How to Decide What to Keep or Toss When Decluttering

Every particular you own—from clothes and small appliances to paper and knickknacks—takes upwardly valuable real manor in your habitation. It's challenging to determine what to keep or throw out when going through the process of decluttering.

I thought I was a minimalist, until we downsized!  It fabricated me appreciate just how much stuff nosotros both had. Fortunately, I'm not a huge sentimentalist, and then letting go wasn't an issue for me.

Just, for many of my clients, letting go isn't so easy. They are afraid those memories will exist lost forever. Yet, these items sit down in boxes or closets for years, never existence looked at, yet nonetheless being dragged to every new abode when the customer moved. Every decluttering effort was irksome and painful (and frequently complete failures) considering they constantly faced overwhelming decisions and they didn't know how to handle the conflict. Then, back in the wardrobe, closet, garage they went.

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I know from the many emails I go each week that you're non alone in feeling this fashion. The number one questions I'm asked, time and time again, is how to decide what to go along?

I'll answer this today by sharing what I've learned about decision making – and this goes well beyond decluttering; from your closet to your career, here are a few tips to make difficult choices easier.

Hit Intermission + CREATE Space

The offset and nigh important affair I exercise when I'm facing a hard decision is to suspension, take a deep jiff and pace back from the emotion. Information technology'due south easy to get lost in our thoughts and lose sight of the big picture.

For example, when decluttering I sometimes struggle with:

  • guilt about past mistakes (ahem … like spending $200 on take out in i week!)

  • Self-acceptance (accepting I'm beautiful because of who I am and non because of my possessions.)

  • External obligations (feeling obliged to go along or do things considering I don't desire to let anyone downwards.)

  • Deep emotions (letting strong memories overwhelm me and cloud my judgement.)

These feelings frequently arrive difficult to think rationally and can plough simple decisions into difficult ones! (After all, deciding to make clean out our closets or say goodbye to our junk drawers should be easy … in theory.)

Pausing and taking a moment to remove ourselves from the emotion creates space to make rational decisions and to recall well-nigh the big picture.

DEFINE A PLAN

Speaking of the big picture, one of the well-nigh powerful things I've learned is to apply a plan to aid my clients make decisions.

Let's wait at a home fine art studio declutter and organization I recently completed. There were decades of collected mixed medium art from completed works, to current projects and reams of paper from her uni days. It was a massive challenge!

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It started with a plan. I sorted the items and categorised each art genre and kept everything she accesses regularly in the art studio, while other items she uses occasionally was organised in the under-house storage surface area that was easily accessible.

Using the information during the Dwelling Organisation and Declutter consultation, I knew alee of time what things she no longer wanted or were to be stored.

  • University papers, completed art work, old magazines, and completed art major works.

  • Backlog textile, wool and other mixed media supplies

  • Shopping bags, household items, anything that wasn't art related

 I created a vision for her art studio and so used this vision to ascertain a programme.

Doing this takes the stress and emotion out of decision making, and it too helped with determination fatigue (the overwhelm we feel when faced with likewise many choices!)

This simple system can be applied to so many areas of your life.

  • If you lot're decluttering your bedroom, decide the purpose of your space and then define what belongs.

  • If y'all're decluttering your schedule, inquire what you lot want to become done so define your priorities.

  • If yous're thinking of changing careers, ask why you work and what you lot desire to achieve, then define your search criteria.

With any determination, focusing on your vision and using it to define a plan can assist you make ameliorate choices.

ACKNOWLEDGE + ADDRESS YOUR FEARS

Even with your large picture in mind and conspicuously divers plan, you might still struggle to make decluttering decisions. When this happens, it'southward often because there's a fright that needs to exist acknowledged and addressed.

Usually, this fear manifests itself as a general fear of 'making the wrong decision', only if we dig deeper, nosotros can usually get more specific:

  • I'g agape to go rid of my nuptials dress because I might take a daughter who will habiliment it.

  • I'm afraid to get rid of my extra dinner plates considering I might have a party

  • I'm agape to resign from my job because maybe after 5 years I'll finally become that promotion.

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From the little to the important, specifically acknowledging your fearfulness will assist y'all make a ameliorate decision. Now that you know what'due south holding you back you can address it.

Consider the worst-case scenario.

Then the best-case scenario.

Then the likelihood of each scenario happening and what you tin can do to modify the outcomes to suit your goals.

Armed with this information, we're better equipped to face our fears and make a decision. Afterward all, acknowledging the worst-case scenario might be borrowing a dining set up from your neighbour might give you the perspective you need to movement forwards.

Accept there isn't always a right or incorrect answer

Finally, when faced with a tough determination, sometimes we need to accept there isn't a clear correct or wrong answer. You might not be able to predict how many dinner plates you lot'll need in the future, or if you'll regret maxim goodbye your high school artwork, or if two sets of pillowcases are reallyplenty.

But this isn't a bad thing. Instead, we're given an amazing opportunity to redefine ourselves.

Equally the philosopher Ruth Chang tells united states in her TED Talk:

When we create reasons for ourselves to become this kind of person rather than that, we wholeheartedly become the people that we are. You might say that we become the authors of our ain lives.

To me, this means that when decluttering (or making any difficult determination), we have the opportunity to redefine who we are. Instead of worrying which pair of boots to go along, we can decide to be someone who throws whatever pair of shoes on her feet on the manner to new and exciting adventures.

What are your biggest challenges when making decisions well-nigh clutter? Bring together our Facebook group and let me know!