If you want to speed through your home, making decisions and decluttering things at an accelerated pace, you have to be willing to make hard decisions and make them quickly.
So many people want to do speed decluttering, but then they pick up the first item and think, “I don’t know about this one. Maybe I should keep it…”
Stopping to deliberating is slowing you down and holding you back from your true goal: To live a life decluttered and stress-free.
Here’s how to fix it:
If it’s not a clear “YES!” then it’s a “No!”
This adage came into my life after we had a toilet overflow fiasco that forced me to confront my collection of “just in case” items stuffed in my basement. The real question was: “Do I like or need this item enough to clean sewage off of it?”
And, no! I didn’t!
If you’re holding an item and hemming and hawing with the what-if-I-need-it‘s, ask yourself that simple question. Would you want it if it were covered in poop?
Probably not! The item would have to be incredibly sentimental or expensive for you to say yes, and even then, you might hesitate to roll up your sleeves.
Would you clean off sewage to keep the item?
Would you be willing to rescue this, clean it up, smell something weird a few hours later, clean it again, rinse and repeat?
If not, that’s not a clear YES, so it’s a NO.
If you DO think it’s worth it, then yes, go ahead and keep that item.
This is a great litmus test to see where your heart truly lies on the piece. The “I don’t know–it might come in handy in five years” thoughts melt away when the item is soaked in poopy water.
On the day of our toilet tragedy, I can tell you I didn’t keep a single “maybe I’ll use it someday” item. Those were actually “unwanted items”. To the dumpster they went.
If it’s not an immediate “yes!” then it’s an immediate “no!” in speed decluttering.
When decluttering, go the easy route.
A trusted guide for my decluttering journey has been to take the path of least resistance. For me, that meant I didn’t allow myself to sell it, save it for a garage sale, list it online–no. That’s how you get those massive piles of nonsense all over your house that don’t budge for months.
I hate the process of selling things on social media, and I hate having garage sales!
Yes, some large items are valuable, and I’d offer those to friends or bring them to the donation center.
Did I “lose” money? No. I lost the money when I bought the stuff. That’s done. Worrying about it borders on sunk cost fallacy.
It’s a trade: superfluous items in exchange for a peaceful home.
In reality, I was paying myself with a clean house for letting it all go. I shook off the overwhelm. I took a deep breath. It was out of the house.
I was able to donate most of my clutter, but for some people, a dumpster or truck might make more sense. You have to be okay with tossing stuff instead of making the job harder for yourself by trying to wring pennies from every item.
I know so many people who live out in the middle of nowhere–they can’t leave clutter on the side of the road, they are too far away from charity shops to donate things, and they are desperate to get their homes in order and their mind at peace.
Go with the path of least resistance.
What does that look like for you? Don’t stress about what other people think: you do what you need to do to take care of yourself. You don’t have to recycle, repurpose, sell, or donate anything. For the people that hate the idea of things ending up in the landfill, your home shouldn’t be the holding place for the landfill. It’s okay to let things go.
If, on the other hand, selling thrills you and motivates you to get rid of more–then great! Set a deadline for yourself and have parameters in place to keep it under control. If you find things are just piling up in rooms and not getting sold by their due date, rethink the best way to move forward.
Have a decluttering accountability partner.
When I would remove clutter, I came to things that felt difficult to let go of. Whether it was guilt, fear, or something else holding me back, I felt like I needed someone else’s support.
So I had my friend, a decluttering accountability partner, who I could text them when I hit a roadblock.
“Please tell me it’s okay to get rid of this beautiful tea set.”
And they would always say, “Yes, it’s okay. You have permission to let it go.”
And I didn’t actually need someone else’s permission, but that little boost of support would give me the strength I needed to follow through.
Start creating your decluttering network.
If you are in need of support and people willing to hold you accountable, I have an amazingly supportive group of people on Facebook, just like you, working on simplifying their homes and reducing clutter. We’d love to have you, so come on over and make some a connection! It might be your first step to tackling your clutter without feeling overwhelmed.
Accept when things don’t work.
Sometimes we buy organizational items or things that seem like they should help us. Let’s look at an Instant Pot, for example. I know many people who love their Instant Pot and use it several times a week. It’s helpful for them.
When I borrowed one for a couple of weeks to test it, I found that it did cook things well, but it took up so much space in my limited cupboards that I ended up leaving it on the counter 24/7. I didn’t like the look of it and decided the amount of space it took up disqualified it from truly being helpful.
If I had purchased it, the amount of money spent would have made me more determined to keep it, even though I know I wouldn’t have used it enough to make it worth the space and care it took.
There are things in our lives that we try to force to work–we paid good money for it, it was supposed to help this area stay organized, it was supposed to minimize the time we spend in the kitchen–but if it doesn’t work for us, it just doesn’t work.
No matter how long we keep it, it will not change the fact that that item doesn’t help us.
“But I spent money on it!”
I like how Dana K White dealt with this. She asked, “How much does this item cost? And would I pay someone that much money to have this space decluttered?”
If the answer is yes, then it’s worth donating because you can purchase that item if you need it–again, it’s the cost of having a decluttered home and a more manageable life.
There is always a cost.
If you want to keep a lot of stuff, the cost is: mental stress, feeling overwhelmed, and a cluttery home.
If you want a clean and tidy home, the cost is: not always having everything you think you might need immediately.
If you wouldn’t buy it again today, you probably don’t need it.
Know that post-declutter regret is possible. And it’s okay.
Having a clean and organized home is worth the risk of that possible or occasional regret. Regret doesn’t kill us.
Will you regret getting rid of anything afterward? Most people don’t–they haven’t regretted ANYTHING.
It doesn’t need to be sold, or repurposed, or stored in the attic–it needs to get gone!
I haven’t regretted anything. I have been inconvenienced, sure–when I decided to make an angel food cake, I realized I got rid of the angel food cake pan. But that wasn’t regret–that was recognizing the cost I’m paying to live with ease. And the cost is well-worth it.
Hesitation can stem from past scarcity.
I’ve found in many cases that hesitation to let items go can come from a traumatic past. If you lived in food scarcity, or just didn’t have the money to buy things when you needed them, it’s totally normal to develop the proclivity of holding onto everything.
If this sounds like you, and you’re no longer in that position, you may need to do some internal work before you can externally begin to fix your home. Speak with a professional, or perhaps read over some literature yourself, and see if you can help settle your programmed worries.
We are always free to grow and change, and decluttering is one step to help you make that change for the better.
Let’s end with some mindset-shift statements:
- My mental well-being is more important than being thrifty.
- My mental well-being is more important than anything I own–even the sentimental stuff.
- My mental well-being is more important than my grandma’s favorite tea cup.
- My mental well-being is more important than being prepared for any eventuality.
- My mental well-being is more important than keeping a few things out of a landfill.
Here are seven steps to declutter your life.
This is SO helpful!!! Thank-you!
Very helpful. I am on the decluttering path since few years on & off as per time . & trying to let go . I achieved something, but not yet reached there.