Quick tips to organize and declutter

Hi. I have a secret for you. We all have clutter. If you're dealing with clutter and you're overwhelmed with it, I can help you. We all have clutter, like I said, and the reasons for having the clutter may range, but it's all the same. We buy too much stuff. We feel guilt about getting rid of gifts. We have things that have value. We don't use them, but we don't want to get rid of them because. Because they have value. Fundamentally, we can help try to make this better and put in a system and a process in place to deal with the clutter and eventually make it so that we don't accumulate so much. Decluttering is the first part of organizing and it cannot be skipped. You could even say they're not even the same. Decluttering and organizing are not the same. Decluttering is the process of going through all the stuff that you have and making decisions on what you need to keep, what what you want to keep and what you should get rid of and what you will get rid of. This process is a precursor to organizing and buying bins and putting labels on them and stacking them and getting turntables and all these fun things and all these fun products you can buy for organizing. Those are great, but first you have to declutter and then you can move on to organizing. We're going to start with the fundamentals, but make sure you subscribe to my channel because what I'm going to be doing is I'm going to start a series where I'm going to go room by room to help you figure out how to organize each room. Room specifically. So what to do in the kitchen, what to do in your kids room, what to do in the garage, what to do in the various rooms. So today we're going over the fundamentals. But make sure and subscribe to my channel. Hit the the bell so that you know when I come out with those next videos. Let's get started with the fundamentals. Invite somebody to join you on this process. Bring a friend, bring a family member. Other people don't have the same attachment that you have to your stuff and they can give you good, honest feedback whether something still looks good or something is your style, or if you really need a certain gadget or certain decorative piece. So get somebody to join you in this process. It makes it much more enjoyable and you have good input. Decide how much time that you want to spend and set a timer. If you say, I want to spend 30 minutes and I want to work on this decluttering area for 30 minutes, set a timer and honor that timer. Work hard and do everything you can in that 30 minutes and then be done and make sure it's realistic so you don't get burnt out on the process. Okay? When selecting where to start, start small. Be very strategic on where you want to start decluttering. So pick an area like your entryway or a countertop, a kitchen counter or even your dining room table. Somewhere where you can have a quick win and something that's not too overwhelming. You don't want to say, I'm going to say start the whole first floor of my house, or I'm going to do the entire garage this weekend. Be realistic. Set small goals, and that will help make sure you're more successful. Grab three bins or boxes. It's best if you can get boxes or bins that you don't care about that you don't mind getting rid of. First one should be donate. So these are things that you want to get rid of, and if you want to sell some of those things, that's fine, but they would go in this bin, so donate or sell. The second bin would be trash or recycle. So. So that'll be your second bin. So any sort of garbage or things that need to be recycled would go in the second bin. The third one is find a new home. So things that would go into this bin are things that don't belong in the area you're currently organizing. For example, if you're doing your entryway and you find a baseball glove or something or a book and doesn't belong in the entry, it would go in this third bin. And later you'll find out where to put it and put it in its proper place. Everything that does not fit into these three bins is assumed to be staying and the things that you want to keep, and you'll move forward in the process and organize. So now that you have your three bins and boxes, what you want to do is first start by picking up all the trash. That's an easy one. Go through your area that you're focused on and pick up any trash or recycling and put them in your bin. Okay, now with what you have remaining, pick up one item and make a decision on what you want to do with it. Is this something that you love? Is this something that you want to keep? Is it a duplicate? Is this something that somebody else can make better use of? Is it damaged? Is it something that you'd buy again today? These are all questions you can ask yourself to help you make a decision on what to do with it. So take that item, put it in one of the three bins, and if it's not something that goes in one of those three bins and it's something you want to keep, set aside. The key is to make sure you touch something once and make a decision. Okay. And chances are, if you haven't used whatever item you're looking at in a year, you don't need it. I know this isn't easy. It's hard, It's a lot of work, it's emotional, it's exhausting, and it's just not something we want to do. But the gains that you get back from doing this are immense. Here's some rapid fire tips on things that can help you remind yourself what you gain by letting go. Just because you've had something for a long time and it's valuable doesn't mean you need to keep it. If you don't need it, let it go. Set many decluttering goals. You don't have to tackle everything at once. So divide a space up into chunks. Divide your house up into chunks and create a list and prioritize it and just make your way through it. And don't, don't put pressure on yourself. Just move forward each time. Stick with one room and finish it before moving on to another. Take before and after pictures, even along the way. So take your before picture and let's say you work on something for an hour, take another picture and look at the two side by side. You will be amazed on how much progress you made. This is so important. Make sure that all the dishes are done or the laundry is done, or everything is put away so that when you start decluttering that you don't miss things. Here's an example. If you don't have your laundry done and you're decluttering your linen closet and you later find that you had a whole bunch of stuff you didn't consider or put into the process, that would be very discouraging. So just make sure all the laundry is done, the dishes are done, and anything else is put away. So important. If you have something that you're truly on the fence on and it's just really bothering you and it's emotional, you're getting stuck. Here's what I recommend. Get a box, put the thing in there. Or things, if you have more than one, put them in the box, close the box, tape it shut, and put a date on the box that says that six months in advance. For example, so put this box, once you've done that, put the box away, put it in your garage, put it in a shelf, put it somewhere, right? And make a commitment to yourself that if you don't open that box by the date that you put on it, let's say six months from now is December 31st. You wrote December 31st and it's December 31st and you find that box, you haven't opened it, Go and donate it. It means you don't need it. That way you can have some safety and comfort that you're not letting go of something that you know you're really concerned about doing it. Give it time and let it settle. But honor the date that you put on the box. If you truly don't use it or need it by then, you didn't need it. But this is a good, safe way of getting something set aside and getting it close to leaving. When you finish an area you're working on, take the stuff that you said to donate, Go donate it. Don't leave it around the house for you or someone else to pull back into your house. If you have trash and recycle, go through it, put the trash in the trash can and get your recycle and put your recycle away. Always be emptying your bins. Keep your bins or boxes, but. Or you can leave them and create new ones. But make sure that you're getting rid of stuff. Don't let your trash pile up. Don't let your donate stuff pile up. Once you have enough to go, drop off at a charity, wherever else you want to take it, go do it for kids. Toys and belongings. One thing that can help is create a rotation system. So instead of maybe donating or giving stuff away, take stuff and maybe some split other belongings up into threes, right? So take their toys and split it up into three different boxes and create a rotation system. So each month you box up their stuff and you pull out another box. So then they feel like they're almost getting new toys or things that they haven't seen for a while and it kind of refreshes them. That way it keeps your kids area from being too cluttered, but you're also not having to get rid of stuff and take their stuff away. So if it's truly something they don't need or want, get rid of it. But if it's something that they want to keep and you just want to bring some sanity to their play area, create that rotation system. Box things up, bag them up, set them aside, and Then rotate through. Turn up the music. I always have music going when I'm decluttering. It helps motivate me and helps, you know, make the process more enjoyable. Decluttering is a marathon, it's not a sprint, so be okay if it's taking you time. The important thing is you progress, progress, progress and you're moving forward. Okay, now that the secret's out, I hope you feel better equipped to start to tackle some of your own clutter challenges. Hopefully some of these tips and tricks have helped you feel more confident and feel ready to tackle it. So go after it and I hope you hit make a lot of progress. Once you finish a space, you can move on to organizing. I've got lots of organization videos and so be sure to check those out. Thanks for watching. Comment below and let me know how this is working for you. And make sure you subscribe so that you can see the future videos. See you next time. Bye. In the next decluttering video, I'll give you tips and tricks to ensure that the clutter doesn't pile up again.