how to declutter

How to Declutter: Six Words to Live by For Simplifying Your Life 

Decluttering Tips
~ Rachel King ~ Leave a comment

Decluttering Tips

There are six key words that you need to know, and live by, in order to live in a simple, uncluttered home.

Throw stuff out. Buy less stuff.

It’s as simple (and as difficult) as that.

To elaborate on the environmentally irresponsible sounding “throw stuff out”, by this I really mean get the stuff out of your house. Give it away, sell it, or throw out the stuff that’s really at the end of it’s useful life. But just get it out of your house.

As a child, I used to love organising my stuff. I’d spend hours sorting the things in my cupboards and drawers. But the minute I’d sorted it, it got messy again. The fatal flaw? I had too much stuff. You can’t organise excess, because it will always get the better of you.

So phase one, on any decluttering journey, is to learn to be ruthless about getting rid of stuff. The more you get rid of, the easier it becomes to stay on top of it. Less stuff means less to organise. Less to be redistributed around the house by the small people. Less to jam into cupboards only to have it explode out the next time you open the door. Less to stress about. Less to hunt for.

Less is best.

Ok, so what about when you’ve thrown stuff out? You’ve been as ruthless as you can in phase one. What then?

You have to change your buying habits. You need to learn to buy and accumulate less. Otherwise you’ll end up right back where you started.

How do you learn to buy less?

  • Take stock of how you feel with less stuff in the house. Feel good? So don’t go buy more and end up back where you started!
  • Be critical of every purchase you make. Ask yourself, “Do I truly need this? Do I really love it?”
  • Only go shopping when you need a specific item. Go with a list.
  • Don’t go anywhere near $2 shops, or any bargain shops, especially if you’re tempted by a “deal”. Is it a deal if it adds to your clutter and causes you a headache down the line, when you’re trying to manage all these “deals”?
  • Read. If you shop because you’re bored, why not consume something beneficial, like great literature, rather than consuming more stuff?
  • Don’t watch TV. Less advertising will mean less desire for stuff you don’t want or need.
  • Make stuff yourself. If you make something, you will appreciate it far more than something you bought for $2.
  • Educate yourself on the true cost to the planet and your fellow human beings of your spending habits. Watch this animation (it’s quite old but still very relevant), or this film. We are trashing the planet with our mindless consumption, and we have a responsibility to be mindful, ethical citizens with our purchases.
  • Learn to sit with discomfort. If you avoid the urge to shop every time you feel bored, or lonely, you’ll have the chance to get in tune with some of the feelings that you’re trying to escape from by shopping.

Happy simplifying 🙂

The Cost of Clutter: Why Decluttering is Essential in the 21st Century

Why Decluttering is Essential in the 21st Centurl
~ Rachel King ~ 2 Comments

Why do we need to edit our stuff?

We live in a world of excess. We’re all buying too much stuff too much of the time. Stuff is cheap and available these days, so we have a lot of it.

One big stumbling block to decluttering is to see it as wasteful; throwing away perfectly good things that you’ve spent money on. We think we’re being resourceful by saving everything. I used to think like that.

In the 1950s, you didn’t necessarily need to learn to declutter; buying things was pretty expensive, and there just wasn’t so much stuff available to buy. So if you were a bit of a hoarder it wouldn’t turn your house into a shambles. It was resourceful to keep, reuse and recycle everything. But unfortunately that virtue of resourcefulness has in many ways become a vice in the 21st century.

Why Decluttering is Essential in the 21st Centurl

Our clutter costs us. Keeping everything doesn’t save us money, it actually costs us. 

What Are The Costs of Clutter?

Space: The more you have the more space you need. The size of our houses has doubled in the last 50 years, yet we still don’t have room to fit everything in our homes. Storage container shops, and off-site storage facilities are booming. Many of us have double garages but not a single car parked in them. It’s the world gone mad! Honestly, you don’t need all the stuff. Space and room to breathe is a beautiful thing.

Time: Excess clutter means more time spent cleaning, tidying, organising, sorting, and hunting for things. Own less, and you’ll be able to find and manage what you have. And you’ll have more time to do the more important things in life.

Money: Aside from the money spent buying an excessive amount of things, you’ll spend more on buying new storage containers and shelving to store your stuff. And possibly even a storage unit to store all the excess. You’ll spend more on ongoing maintenance, cleaning, repairs, insurance premiums. And you may feel the need to buy a bigger house to contain it all. Why not just get rid of the stuff and save your money for far more worthy, life giving pursuits?

Mental energy: Too much stuff leads to time spent stressing about your stuff, feeling overwhelmed by mess, feeling guilty about things you’ve bought that you don’t like/use/need. Own less, you’ll stress less. Simple as that. Really.

It keeps us from living in the present: As I wrote about here, our clutter distracts us, and pulls us away from the present. And essentially if we live lives of distraction, our clutter ultimately costs us the experience of a life lived fully alive.

So if you’re struggling to part with an item that cost you a lot, consider the ongoing price you pay, by keeping it. Why not cut your losses and experience the benefits of owning less? It’s totally worth it.