The Other Thing You Need to Make Decluttering Work

Decluttering is often a quick win that people can get when they're working to find less stress and more peace in their life and home. But it's not the only contributing factor to a stress free home. In today's episode we're discussing other systems and routines you may need to implement in your home in order to reap the full benefits of your decluttering efforts.

Episode Links:

Click here for full transcript of the episode. 

DECLUTTERING ISN’T ALL WE NEED

Decluttering helps our homes be less stressful and easier to maintain. Knowing this may lead us to believe that if we simply declutter enough, our homes will always be company ready. That’s only partially true. 

YOU’RE LIVING IN YOUR HOME

While decluttering limits the amount of stuff you have to take care of, there’s still stuff in your home. You’re living everyday life and doing activities and things you love, so things will be moved out of place. That’s okay!

At the end of your life you want to remember a home that wasn’t just a museum of neat, organized spaces while you just sat and admired how great it looked.

YOU NEED OTHER SYSTEMS

If you only declutter and don’t have systems in place that will help to maintain your decluttering, you’re going to feel frustrated at not having the results you were hoping for. So, a few simples systems may be all you need. 

NOTICE AND ACT

As you go through the week, keep this phrase in mind- notice and act. The sooner you notice something that is out of place and take action, the less time that that thing or that space has to get out of control. It can be as simple as noticing a few dishes in the sink and putting them in the dishwasher now instead of waiting until later. 

The first couple of times it may take a little more intentionality to stop and figure out why you are feeling frustrated by a space, but the more often you notice and act, it becomes a habit. 

WHAT CAN YOU DO RIGHT NOW?

There are going to be some times when you notice something out of place, but you aren’t able to handle it in that moment. Can you go ahead and move the donations to the car even if you can’t drop them off right now? Can you look at your calendar and schedule a time to do that? Even if you can’t take an action from start to finish, go ahead and do what you can. 

STARTING THINGS YOU CAN’T FINISH

We’ve often been told to not start a project that you can’t finish. In general, this is good life advice, but when it comes to maintaining our homes, this is not true at all. When it comes to keeping our homes, each small step, even if you don’t finish the process all the way, is always moving you forward. 

USING POCKETS OF TIME

You may be surprised how much you can get done in just 10-15 minutes. It’s easy to just sit and scroll if we only have 15 minutes before we need to leave the house, thinking we don’t have enough time to accomplish much. Actually, you can get more done than you think, such as getting most, if not all of the dishes done. 

You can also use the timer method. If you’ve had a long day and just want to unwind for the rest of the night, set your timer for 5, 10, or 15 minutes and see what you can get done. Think about how much more relaxing it will be to put your feet up with the house relatively tidy. 

CIRCLING BACK TO DECLUTTERING

This is where it all circles back to decluttering. The less stuff you have, the easier and faster it will be to get things put away. Decluttering helps to maintain the systems, so the two of them really do go hand in hand. 

MAKE IT EASY

Look for ways you can get your space to the standard you want with as little effort as possible. That may mean having a basket where video game controllers can be tossed or just tossing the dog toys on the dog bed. They are contained and put away, but it took very little effort. 

REMEMBER YOUR WHY

It may sound cliche to say “remember your why” but it’s so true. When we remember how it feels to wake up with a clean kitchen it’s easier to take that 10-15 minutes to clean it up before going to bed. Remembering how that feels can be very motivating to keep pushing through and getting the kitchen clean when we really don’t feel like it in the moment. 

PRIORITIZE WHAT BRINGS PEACE

Take some time to really think about what is going to bring you the most peace. This will be different for each person. Maybe it means more to you to have the kitchen cleaned at night before bed than to deep clean the bathroom. That’s okay! 

Everything can’t be a priority. It’s going to be overwhelming. You want to be able to maintain your systems. Pick two or three areas where you can put systems in place that will make the biggest difference and give you the most peace. 

DON’T STOP DECLUTTERING

Finally, don’t stop decluttering. Decluttering and having systems in place go hand in hand. Keep up the good work and start looking for those systems you can implement and you’re going to see changes in your life and in your home!