One of my highest values/feelings is freedom. That’s why I work from home. That’s why I created work hours. My daughter calls me a non-conformist which has allowed her to be a non-conformist.

One thing that weighs down freedom is stuff.

Possessions require money to buy – which means your time working. Need less stuff, have to work less hours. And more time to do what you want. And if you pay for it with credit, now you are buying with hours you have yet to work. Too much debt and you spend the rest of your life paying for stuff you already bought.

Things need time and money for maintenance. Cleaning it, fixing it, space to put it, things to organize it. The more things, the more time and money.

Unless you aren’t maintaining and then things just become a mess. The more things, the more mess if you don’t have time or energy to maintain them.

You are less nimble. A great job offer across state. Well, first you have to sell the house and move all your stuff.

A once in a lifetime trip comes along. Well all your money is in your home and your stuff so you can’t pay. And then you have all that stuff to maintain. I know someone who sold most of their stuff so they could live 3 months in Italy – that’s freedom.

“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.”  Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

When you have lots of things, what is really important to you like people or nature or contribution become less. You have less time for what is important to you because you are using time and money maintaining or running from maintaining.

So as you are putting away the things you got from Christmas, think about releasing at least one item for every new item.  And think about what you buy in the January clearance sales. Is it worth your time, money and freedom?

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Join me as we create a great plan for decluttering your life and enjoy fun support!

A reader asked, “What would you suggest to cope with anxiety when clearing out?”

Fear of anxiety is actually a big reason why people procrastinate on decluttering. Vague anxiety often stems from not actually feeling what you are feeling. You might have to uncover those feelings. Clearing out brings up emotional stuff and that’s why so many people quit when it gets hard.

Say you run across a box of projects you have never finished, but felt you “should” finish. You probably feel guilty that you haven’t completed the project. Maybe a little shame. You might start berating yourself for “never finishing what you start.” Allow yourself to feel the guilt and then start questioning whether it’s true you never finish anything. Or that you should have done it.  Ask if you really want to finish it now. If not, you can give it away. Most of the projects at home, YOU get to choose whether you want to do them or not.

Or you may run across something of a relative who has died. Allow yourself to feel the sadness. Then remember the good things about that person. Ask if you need to keep the object in your current life or if you can remember this person another way.

A stack of never read books or never worn clothing may inspire buyer’s remorse. Feel what that feels like and perhaps you will remember that next time you want to buy more than you need. Then look at the cost of keeping it – space wise, energy wise, relationship wise. Do you still want to keep it out of guilt?

Going through papers might feel like adding to an already long to do list from action items you discover. So you decide you are too anxious to work on the papers. But, the to dos don’t go away. They become more urgent. Start by picturing yourself handling these papers with ease and the weight of paper procrastination lifted. Then you can attack the papers with more power. Paper is also a great place to start small – 5 papers at a time.

You might come across things you used to do or things that remind you of who you used to be. You may feel sadness for having moved on. Or guilt you no longer do an activity. Or nostalgia. Let those feelings be. Then decide whether these belong in your current life.

Feelings don’t stay. They are moving all the time. Usually they don’t stay long if you allow them to talk.

If the feelings are too much for you alone, invite a non-judgmental friend to be there as you declutter.  Or talk with a professional. Or Join the Declutter Group.

Great books on dealing with emotions:
Loving What Is by Byron Katie
Wired for Joy by Laurel Mellin
The Language of Emotions: what your feelings are trying to tell you by Karla McLaren

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Want support to help you deal with the anxiety and get accountability? Check out the Declutter Group.

Photo by Hobvias Sudoneighm

I used to think we needed to save the storage areas like the basement, attic and garage for last. But, I have been realizing that it’s helpful to at least get part of that area decluttered, so you have room to store things you find as you declutter. Plus it’s often easier to get rid of things in storage because you know it’s been a long time since you’ve used them.

If you have to get rid of things to make room in your home, things in storage are less valuable and less used than things in your living room or kitchen.

To keep yourself from going up and down the stairs as you declutter, make sure you have boxes for give away, keep, belonging to someone else and a bag for trash.

First, go through things not in boxes.

These things have not been stored properly and may not even be useful now. You didn’t care enough about the object to keep it free from dust. Do you really still need it in your home?

Move on to the boxes not labeled.

These are boxes you may not have opened for years. They are MISC. Go through them quickly getting rid of the obvious clutter. Consolidate what you can.

Go through seasonal as you put away the decorations each time.

You’ll find you may not need 8 boxes of Christmas decorations. Just think what you could store in that space that you may use more than once a year.

Memorabilia is often the hardest.

Photograph what you can. Or put them in scrapbooks. Decide how much of your present space you are willing to give to your past. 3 boxes? 5 boxes? Give yourself a limit. Keep a couple baby dresses, but not a whole wardrobe. Other children could be wearing them now if you give them away or sell them. Same with toys. You can hang memorabilia on walls. If it’s important to you, you may want to find a way to display it.

If you are storing your grown children’s stuff, it’s time to pick up the phone and have them get their stuff, if possible.

Don’t buy new storage boxes and shelving until you declutter. You may not need them after all.

Label any boxes you are keeping and keep like together ie gardening, memorabilia, holiday, camping, clothes, and tools.

I love using the basement as overflow storage. Things like cookie cutters, canning equipment and the yogurt maker can be stored there to free up room in the kitchen. Craft supplies stored in the basement can bring room to an office. Out of season clothing can be stored to make room in your closet and dressers.

But you can only do that, if you have purged the storage area of clutter you don’t like, will never use and is not in good shape anymore.

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If you want more help with decluttering, join up with our next Declutter Group for instruction, motivation and accountability.

I was on the problem solving section of the Mid-Morning Show at WBCL.org in Fort Wayne, IN

You can take a listen here:

I’ve been reading a lot on self-compassion lately, from various places. And I’ve been thinking about it with my Declutter Group.

Self-compassion is more important than self-discipline. Picture yourself overeating. Disgusted with yourself you tell yourself you are fat and stupid. Which makes you want to eat. So you do. If only you had more self-discipline. Then you call yourself names and the cycle continues. Yet somehow we think this is the best way to stop ourselves from overeating.

Now picture yourself overeating. Afterwards, you tell yourself everyone overeats sometimes. It’s normal. And you can ask what you want to do now. Or what you have learned from it. Perhaps that you allowed yourself to get too hungry and will do better at spacing meals. You compensate by eating a little less at your next meal without beating yourself up about it.

Same idea with decluttering or cleaning. People tend to think they should have decluttered already and they were just being lazy. Their self talk only makes them have low energy when it is time to declutter. All that guilt from the past of not decluttering sucking the energy from the current decluttering time.

Instead you can be compassionate with yourself. If you could have decluttered before you would have. But, now is now. And you can congratulate yourself for starting to declutter in this moment. Feel how much more energy you have for decluttering with just different self talk.

Where do you need more self-compassion?

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If you like to read more on why self-compassion works, here are a couple articles:

Self-Compassion and Psychological Health

How Self-Compassion Trumps Self-Esteem

Photograph from Wonderlane

I was on the phone with a client today and she was talking about my declutter calendar. She liked it because she could post it in whatever room we are working on and she could quick do one of the items without it weighing down her to do list. Sometimes she realizes it took almost no time to declutter that area so she can do the next day’s area as well. She gets that little boost when she can say she is ahead. And if she gets behind, it doesn’t matter because some days she can say, “I don’t have to do that because it’s already done.”

Well she decided to use another empty calendar to  take care of what she calls Puddles that accumulated over the holiday season. You know- stacks of bows, a box of decorations to be put away, a gingerbread house, a paper pile, something to be returned. As a whole it can be overwhelming. So she is putting one on each square of a calendar to get them all taken care of by the end of January.

She also is saying to her kids if they want to do one before she gets to it they can get extra spending money.

You can break down all sorts of projects with this – work, decluttering, organizing, health habits, getting through a non fiction book.

What project do you need to break down?

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Need more support in decluttering? Join me a we create a great plan for decluttering your life and enjoy fun support! I have declutter groups twice a year in January and again in the fall. I love hearing about how much people declutter during our 6 weeks together. Wouldn’t it feel great to have your home with a lot less clutter by March?

If most years you bring more stuff into your life for the holidays, it may be time to do a little pre-holiday decluttering.

Kids’ Toys

Let start with the kids. Which toys have they outgrown, no longer play with, never liked? Are any in good enough condition to donate? Take the kids when you donate so they can feel good too.

Electronics

If you’ve been upgrading your electronics regularly, you probably have old versions of what you have. Now is a great time to try to sell them on Craigslist or Ebay so they can become other people’s gifts. This goes for old phones as well.

Decorations

As you put away the Thanksgiving decorations go through your box to see what you never used this year. Do you plan on using them again?

As you get out your Christmas decorations, see what hasn’t been out of the box in a few years. Do you really need them still?

Linens

How many holiday towels and pot holders do you need? Are they taking up too much space for something only used once a year? Do you have too many sets of guest linens? Maybe some are old enough to get rid of.

Last years Christmas cards

Pick out a few and save the letters you want, but let go of the rest. Christmas cards make nice gift tags if you cut out the pictures and print To: and From: on the back.

Clothes

Let go of Christmas seasons past. If it no longer fits you or the kids you may want to give it away. Go through your tacky Christmas sweater pile and see how many you really need. And make sure all out of season clothes are packed away.

Finally, remember the one in one out rule when you get Christmas presents. If you get a book, let go of a book. If you get a new shirt, let go of an old shirt. Keep your home decluttered by seeing decluttering as a process – not a one time event.

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Photo by: Milena Mihaylova

Simplifying for the holidays? Try Simpler Holiday Plan

What are your goals this year?

One of the most effective ways of reaching any goal, is to create an environment for success.

Make it easy for yourself by having your home, office or car remind you of what you want to achieve.

If you want to lose weight, declutter your cabinets of junk food so it’s harder to grab a quick sugar rush. Declutter the kitchen table so there is only a beautiful fruit bowl.

If you want to focus and be more productive, clear off your desk of distractions and create a habit of clearing your desk daily.

Frenkie’s desk

What if you are trying to exercise more? Lay out your workout clothes the night before. Create a nice space to workout it. Have your workout DVD in the player all set up.

And I love reminders – on your phone, attached to the bulletin board, on the outside of your computer screen, in your wallet, on your fridge. Reminders of your goals, things you want to remember, photos of what you want.

How can you make your environment pull you forward?

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If you need help creating a successful environment, we’d love to have you join the Declutter Group .

Remember Kathy from the Simplicity Makeover Contest? She wanted to check in with her progress.

A few of her great changes:

I think the main reason my house doesn’t get cluttered as fast now is because I am constantly decluttering. I don’t mean huge decluttering sessions. Just bits of decluttering here and there.

Like yesterday. I had bought some balsmatic spritzer dressing. When I went to get it out for my salad I noticed it wasn’t in the spot labeled dressings. So after my salad, I checked the crowded dressing area. I knew we hadn’t had the ranch in awhile and looking at the date it could definitely be tossed. As could another one and 2 things were in the wrong spot.

All which took about 2 minutes.

I was excited to see on my Declutter Calendar that evening the task was going through the condiments in the fridge. I was already done since I looked through the dressings today and a couple weeks ago I tossed a couple condiments past their expiration date as I was getting dinner ready.

I used to not notice things like that. But, as I stay more and more present to what is happening I can make quicker fixes.

I try to put a book on the shelf, but the shelf is crammed full. I glance to see if there is a book that can be decluttered. It goes into the declutter box in my office closet and now the other book fits of the shelf.

Or another time I was moving the yogurt maker that was on the kitchen counter out of the way too often, so I took the yogurt maker to the laundry shelf until I was going to use it next.

Or if the magazines no longer fit into the magazine holder, I look to see if any are from last month. I put them aside to read in the evening and if I don’t have time I can usually look through the magazines and tear out the most interesting articles to read later. And into the recycling box the old magazines can go.

I still forget sometimes. I was stepping over my scrapbook bag for about a week before I remembered I was done with that project. It takes practice.

As you go throughout your day today, notice the frustrations or things that don’t fit and take 2 minutes to do something about it.

More tips and support on decluttering in the Declutter Group.