What to Do When the Mess Feels Like Too Much:
3 Tips to Start Tackling Clutter NOW
When someone new visits my Facebook Page or joins my Membership (The Radiance Revolution), it is very often because they feel stuck. Yes, they are overwhelmed at the amount of stuff in their lives, but even more so, they are paralyzed at the idea of tackling it all at once.
Listen up, Momma - I have good news!
When it comes to simplifying your life, you don’t have to do it all in one weekend, tackling every shelf and every closet, Marie Kondo-style. In fact, I have three tips that are the complete opposite of that mentality, and yet will give you the confidence and momentum you need to (eventually) get your whole house in order. Take the deep breath you deserve right now #mmmk?
The all-or-nothing approach isn’t helping, because let’s be real - no Mom can dedicate the time to a project that size without being interrupted every three minutes. And by thinking you have to conquer the whole house, or heck - even a room - to be successful, you are putting pressure on yourself that you don’t need.
And with that kind of pressure, it’s no wonder you can’t get started. It just feels like too much!
This type of thinking is such a costly mistake because it not only prevents you from starting, but it is preventing you from living the life that you want to live.
You can start walking down the road to the simple, easy, fun, and joyful life you want, right now.
By implementing my three tips to start tackling your clutter, you will see the results immediately! You’ll feel like you are making progress (which you are), and that in turn will help you stay motivated and excited to keep going. Ready to get started?
3 Tips to Start Tackling Clutter NOW
Let me introduce “bit by bit progress”. This is a philosophy I use with my members, and it is about starting small. By zooming out a little bit, you will learn that when you make small bits of progress, it adds up faster than you think.
Start with a very small project.
If you haven’t heard my story, the way I got started decluttering was with my junk drawer! A messy drawer is an excellent place to start. It won’t take you long, you can see results right away, and every time you open the drawer, you’ll feel amazing. Do you have a junk drawer? Or your silverware drawer is out of hand. Maybe it’s even just a drawer of old pens!
Set a timer.
It is easy to get lost in a decluttering session. You start in the office, and two hours later you are somehow in the basement looking through your dad’s old records, feeling like nothing got accomplished. Which it didn’t.
Timers are exceptional if you are super-overwhelmed in the beginning. You get a start time and an end time, so there is no guilt about not finishing. PLUS you actually get something done! Whether it is two minutes (sock drawer?) or fifteen minutes (under the bathroom sink), do whatever you can in that time and then do something fun to celebrate your progress (whipped coffee anyone!?)
Get a bye-bye-bin.
Okay, the name may be a result of having a toddler at home, but whatever you call it, this works! Grab a large container or box, and put it somewhere out of the way like a spare closet or in the garage. Then, as you go about your day, if you come across something that you no longer need or use, deal with it right then.
If it’s trash, throw it out. If you can donate it, throw it in the bin. Get that stuff out of your house so you don’t have to deal with it again. You’ll see that bin filling up, and soon you’ll be questioning every item you touch: keep or toss? Then you literally get to kick the clutter to the curb. So satisfying.
I especially love this approach for super overwhelmed moms because you are not taking dedicated time out of your already busy life-if you see something that should go, it only takes a few seconds!
By working on a smaller scale, you can easily start tackling the clutter and feel good about it! And when you feel good, you are more likely to succeed. Hooray for momentum!