Decluttering - reflection
It's been about two years since I started this blog so clearly by now my house is a picture of minimalist tranquillity.
*laughs manically*
No. Really no.
I have got better at thinking about purchases, and I have got rid of bag after bag of donations but it's barely scratched the surface.
I would like to do a big declutter in 2020, partly to try and get rid of some stuff which I seem to be endlessly picking off the floor and partly because January is designed for making good intentions which you will most likely break part way into February.
But before I begin those posts I have started with a reflection of the things I've found most difficult so far.
1. Time restraints
The hardest bit of the process isn't the identifying the item that you no longer need. It's the processing: The cleaning, the fixing, the rehoming. It's very time consuming and that's time and energy I just don't have.
2. Actually throwing things away
I try to be environmental. I worry about the state of the planet that I'm leaving for my children. I try to reuse, repair, rehome or recycle everything that I declutter.
But there are some items that are just too broken or too cheap and plastic that I can't do any of those things with and the only direction they're heading is to the rubbish bin. (I'm looking at you party bag tat)
But it fills me with such anxiety that I end up in a state of inertia and it remains cluttering up the house.
I read an article which said that the item is still trash whether it's decomposing in your house or in a landfill but I'm still not good at just throwing things away.
3. Trying to involve the kids
This has been met with mixed results, everything I've read said to demonstrate by decluttering your own stuff then involve your kids in decluttering theirs.
7yo will choose things to declutter but will normally be things like in point 2.
3yo wants to keep everything. That disembodied dinosaur leg? That scrap of cardboard? The bald knock off barbie? Yep as soon as I point them out they immediately become favourite toys.
As much as I want to have the ethos of it being their possessions so they have a say in it I have been most successful in decluttering when I've identified things they don't play with, hidden it in the cupboard then donated it after 6 months.
4. Artwork
The kids artwork.
Oh flipping heckers the artwork!
There is an app which you can record their artwork digitally (and as i discovered never ever look at ever again). I stopped using this after a while as it seemed just to be an extra task to photograph and tag each picture before throwing it out.
I now pick out the choice ones for the fridge and sneak the rest into the recycling when they're not looking.
But the inflow is seemingly never-ending.
What have been the difficulties you have found in trying to declutter?
*laughs manically*
No. Really no.
I have got better at thinking about purchases, and I have got rid of bag after bag of donations but it's barely scratched the surface.
I would like to do a big declutter in 2020, partly to try and get rid of some stuff which I seem to be endlessly picking off the floor and partly because January is designed for making good intentions which you will most likely break part way into February.
But before I begin those posts I have started with a reflection of the things I've found most difficult so far.
1. Time restraints
The hardest bit of the process isn't the identifying the item that you no longer need. It's the processing: The cleaning, the fixing, the rehoming. It's very time consuming and that's time and energy I just don't have.
2. Actually throwing things away
I try to be environmental. I worry about the state of the planet that I'm leaving for my children. I try to reuse, repair, rehome or recycle everything that I declutter.
But there are some items that are just too broken or too cheap and plastic that I can't do any of those things with and the only direction they're heading is to the rubbish bin. (I'm looking at you party bag tat)
But it fills me with such anxiety that I end up in a state of inertia and it remains cluttering up the house.
I read an article which said that the item is still trash whether it's decomposing in your house or in a landfill but I'm still not good at just throwing things away.
3. Trying to involve the kids
This has been met with mixed results, everything I've read said to demonstrate by decluttering your own stuff then involve your kids in decluttering theirs.
7yo will choose things to declutter but will normally be things like in point 2.
3yo wants to keep everything. That disembodied dinosaur leg? That scrap of cardboard? The bald knock off barbie? Yep as soon as I point them out they immediately become favourite toys.
As much as I want to have the ethos of it being their possessions so they have a say in it I have been most successful in decluttering when I've identified things they don't play with, hidden it in the cupboard then donated it after 6 months.
4. Artwork
The kids artwork.
Oh flipping heckers the artwork!
There is an app which you can record their artwork digitally (and as i discovered never ever look at ever again). I stopped using this after a while as it seemed just to be an extra task to photograph and tag each picture before throwing it out.
I now pick out the choice ones for the fridge and sneak the rest into the recycling when they're not looking.
But the inflow is seemingly never-ending.
What have been the difficulties you have found in trying to declutter?
I thought your house looked amazing the other day as I haven't seen it for a few years and I really noticed how much work you've put in to decluttering :) I am on a similar journey and feel similarly to you but still struggle to find good homes for everything we don't need.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to say that with point 2, I have made a box at the top of a kitchen cupboard where I put all of the party bag tat almost as soon as it comes in the door and then redistribute it at my own kid's parties!!! Haha! Probably not the most grateful or graceful way of recycling but it seems to have worked so far! We live in a weird culture. I literally wouldn't notice if a party didn't have party favours... Why do they exist?! Xx