Despite all the talk you’ve heard from me about “slow and steady wins the race” there are ways to declutter faster.
Yes, I said faster – making progress more easily and in less time.
This is not to be confused with rushing to the finish line or trying to complete all of your decluttering fast. Slow and steady still wins that race. As with anything that feels daunting, decluttering takes time. And you should give it time. Many people look for a quick path to the finish line. They want to avoid all instances that will slow them down and cause them to think deeply – or feel deeply. The emotional roadblocks create a struggle to let go. And that “struggle” – intellectually speaking – mentally equals more time.
There are things to do that can help you honor “slow and steady”, and keep a solid pace in your decluttering efforts while intentionally sidestepping (not ignoring) some of the barriers to reaching your goal. In other words, you can declutter faster without rushing through the necessary internal work.
Four ways to declutter faster
1. Have your “tools” at the ready.
When you set up your time to declutter have a donation box and trash bag with you all the time. It may sound silly or too simple but having these tools with you helps you follow through easily once you’ve decided on an item. This prevents you from rethinking your decisions at the end of your session.
It also keeps your space clear as you go through it. And that clarity affects you mentally and physically. It is a powerful way to help you continue the work more deliberately, at a slower, more methodical pace.
2. Have a purgatory place.
You will run into items that you aren’t sure you need. This happens most often with seasonal items like clothes. Sometimes you need to go through a season to know if you want to keep a particular item. Having a “purgatory place” permits you to hang on – but not too long. It gives a “home” for those items that need more time and prevents you from stopping your progress. To declutter faster, take these three steps to create your purgatory place.
- Label a box with the date of your purge and fill it with items that require more time to decide.
- When you are done with your session or the box is full, generally label the contents and date the box 6 months ahead. Then store the box out of site – the basement, garage, top shelf of a closet, etc.
- Put the date on your calendar as “follow up on purging”. This reminds you to look at those contents and do another declutter. Giving yourself this time helps you more clearly see if something is still liked, and needed.
3. Practically view your items.
So much of what is difficult to declutter is emotionally driven and comes from an internal fear or an internal and outdated thought process. Because of this, it is hard to see items practically and without emotion or limiting beliefs. One way to combat this is to view your items as things – inventory in your house that you must manage. Everything you own in your space is a physical “thing” taking up space. The more you have, the more you must take care of, clean, move around – manage! Ask yourself three simple questions to decide if an item deserves to take up space in your place:
- Do I like it?
- Do I need it?
- Do I use it? (Does it serve a purpose nothing else in my space does?)
Ask these to take the emotion out of the decision-making process, and practically see your items.
4. Guilty clutter goes
Again, so much of your clutter has an emotional component. To declutter faster say no to guilty clutter. If something makes you feel sad, mad, unworthy, or guilty it’s a sign to let it go. And you have permission to do so.
It may be hard. But the reward for doing the hard work is worth it.
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