Tackling clutter has been a challenge for me all of my life, as I used to be a shopaholic and I do like to collect things that make me smile. I have moved 16 times in my life so far, and internationally 3 times. I give away stuff regularly, but continued to acquire stuff in each move I've made.
When I think about how much money I've spent on things I no longer have or really ever needed, I realise how much I've wasted and how I wanted to change my habits. If you have hoarding tendencies, I recommend this link to review.
I checked myself against the Clutter Image Ratings to assess my clutter, and thankfully I'm around a 1-2 range. However, I really still wanted to improve my relationship with stuff.
When I read Marie Kondo's Book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying, I started decluttering with glee. And, it did change my relationship to stuff slowly.
Introducing the Guide to Decluttering
Three Questions to ask when Decluttering
There are only three questions I ask myself when I'm buying anything or deciding to get rid of something?
Does this item make me happy? (or in Marie Kondo's question, Does it bring me joy?)
Will I use it within the next month and be happy using it or wearing it?
Would I buy this again?
If yes to all three questions, keep it. If no to any of these three questions, get rid of it.
The 30 Day Declutter Challenge
I watched this YouTube video from Leah's Fieldnotes, "I decluttered my life in 30 days" which inspired me to draw this below and colour in the blobs when I got rid of those number of items for that day. I didn't go in order, I just decluttered as much as I felt that day and counted the items and coloured in the numbers until the 30 days hit.
The idea is to get rid of 1 item on day 1, then 2 items on day 2, all the way up to 30 items on day 30 by the end. Which is a total of 465 items you are saying goodbye to at the end of the 30 days. It's a great way to clean out your home/room/garage.
Want your own colouring printout to start? Download one below:
Use a declutter checklist
It's actually pretty easy to do once you start really going after things and getting some help from the internet. I found this awesome checklist from But First, Coffee that really helped me.
Give it away using Facebook within that week
And I easily gave away my stuff to my friends and also via my local neighbourhood Pay It Forward group on Facebook. I also picked up some awesome free things I love too, so I love that I get stuff I can use and enjoy for free too! What helped me is to gather everything I wanted to give away for that day and then posted it on Facebook and it was usually gone by the end of the day. If things weren't taken, I'd take it to donate somewhere (Vinnie's or Salvation Army) or some things were really not worth giving away - so I'd throw it away. But over 95% of my stuff was taken and used by someone else.
I still have lots of things, I like to call it curated clutter. The things I like to surround myself with make me happy, so I'm content with my current clutter situation. I'm currently posting my favourite items I cherish on Instagram to celebrate the things that make me smile and hope it brings a smile to others too.
Let me know if this post was useful! Leave me a comment below.
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