The great slowdown
When I began decluttering it was easy, all the really obvious things, some of which I would fall over or stub my toe on repeatedly day after day (I'm looking at you highchair!) were easy to get rid of. The piles of baby clothes, bibs, rattles when my youngest was no longer a baby and I definitely didn't want more, were obvious that they could go on to live fulfilled lives outside of my house. However several car boot fulls later and I'm starting to slow down. I have definitely hit a decluttering wall. The one where I get things out of my wardrobe to give to charity, change my mind and put them back. The one where I go to declutter the bathroom and find only a couple of toilet roll tubes and a dead moth that I really don't want in there. But occasionally the one where I go through an entire cupboard and discover 2 extra placemats which I didn't realise we had to replace the ones we broke.
I don't really consign to the Marie Kondo method of throwing away all your things that don't give you joy, after all I think my wardrobe would be empty if I did that (not to mention all the bills! 😉 ). And in fairness to my clothes, it's not their fault that I don't look like a catalogue supermodel when I put them on, I blame 2 pregnancies, the existence of chocolate and that I really do prefer to sit and watch Netflix than do the yoga.
But I have been reading a site called Less stuff - gentle decluttering which is about more slower decluttering.
It's not about the giant purge, as I don't have either time or energy to do something like that. But about cultivating something sustainable that fits in with your lifestyle. I feel like I can manage a 5 minute declutter/tidy of an area that's been particularly bothering me while the kids are momentarily engrossed in a TV program before they get bored and start doing something else. Or opening a cupboard and picking one thing out that I don't use then closing it again.
One of the things that they suggest is decluttering just 5 items per day. 5 items feels a reasonable target. Then if you do 5 items Monday to Friday, by the weekend you'll have decluttered 25 items. This type of method suits my lifestyle more.
I feel like if I am constantly doing a little at a time in an ongoing process I am also becoming more mindful of purchases and of things coming into the house. Asking questions such as ; Do I need it? Would it add value to my life?
After all that's the big key to managing the clutter; stemming the tide of things coming in. As long as you are achieving more going out of the house than more coming in, then it is decluttering, no matter how long it takes.
It is also about becoming mindful of ethical living by thinking about purchases. If I am no longer wasting money on mindless purchases then I can spend more money on a product that is well made and will last or one that is produced more sustainably, ethically, fairly traded or one that is compostable rather than made of cheap plastics. I can spend time researching whether the product I want is available second hand so I am both saving money and not adding to the waste cycle.
And perhaps that is the key to minimalist and ethical living, not in a great tidal wave of purging but in a process, slowly gently, allowing you to retain your individuality and cultivate a mindfulness around possessions.
I don't really consign to the Marie Kondo method of throwing away all your things that don't give you joy, after all I think my wardrobe would be empty if I did that (not to mention all the bills! 😉 ). And in fairness to my clothes, it's not their fault that I don't look like a catalogue supermodel when I put them on, I blame 2 pregnancies, the existence of chocolate and that I really do prefer to sit and watch Netflix than do the yoga.
But I have been reading a site called Less stuff - gentle decluttering which is about more slower decluttering.
It's not about the giant purge, as I don't have either time or energy to do something like that. But about cultivating something sustainable that fits in with your lifestyle. I feel like I can manage a 5 minute declutter/tidy of an area that's been particularly bothering me while the kids are momentarily engrossed in a TV program before they get bored and start doing something else. Or opening a cupboard and picking one thing out that I don't use then closing it again.
One of the things that they suggest is decluttering just 5 items per day. 5 items feels a reasonable target. Then if you do 5 items Monday to Friday, by the weekend you'll have decluttered 25 items. This type of method suits my lifestyle more.
I feel like if I am constantly doing a little at a time in an ongoing process I am also becoming more mindful of purchases and of things coming into the house. Asking questions such as ; Do I need it? Would it add value to my life?
After all that's the big key to managing the clutter; stemming the tide of things coming in. As long as you are achieving more going out of the house than more coming in, then it is decluttering, no matter how long it takes.
It is also about becoming mindful of ethical living by thinking about purchases. If I am no longer wasting money on mindless purchases then I can spend more money on a product that is well made and will last or one that is produced more sustainably, ethically, fairly traded or one that is compostable rather than made of cheap plastics. I can spend time researching whether the product I want is available second hand so I am both saving money and not adding to the waste cycle.
And perhaps that is the key to minimalist and ethical living, not in a great tidal wave of purging but in a process, slowly gently, allowing you to retain your individuality and cultivate a mindfulness around possessions.
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