Katherine Hayes - Decluttering the House: Winning your Never Ending Battle with Stuff

Y ouve probably heard about Marie Kondo and her relentless pursuit of helping people organize their living spaces through her elaborate tidying adventures. Is this called decluttering? It is easy to misinterpret tidying up with decluttering and oftentimes, we think its one and the same because hey, both these words are used interchangeably. It is not wrong but they are two entirely different processes.

By opening this book, you are already making that commitment to declutter your life, your home and even the way you work. But first, what exactly is decluttering? It is important to know what decluttering is and what organizing is simply because its more of a lifestyle that you commit to work on instead of a process you commit to only once.

What is decluttering?

Decluttering is getting rid of anything that is unused, unnecessary and unloved. It involves items, things, objects and sometimes even unhealthy obsessions and practices. Decluttering is all about shrinking the things you own and connect with by eliminating the excess. When you are done with decluttering, the items you own or the practices you continue to follow are the ones that you continuously use, love and are healthy.

What is organizing?

Organizing comes second after decluttering. Organizing is about creating simple processes and storage for the items that you use and love. If you organize before you declutter, you end up organizing too many things and this will not be sustainable or functional in the long term. The goal of organizing is to have less to organize. And guess what? You do not need to drive to your nearest Home Depot or IKEA or Closet Storage to buy containers to fill your things.

Storage is all about helping you organize what you already own and use in a more practical and functional way. Your storage containers can be anything you want and sure, you can go on to Pinterest and get inspired but before you do that- remember that you want to declutter which also means you do not want to purchase more things to add to the clutter you already have. Use what you own and get creative. Use jars, boxes, bins that will enable you to store plenty of your household and office items.

Functionality

We all love pretty things and with the many ideas presented to us on Instagram or Pinterest or even by Marie Kondo itself, it is easy for us to be influenced by getting beautiful storage containers. But before you purchase containers, think about the function of these containers first. You need a system that is functional and simple. This must be your main motivation for containers and second to that would be simplicity. Your third reason should be if it looks nice.

Pretty will end up becoming an annoyance to if your containers do not perform well or if its too high maintenance. This is not a sustainable system. When decluttering, you want simple solutions that last a considerable amount of time. Each of your storage containers need to serve a distinct function and purpose. Also, keep in mind that the prettier the container, the most expensive it would be. So your criteria for choosing containers would be functionality and simplicity.

In conclusion, decluttering is the process of going through your items, behaviours, processes and things and eliminating or getting rid of what you do not use, what your do not want and what is slowing down your daily life. The system you are looking out for is the one which enables you to maintain fewer items which is why decluttering is the important piece in this life puzzle.

Apart from the above, here are three elements to look into when we talk about decluttering. These elements will also help you shape your thoughts and processes towards decluttering:

1. 1.Decluttering is a waste of resources

The resources that we are talking about are your stuff. The notion that decluttering is just a waste of time and resources stem from the incorrect belief that decluttering only means sending your stuff to the landfill or dumping ground or even to your nearest charity shop. But since when did putting some into garbage bins be the only way to get rid of unwanted stuff? This is not the only way to get rid of stuff. Remember that one persons trash is another persons treasure so from getting rid of stuff you do not want and do not use or do not love, you need to separate the items that are in good condition to be given to a new home to, to owners who would love them and use it more often that you did.

This way, it is an excellent use of resources. When you declutter, the focus is to remove things you do not use or love anymore. Nobody get rid of things they use often. The things we are trying to get rid of is the things we do not like, do not use and do not need. So when you declutter, make a pile of things you can give to different people or to charity homes that need it.

Owning things that you do not use is another big waste of resources. When we pass of things we do not use (provided that they are in good condition) to other people, we also allow these things to be used in their fullest potential. They do the jobs they are meant to do. We also stop the purchase of new things and in a way, help to reduce waste all around. When someone uses the stuff we do not want, they do not need to buy new stuff. We slow down the production of stuff and we also reduce waste.

When decluttering, we find new homes for our things. Throw only the stuff that you cannot use at all- things that are broken, damaged and cannot be used at all. So think beyond the bin and find someone who may be able to use your stuff. We want to aim for zero waste and if decluttering can do this, then it is an excellent use of resources.

1. 2.That stuff could be useful one day

One of the reasons why we keep stuff is because we think wed used it someday. Go on, think about the time your mother or father or grandparents or even a friend has said Im going to keep this. Id need it someday, only for that day not to come or the stuff is gone that one time we need it again. Yes- these things that you do not like and neither use could be useful someday but we often let this fact confuse us into keeping all sorts of things. The question that you should be asking is- is this thing necessary to me now?