decluttering Archives - Page 2 of 3

Hiring a declutterer you are in control

How much control should you have when you hire a professional declutterer?

Total control is the answer!

When you hire a professional organiser/declutterer, it is so important that he or she respects your belongings.

It can be really intimidating letting a complete stranger into your home and allowing
them access to all of your belongings. It’s so important that they allow you to lead the project and have complete control of what you keep and what you let go of.

Everyone is different, and what one person wouldn’t dream of holding onto can be another person’s treasure.

With this in mind, it’s crucial that a declutterer is non judgemental and treats their clients belongings with respect.

When hiring a declutterer, you are in control

The role of a declutterer is to find ways of keeping, storing or displaying the things you hold dear.

For example one of my clients had a collection of tiny bits and pieces that she adored,
most of them held some sentimental memory.

She explained that in the past some of her friends had tried to help her declutter, and had dismissed these little beauties as rubbish, telling her to throw them away.

They were very pushy and bossy and left my client feeling a little ashamed and very angry.

This interaction had a lasting effect on my client, and in our first conversation
she asked “how much control will I have when you arrive?”

I went on to give her ideas on how to keep her treasures, storing some, and displaying the most loved ones in a display frame that has pride of place on her hallway wall.

Making sure you have a good relationship with a declutterer is key, so check out their website, read all of their reviews, and most importantly speak to them first.

This will give you a feel for them, because not all will be a good fit for you. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Remember when hiring a declutterer, you are in control. Above all, ask them to respect your stuff

Overwhelmed by Clutter?

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Are you feeling overwhelmed by clutter? It is a very easy trap to fall into, because clutter happens slowly and over time and will build up without you noticing. Until one day you can’t live with it anymore

Start small to get going

When overwhelmed by clutter, it’s important to make an assessment of where to start.

A quick and easy win would be to start with a drawer. This is starting small

This will help you psychologically start the process and develop the mindset for further decluttering.

Create a plan and write a list

The next step would be to create a plan as you are already in the decluttering mindset by your small drawer decluttering.

Make a list and write it down. This process of writing a list is important. Don’t store it in your head, it would just overwhelm you again.

It is also very satisfying when you can strike items of the list as you progress and will spur you on to do more.

Focus on a single room/place

Deal with a single room or a space at one time. This will prevent you from feeling overwhelmed by clutter everywhere.

Use the 3 box/bag method of keeping, throwing away, giving away or storing long term. Sometimes this is done best with someone to support you through this process and help you make those tough decisions.

Now you are in the decluttering mindset by the quick win of decluttering the drawer, now’s the time to make a real impact.

Make an real impact

Start with the room that you live in and use the most. This will have the most impact on your life. Getting this one room completely decluttered, will start to relieve the stress of being overwhelmed by clutter. You will start to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Set realistic timescales

As clutter has probably built up slowly over time, give yourself proper realistic timescales in sorting it out. This probably cannot happen in a single day.

If you find it daunting, give yourself regular breaks. Aim for simple minute durations of 10, 20, 30 minutes. The decluttering durations will start to grow as you get your head into the process.

Positivity and reward

Try to see the decluttering as a positive experience, rather than a chore. Decluttering can be hard, physical work and there’s great satisfaction with achieving something that’s hard.

Reward yourself with regular breaks with a nice cup of tea or coffee. This reward process allows you to work towards the break and spurs you on.

Take photos of before and after to see your progress.

Don’t be a perfectionist.

“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good”. This should be a mantra going forward. You will probably find that decluttering one room will probably clutter another room. This is perfectly normal.

Getting rid of rubbish or giving away stuff to charity, should be a regular process to help keep the clutter to a minimum around the house.

The decluttered items, now cluttering up another room have already been logged into your mind of what you are going to do with them.

Every great journey starts with a single step

Finally, you have decided to deal with the issue. See this process as a journey to initially deal with the problem.

Going forward, you need to keep the clutter to a minimum.

You’re not a perfectionist, no one really is when dealing with clutter.

If you fall down and clutter starts to rear its head, recognise the problem is starting again and deal with it before it becomes a problem.

A 10 minute declutter is much easier to deal with than a full day or weeks worth of decluttering.

Give it go. If you don’t get there 100% always remember that 80% is always better than 0%.

Decluttering boxes

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The use of decluttering boxes is an ideal way of storing items you need for use later on.

When you have a mountain of stuff and want to organise it properly, then it makes sense to store it all away in decluttering boxes.

This does not mean you need to stuff everything away. You still have to go through the process of decluttering in order to store the minimum amount.

They are so easily available nowadays, all sorts of them, whatever you are looking for is so easily obtainable.

Storage units will sell you boxes, along with anything else you would need to pack away fragile items for storing, like bubble wrap, tape etc.

You can also get companies like theboxco.co.uk, who will pick up your boxes, store them carefully and return them when you need it.

You can use our discount code of DARETODECLUTTER

This discount code will give you a discount on the cost of the storage over a period of time for the theboxco.co.uk

Places like Ikea will have plenty of options, whether it’s long flat plastic boxes on wheels that can quite easily fit under your bed.

Or plastic boxes with lids, which are so handy as you can see what’s in them.

The boxes with lids are very handy as they can be stored on top of each other, therefore saving valuable ground space

For the more aesthetically organised person, more decorative options are available.

There are a number of high street shops that sell boxes now as well.

And the obvious online shops, where you can get any size, shape, and colour.

These decorative boxes can be stored on shelves and serve as part of the furniture or look of a room.

Use the loft (if you have one)

If you are lucky enough to have a loft, use the space carefully and wisely.

Packing your things into boxes will utilise that precious space.

Make sure you label cardboard boxes, but better still use clear, plastic ones so that you can see your things at a glance.

And group boxes by their contents for easy access.

For example, it makes sense to locate your Christmas decorations in one part of the loft only

This makes its easy for when you need them quickly and saves time searching every box in the loft

It seems now that everywhere you look everyone wants to be more organised and decluttered, is it a trend?

Or is it something that we have always aspired to be?

Whatever reason you feel that everything needs to be in it’s right place.

I highly recommend you start with packing your things away in boxes.

And if you need help you can always contact us

Why decluttering is hard

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Decluttering is hard. Why?

There are many reasons, but I’ve listed a few of the higher levels of reasons behind the mindset.

In order to move forward you will have to re-think how you approach the situation.

Feeling Overwhelmed

One day you wake up and realise you have too much stuff. How did that occur?

Having a cluttered life is a slow and developing process that people don’t notice until it’s too late, then you’re overwhelmed.

You take one look at it, think it’s all too much and then give up

That’s the overwhelming part. The way to get round this is to start somewhere small and simple to declutter for a quick win.

That quick win will in turn spur you on to do more. So a simple trick is to start with a cluttered drawer, empty it out and get rid, keep or donate items from it.

Rearrange the drawers, purchase drawer dividers and have a place for everything. This simple trick will make you realise you can take control back, one small step at a time.

Enlist help

Ask someone who you trust and is non-judgemental. This will help to spur you on and 2 people are better than 1 in getting the job done.

Reward yourself and your friend with a takeaway or a glass of wine afterwards. The commanderie will help see you through and make it an enjoyable process.

Over thinking the problem

You could term this as an ‘excuse’ mindset. You subconsciously think it’s all too much so you compensate by trying to do too much too soon.

That only ever leads to failure, because quite simply, decluttering is hard and you’re not used to it.

Again start small, declutter a drawer, hang your clothes in the wardrobe or make your bed.

These are simple tasks that require minimum thinking but can have a big impact on improving your negative mindset.

Stop trying to overthink and just do.

Have a decluttering plan

The process of planning should not be underestimated. If you invest time in planning, this is the start of the decluttering process.

It has been shown that by starting small and investing some time, however small kickstarts the process. Once this has started, even if you stop, the mental need for c ompletion remains.

Make a simple plan and write it down (important). Always start in a single room or area, have storage or boxes and bags available and decide how to tackle it.

Write each stage down and when complete, draw a line through it. Working to lists is a very satisfying process and mentally spurs you on.

Societal Pressure

We live in a materialistic society where the ‘biggest is best’ mindset. You need the biggest house, the best car, more money, the latest gadgets etc…

All this puts undue pressure on people to deliver more and more. This all adds to a house ‘full of stuff’

So what do you do? Buy more cupboards to store more stuff or buy a bigger house to store more clutter?

Sometimes growing families mean a bigger house is needed. But buying a house because you think you’ve outgrown your current cluttered home, would be a mistake.

Always go with the mindset of being happy and grateful with what you have, not what you don’t have.

Aspiration to achieve is a good thing, materialistic want is not. You’ll just end up spending money on worthless items and a house full of stuff.

Learn to be happy.

Conclusion

Finally, you’re probably reading this because you’ve realised decluttering is hard. But it can be made simple.

Make a plan. This will negate the overwhelm and trying to overthink the problem
Enlist help. Get someone else to help who you trust and get on with
Don’t worry about what society or others think. They don’t live your life, like you don’t live theirs

Health Benefits of Decluttering

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Decluttering (or lack of it) is a state of positive (decluttering) or negative (lack of decluttering) mindfulness.

Living in a cluttered state can be anxiety inducing.

Whereas having gone through the process of decluttering a space can be euphoric, if you have been living with it for too long.

Here are some health benefits of decluttering

1 – Reduces stress and anxiety

Always make a place for everything. This can take a bit of working out, but having a place for everything will prevent you from leaving stuff lying around.

This can lead to you having a lot of clutter.

For example, if you don’t have a wardrobe for your clothes or a drawer for your knives and forks, think how incredibly stressful that would be. Clothes would be left on the floor and knives and forks would be left on the counter.

2 – Gives a greater sense of competence and self fulfillment

More health benefits of decluttering is the sense of fulfillment and competency of achieving a goal or task. In this case decluttering.

Once you have been through the process of shedding items you no longer need, this helps boost your confidence in being a strong decision maker. That also feeds into the fulfillment side of the process.

Not just getting rid and organising items, but designating a place for everything will build on the confidence more and more

You can go on to believe you can do more with this new found confidence.

3 – Reduce family stress

When you are in a cluttered family environment, finding items needed quickly can lead to stress and arguments with those closest to you.

Trying to find car keys or children’s sports equipment when you’re under a time pressure, can generally lead to arguments.

Have designated place for everything will greatly help to reduce this pressure.

4 – Gets you exercising

You’ll be surprised how energising decluttering can be. Not only is the process good for the soul, it’s also good for your physical well being as well.

For most people housework is tiring enough, but decluttering is very much like housework on steroids.

Imagine taking every single item out of your wardrobe, filtering out what to keep and what to get rid of and then putting it back in an organised way. And that’s just your wardrobe.

Underbed storage, loft and garage decluttering, kitchen decluttering, the list goes on. It can be very therapeutic as well as tiring!

5 – Helps you sleep better

Whether that’s stress at work, family problems or financial worries.

Living with clutter can put you under the same stress, which in turn can affect your sleep patterns.

Having to sleep in a cluttered bedroom and waking up in a cluttered bedroom can increase your stress and depression levels.

These are just some of the benefits of decluttering. Going forward with further decluttering will improve these benefits.

What is clutter?

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Clutter free versus Clutter

What is clutter and how do you define it?

Using the Oxford English dictionary, clutter is ‘a collection of things lying about in an untidy state’

So basically, clutter are items that do not have a permanent home. This is how you define clutter.

Where does it come from?

It can be a state of mind, it can be excessive purchasing, it can simply be a lack of organisation. Either way, if it becomes a problem, it needs to be handled.

How to become clutter free

Becoming clutter free can be a real task that most people without some form of help will struggle with. Your stuff has a personal attachment to you and this is what makes it hard to let it go.

Professional declutterers can help with this process as they are a 3rd party who have no emotional attachment to your possessions.

This does not mean however, that declutterers simply throw your stuff away.

On the contrary, they will work with you in supporting your needs to make those decisions to become clutter free.

They are an extra pair of hands, experienced in storage ideas and staging the room or area.

You need to have a designated place for everything to become clutter free.

Where to start?

Simply start with a small area or room. Decluttering drawers are a good start as they are small areas where you could make a quick impact.

Define what is clutter and what needs to be kept, should be at the forefront in your mind.

In order to move forward, go with the mindset that it has to be tackled with.

With rooms you will need the same ‘it needs to be tackled with’ mindset, but on a larger scale. Start with a single room only and use the ‘3 bins’ strategy.

The ‘3 bins’ strategy

The 3 bins strategy simply means to get 3 bin bags and simply label them, ‘Keep’, ‘Charity’ and ‘Throw Away’. Another person can be handy who can support and help you, if you are finding it hard.

Look at each item and ask yourself some very simple questions.

How long have I had this for?

When was the last time I used it?

Does it serve some form of purpose?

The questions above can sometimes be the easiest.

With additional help, of another person you will make a dent in the problem to become clutter free. Just use the ‘it needs to be tackled’ mindset.

The next step – a place for everything

This next step can sometimes be the hardest.

Now you have broken through the decluttering phase, you need to have a permanent home for the items you need to keep.

This is where storage solutions come in handy.

For garages you can use self standing stacking units with clear plastic boxes with lids. For drawers you can purchase drawer tidies and trays.

If you already have storage units or furniture, re-organising those units for the items you want to keep will be necessary.

This method of re-organising could also help you in making those further decisions about what to keep or give away as sometimes your storage areas would have limited space.

Just be prepared to make those tough decisions.

Always remember, this is a journey to become clutter free. Because with all journeys there is beautiful and not so beautiful scenery along the way