Blogtober Day 19: 7 Things to remember before starting to declutter...

 Hi Honeys, 

Are you decluttering or trying to bring order to your home right now?  If you are, well, join the gang, there are so many of us working on this same problem right now and if your home is like ours you'll know how overwhelming it can be.  I actually can't remember when we started working on our home, but I do know we're nowhere near to finishing it 😔  

There have been gains along the way, we have a growing pile of empty bins and baskets to remind us of the volume of belongings we've parted with, but in our over thirty years together we have simply collected too much stuff for it to be solved by any kind of a quick fix.  

We're both pack rats dear ones, although Hubby slightly less than me I think, but the fact remains, we've spent our years together filling cupboards, drawers and our loft/attic with stuff.  I really do believe that it's possible to become oblivious to clutter and that this is how it accumulates.  We get used to passing that box that's always in the hallway or the stack of books in the corner.  Clutter blindness is real.  

So, all that having been said dear ones, and for what it's worth, here's what the last few years of trying to tackle our stuff mountain have taught me (so far...)

7 Things To Remember Before Starting To Declutter...

1. Give yourself a break.  

Seriously, stop with the self criticism.  The world does enough judging without our judging ourselves harshly too! We live in a world where everyday we're encouraged to buy the latest wot-nots and over time our space fills up with all of these possibly no longer needed or wanted, space consuming possessions.  

It is what it is honeys.  We start where we are.  You've made a decision to clear the clutter and carve out a new space for yourself. Celebrate that. That change in mindset alone is a victory in itself and will carry you through when you want to give up.  Picture your home the way you want it to look.  Fill in all the details in your minds eye, now memorise that image and work towards it.   

2. Make plans.  

Every general needs a master plan for the battle ahead.  You're the general of your household, the clutter that's making you unhappy is the enemy and setting up systems that work will mean, overtime, you'll create order and will win the war.  You've got this 💖  

3. Recruit help if you can. 

This can be a partner, a family member or a friend.  Whoever is helping should be non judgemental, a sympathetic person who will understand if you have problems parting with certain things (and will never force you to.)  

Your helper should want to help but know the final decision on your possessions should always be yours.  It can be fun sorting through and organising a space and you might find that you'll get done faster with help. 

The best help to recruit, of course, is always the person/people you share your space with.  A beautifully organised space won't stay that way if one person is doing all the work.  You'd be surprised though how easily systems become habits for everyone.  When items have a home it will become second nature to return put these items away.   

4. Baby steps. 

Small victories, all of them, every, single, one of them, all add up.  Today the "junk drawer" in the kitchen, tomorrow (or whenever you get to it) those boxes in the loft that you haven't opened since two house moves ago   Baby steps will get you there. 

5. When you get tired, stop!  

Yes, I know there's a school of thought that says "power through, keep going!" well hooey to all that! Do you know what happens (certainly to me) when you run out of steam but you still force yourself to keep going anyway? You'll begin to regret having even started, in fact you might end up hating the whole process so much that you never start working on it again.  

Most important of all, you'll lose focus and will achieve so much less than if you were rested and in the right "let's do this!" frame of mind. This simply can't be allowed, because it will make you dread ever starting again.  Our brain files away upsets and bad feelings and will then try to protect us from them by avoiding repeating the actions that caused them in the first place. 

There's always tomorrow dear ones and anything you've done today is banked. Did you finish a drawer? A cupboard? Make new homes for anything, a place they can be taken to when found elsewhere?  Then you did well honey.  Systems work. Any system you set up, and turn into a habit, will work and can always be tweaked down the road if needs be.  

If you can recover enough to keep going after stopping for something to eat and maybe a cuppa, that's fabulous! Do that, and kudos to you. I'm approaching this from the view point of someone who has a chronic illness and I know how easily the body can just become completely drained.  Rest if you need to honeys, just do what you can, when you can.  You'll get there.    

6 Celebrate the wins. 

Take the time to appreciate every milestone you reach, every system you set up that works.  Don't rush out and celebrate by buying new clutter as a way of celebrating though. Sometimes a high five or a phone call to a friend to share your success can give you the same glow.  Treat yourself to an experience, something to make you feel good, that you'll remember and want to repeat. What about a movie night in, in your newly organised and fabulous living/family room?   

7. It's never completely finished.  

We don't declutter once and then it's done.  Just as you made plans to tackle the clutter, make another battle plan to maintain your fabulous clutter-free space. The systems you've set up, keep checking on them.  Is everybody sticking to them?  Don't let it fall backwards again.  Why not schedule a regular sweep around your home for any clutter piles that might be starting to grow?   

All of those perfect, minimalist homes we see on Pinterest didn't start out that way and you can be sure their owners are mindful of what gains entry to their homes and stays there. 

Having an organised home doesn't mean it has to be stripped bare of all of your possessions honeys.  I know that neither Hubby nor I will ever be minimalists.  What we want to achieve though is to reach a level where we own what we need and, just as importantly, we need what we own... but with, you know... happy sprinkles 😊  Happy sprinkles are the things we keep because they make us happy. 

That stack of paperbacks I'm currently working my way through will go on their way when I'm finished reading them but the adorable, 3 foot tall soft toy hound dog that my beloved Mother-in-law brought for me over 20 years ago all the way from the south of England, on two trains (even changing stations in London) well, he's not going anywhere 💖  Happy sprinkles 💕   

Are you decluttering honeys?  What are your happy sprinkles?   Till next time dear ones, hugs always xx