5 Ways to Declutter When You’re Overwhelmed

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Decluttering is not for the faint of heart. Especially if you’re decluttering years and years and piles and piles worth of stagnant stuff, it requires as much mental and physical stamina as running a New York City marathon. And don’t let anyone tell you any differently! If you count yourself among the pack rats and “just in case” types, all the more power to you for initiating a decluttering session.

If, along the way, you’ve reached some roadblocks and you can’t seem to muster the energy or motivation to continue, you’re not alone! Decluttering, as I mentioned, is not for the faint of heart. And if you’re decluttering without the help of a friend or organizer, it can be infinitely more difficult to see a project through. 

If you’re feeling stuck or picked up a project in the house that’s now collecting dust upon the already dusty stuff, here are five ways to stay motivated: 

  1. SET A TIMER. Setting a timer on your phone for 15 to 20 minutes reminds you that there’s an end in sight, and that you won’t be decluttering your life away. You might even find that when your timer goes off, you might want to keep plugging away. While 15 to 20 minutes might seem like a paltry number, it’s just the right amount of time to keep a nice momentum going. Use this time to declutter a drawer, a small portion of a book collection, or a couple of drawers in your wardrobe. It doesn’t matter if it’s a portion of a room or a drawer in that room..what matters is that you’re doing it!

  2. JUST START. Oftentimes, we build stories in our minds about how insurmountable a task might be if we don’t know how to do it, or if we have no interest in doing it. For instance, I detest sending emails. Loathe it. In my mind, I feel like I have to devote a whole day to sending emails because it seems like some monolithic task in my mind. In reality, sending emails really only takes me about an hour and a half tops. As soon as I start sending one email, this leads to sending another email and another, until boom here we are on the other end. Same thing goes for decluttering. It’s never as long or as bad as you think it will be, so just START SOMEWHERE. Grab a couple of garbage bags (and boxes for donations/selling), and just begin. You’ll find that the doing of the thing is far easier than the brooding and worrying about the thing.

  3. BEGIN WITH THE EASY STUFF. No one likes to part with sentimental items, so why make it the prelude of your decluttering session? The family photos, college memorabilia and even special purses and dresses can WAIT. The junk drawer is a good place to start. So is the random pile of cables and cords in your garage. This kind of stuff will keep you moving at a rapid clip, and encourage you to keep a similar kind of pace when it comes time to attack the more personal stuff. And if you’re having trouble with the sentimental stuff, it’s OKAY to put things into a ‘maybe’ pile. (Just make sure it’s a pile in a box or a bag so things don’t get out of control.)

  4. ENVISION YOUR ‘AFTER.’ When the going gets tough, it helps to create a mental picture of what you’ll be doing once your space is decluttered. Will you be hosting friends in your living room? Cooking dinner for a new love interest? Frolicking around your home solo? Hold onto the emotion and the reason why you want to declutter your space and don’t let go of it. It helps to tape some inspiring interiors to a wall in your home to keep you motivated (could be the inside of your medicine cabinet, your closet–wherever you look on a frequent basis).

  5. TREAT YOURSELF. Don’t be afraid to reward yourself for your decluttering efforts! Just make sure you’re treating yourself to an experience and not more stuff. Manicures/pedicures, massages, baked goods, a trip to your favorite museum. These are a few of my favorite things!

    I hope these tips help you along as you declutter your space. And remember, however insurmountable it might seem, if you take things one step at a time and always envision your ‘after,’ you can always create the space you first envisioned in your mind.

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