ended up in the wrong room. Write what you think suits you. I have deliberately not written sell on a box because it is rarely beneficial to start selling your things when you are overwhelmed because it usually leads to the things staying at your house instead of getting away from there but of course what I write is just advice , you have to decide for yourself what is right for you. (If you have a lot of things, you may need to order a container so that you can throw everything into it).
Step 5 – once you've gone through all the rooms and removed all the obvious junk, it's time to start decluttering. Pick a small corner that really bothers you and start getting rid of things. Take a place where you don't have so many personal connections to the things. A junk box might be a good place to start, or the fridge, freezer or a chest of drawers with old swimwear in it. As long as it's not vintage, almost anything can be replaced today, so don't save things just because they might need to be used one day. Save what you use here and now, love and appreciate. Don't save things that make you sad or angry because we want to bring positivity into your home.
Step 6 – repeat the above point until you feel a sense of relief in the room. Then continue to the next room and the next but don't rush. You should not overwhelm yourself anymore but take this at your own pace. If you're lucky, the family has started to help declutter and you're a team in this. If this is not the case, don't stop fighting, you will reach your goal if you are true to your dreams.
Step 7 - you've probably started to realize that you can no longer keep bringing things into the home. You simply have to stop buying what you don't need. And now if you have to buy something, decide where to put what you buy before you bring it home. Talk to your family about this so everyone follows the same rules.
Step 8 – decluttering is like peeling an onion, you have to do it in layers. It's only when you feel like you've peeled off the first layer that you can start organizing your things. Don't stress about buying organization boxes because you usually end up having to declutter these later too.
Step 9 – clean through the rooms you feel done and you will feel uplifted and happier. Take one room at a time, or part of a room, a corner or a drawer. Take it at your own pace and take what you can handle. Keep your health, don't make yourself sick from this, your well-being is the most important thing in the process.
Step 10 – take time to put away what you declutter. If you don't have a car yourself, let a friend help you. Asking for help is not wrong. Everything you declutter must be removed from the house. Set a day and when you put the things away you will feel a relief lift from your shoulders. When this is done, reward yourself with a nice dinner at a restaurant or something similar. The idea is not that you should reward yourself with something new, but reward yourself with something that will not take up space in the home.
Tip. If it's not an obvious yes, it's usually a no. Every step you take, every thing you pick up from the floor is a step towards a tidier home. Read my other blog posts for more inspiration both in terms of declutter, minimalism and slow living.
Good luck, I believe in you. Now you just have to believe in yourself.
