...clearing clutter from your mind, body and space
by Michaeline
This is my annual post about the art of regifting.
Do you regift? Have you considered regifting, but didn’t feel comfortable about it? Regifting is a great way to declutter new and unused gifts. But there is an art to regifting.
What could you regift this year to share some holiday joy with another?
by Michaeline
I posed the question in my last post about changing your perspective about decluttering. Instead of making decisions to let things go, what if you made choices based on keeping items that would support the life you want?
This could be equally challenging, yet I propose that by changing perspective from loss to gain, decision-making becomes easier and a more positive experience. What if you started curating your things for the life you currently have or desire versus the past?
So, schedule your next decluttering session with the intention of making positive choices for yourself. That’s my goal for this week. I’ll let you know how it went. Will you share your experience with me as well?
by Michaeline
Decluttering can be tough. Keeping in mind the reason for decluttering can be helpful and, yet, one may still struggle with letting go of things.
Reasons for not letting go include:
Do any of these sound like the reasons you have clutter? You may even have other reasons for keeping clutter around you. What if we changed our perspective and decided to keep ONLY what currently serves the life you want for yourself?
by Michaeline
Decluttering and cleaning are not the same thing.
Organizing and decluttering are also not the same thing.
Cleaning is easier and faster when you’ve eliminated clutter.
Trying to declutter and organize at the same time can be stressful because you must stop and problem-solve storage, usage or systems for your items. Decluttering is just getting rid of the stuff you no longer use or love or don’t have the space for.
My recent basement project has again reinforced the concept that decluttering, cleaning and organizing are different things. And that realization has lifted a weight off me. I can declutter without a specific plan other than making sure the decluttered items leave my house immediately or very soon after the decluttering session.
And even more good news is that by ‘just’ decluttering, the space feels more organized because there is less stuff.
What would happen if you only just decluttered a space?
by Michaeline
Did you accept my challenge last week of not bringing anything new into the home? What time perioid did you pick? I picked a week.
I am pleased to report that I did not add anything to my home that wasn’t consumable this past week. I didn’t realize though how many times my own purchases could be impulsive. Just asking myself the simple question of do I or we need this, was enough many times to stop the purchase.
Side benefits of fewer purchases included having fewer things to put away after a trip to the store and no need for another trip to the store to return something that I didn’t take the time to try on.
So even though I am hyper aware of clutter and have the goal of helping my clients declutter, I do this because I too have dealt with the clutter and too much stuff in my life. So I am grateful for the lessons I learn and share.
Let me know how you did with your challenge.
If you need help decluttering, contact me for a free introductory life coaching session.