The 5 Most Common Mistakes Made When Decluttering
Decluttering Can Be a Transformative Process
and it's important to be aware of the common mistakes that can hinder your progress and lead to frustration.
We all make mistakes, but I like to refer to a mistake as simply a lesson and an opportunity to improve. When it comes to decluttering, you can feel overwhelmed, paralyzed, and give up before you have even started the process. I have listed 5 of the most common errors when starting the decluttering process and a tip to help you make clearing your clutter a little easier. All of these lessons are beneficial; nevertheless, number 5 is the most essential to address.
1. Your timeline and expectations of how long it will take to declutter. Decluttering comes with many elements and decisions in the process. Where do I start? How much do I keep? What do I do with all of the rest? Where do I store this? How do I know what to eliminate when it is all sentimental? Stack on the memories, experiences, and value you have attached to it. Then, finding enough time to start the process. Yet you may feel a sense of urgency and want it all done now.
It has taken you a lifetime to accumulate all your clutter. Give yourself grace, patience, and the time you need to get the job done. This will also help you stay motivated and not give up too quickly.
2. Starting with an entire room to declutter can be daunting. For example, your kitchen has large and small appliances, dishes, utensils, food, and dish towels. If you start with the entire room, there will be many items and decisions to make regarding what to do with the items, and if you keep them, where will you store and organize them? If it is a place where many activities happen, chances are there are people in and out of that space as well. Adding a decluttering project for the entire room could have you throwing in the towel before you even start.
Try starting in small spaces or areas within a room, preferably not the most cluttered area but one that would be quick and easy. Why? So you can get a quick win, and it will motivate you to move on to the next area. Breaking a large project into bite-size and obtainable tasks that are about 30 minutes each so that you are not overrun with decision fatigue.
3. Tackling the closets, drawers, and cabinets first could leave you feeling unaccomplished. This is because all of your hard work is hidden. Have you ever heard the saying "out of sight, out of mind"? The closet is decluttered, and you know it’s been decluttered, yet your brain is not seeing it every time you walk by the closet door. You could lose your incentive to continue the decluttering process.
Instead, start with a small space that has flat surfaces. Horizontal spaces are more visual and tend to collect clutter.
Take your bedroom nightstand, and you have cleared the clutter. Now, you subconsciously tell your brain of your accomplishment every time you walk by it. Even though it is subtle, it will continue to remind your brain and keep you motivated to move on to the next space.
4. Discarding, donating, or selling items before you have all like items collected together. Have you ever cleaned out a closet and made all the decisions of what coats you will keep and what you will let go of, only days later to find additional coats you stashed somewhere else? Now, you are making more decisions and may second-guess the ones you made a few days ago. This causes more confusion with the decluttering process, which you probably don't want more of.
By collecting all your like items together, you can see your entire inventory of those specific things and make a sound decision on what to keep and what to donate, sell, or discard. This allows for less decision fatigue, frustration, and feeling overwhelmed during your journey of decluttering.
You would do the same with setting up a budget. You would most likely collect all the data (expenses and income) before setting up a budget. Gathering like items before deciding what to do with them is the same concept.
5. Have a plan. Jumping into the decluttering process without a plan. By a plan, I am not referring to a particular how-to or where-to start but what I call the foundation plan. Just as you need a solid foundation to build a 10-story building, you will need a strong foundational plan to start your decluttering process to make it easier, quicker, and less overwhelming. Many experts start on the third floor of the plan, which is why decluttering a home often fails.
Instead, start at the foundation, ground zero, by asking yourself these five questions. Don't worry; it's not a pop quiz; there are no right or wrong answers. It may take you a few minutes to mull over because many people don't consider these questions before jumping into the third floor.
What is your end in mind for this space or room?
Is this a realistic end result?
How do you want it to serve you?
What is the space or room's purpose?
What do you want to feel when you are in this room, and why?
Answering these five questions will give you a much sturdier foundational plan to start your decluttering journey and less chance of giving up from frustration and overwhelm. Make sure to check out this post, where I go into more detail about these five questions.
