I made a goal to start some decluttering in my home this year. But that’s such a broad term and I knew I had to narrow it down. Should I work on my garage, my closet, my office, or my book collection? I kept putting it off because I felt so overwhelmed with where to start.
So after I calmed my mind down, I thought starting small is always a good place to start. This past weekend I finally started to declutter my closet. Once again I was overwhelmed at where I even wanted to declutter in my closet (ashamed to say my closet is a mess!). With the theme of starting small, I began with my shoes. I first took them all down and started putting them in piles……one pile for donating, one pile for throwing out, one pile for selling, and one pile for keeping. If I hadn’t worn the shoes in a while, if I didn’t like the style anymore, if I didn’t need them anymore, or if I really liked and needed them, they were all put in the appropriate pile.
Once I got started, it wasn’t so bad. I was in the flow and on a roll. I ended up clearing up some good space in my closet. Yippee! And what was even better, I felt so good after doing it. I felt like a big weight was lifted off my shoulder. You don’t have to “go big”, you can “go small” in this situation. And to top it off, I sprayed some light air freshener in my closet to finalize the declutter time.
After decluttering my closet, I can truly say I felt:
- happy
- energized
- accomplished
- motivated to declutter even more
- I was helping others thru my donation
- freeing
Also remember, decluttering can happen on so many levels…..for instance, there is physical declutter, mental declutter, emotional declutter, social media declutter, email and inbox declutter, and relationship declutter.
If you haven’t already, pick one area you want to work on and narrow it down even more. That way you won’t feel so overwhelmed, make excuses, and never start the decluttering! You can even think of it as a “declutter party”. (Maybe put on some music or listen to a podcast while you are decluttering, as long as it doesn’t distract you). After you declutter, you can reward yourself with something or some action that brings you joy! (but not something that brings you more stuff to declutter).
My next closet space to declutter involves my sweaters. 🙂
Start small, get into the flow, and declutter! You will feel so much better after you do!
Cheers!
“Happiness is a place between too little and too much.”
~ Finnish proverb
If this post resonates with you, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Also if you think there are people in your world who would benefit from receiving my self care tips, please do forward or share this post.