10 Rules of SWEDISH DEATH CLEANING that will Change Your Life

trust me the more time you spend going through  your belongings the easier it will be for you   to decide what to keep and what not to the more  you work at it the less timec consuming it will   become you might even discover the added bonus  that it will feel wonderful to visit a dump and   throw worthless things as far as you able to  those are just a few lines from the gentle art   of Swedish death cleaning by Margaretta Magnuson  the whole idea behind Swedish death cleaning is   that you are intentionally not leaving behind  big piles of clutter for your posterity to have   to go through and deal with you don't have to be  nearing the end of your life to reap the benefits   so let's go through Swedish death cleaning take  a look at some of these rules and I think they're   really helpful I want to see what you think as I  mentioned starting early can be a huge benefit I   think that it doesn't necessarily matter how long  it takes you to declutter your space some people   can declutter an entire house in one or two weeks  for other people they like to go slowly and may   take years to declutter I love the idea that not  putting off something like Swedish death cleaning   until you're nearing the end of life she says  start by buying less this is one of the things   that I did when I first decided to declutter  my space put myself on a spending freeze it   is incredible how much it helps when you're not  swimming Upstream by continually bringing in more   items as you're trying to declutter when you put a  stop or a hold on inventory coming into your space   you are constantly winning every single time you  declutter you're improving your space and you can   clearly see your progress Margaretta says don't  start with photographs or letters or personal   papers in general When Death cleaning size really  matters start with the large items in your home   and finish with the small it has been true for the  most part that the things in my house that are the   most valuable to me are small items in fact I  need your help here is something small that's an   absolute treasure this was mine when I was four  or 5 years old it's a little Cy doll and my mom   crocheted and sewed a bunch of outfits for this  little doll which I still have here's the thing it   got put in the bathtub and it's full of mold black  mold I have no idea if I can salvage this it's to   the point where you can see the mold through the  little dolly so what do I do I love the idea of   my daughter playing with it but it's not safe if  it's full of mold so a tiny little item that I'm   really hung up on at the moment if you know  what to do please leave a comment down below   cuz I would just love to keep her she talks about  something called the rod prick system which I'm   probably not saying that right but basically this  is the Red Dot system before you even declutter   anything from your home she says go around your  house with a red sticker and a green sticker make   decisions and put the sticker on the item red for  things that need to leave your house and green for   things you know for a fact you're keeping she even  says use yellow for things that you're going to   think about but this puts you in the mind frame of  decluttering it helps you start to make progress   and trust me the decision making is the hardest  part it is for me so when you are able to make   progress just by making decisions you feel like  you're gaining momentum you are you are making   progress and so it's so much easier than not only  for you to get the items out of your house without   having to think through it again but it also helps  if people are helping you declutter you can get   your family or friends involved and you just say  anything with a red sticker goes anything with a   green sticker stays I love what she says here  death cleaning emphasizes the reflection ction   and celebration of life by detaching memories  from material things so often I feel like we   think unless we keep the item the memory is  lost I have found so much value in journaling   let me show you what I do so I have what I call  a mother's Journal I filled up a couple of these   and I have my kids put their little handprints  in here I Journal special memories that I want   to remember and then all include pictures along  with a written description of the memory itself   here is the dress my daughter was wearing in that  photo these dance recital dresses cost a fortune   which is why I think so many of us get hung up  including myself when decluttering I think of how   much money I spent there's also a very very  sweet memory attached to this dress however   there's absolutely no way for me to get my money  back trust me I've already been through this but   what I'm doing instead of of keeping the dress  is writing a memory attached to this photo of   her wearing the dress like she chewed a hole in  the bottom of the dress right before she went on   stage I want to remember that I don't need to keep  the dress with the little whole to at the bottom   to remember that I just need to write it down so  have a mother's journal or a grandmother's journal   and just write these things down attached with  photographs specific details about events she says   choose a category that you believe is easy for you  to handle and easy category is one with many items   to choose from and without too much sentimental  attachment for her this is her closet of clothes   and she says it's nice because the sizing is so  specific it either fits or it doesn't it's either   comfortable or it's not making it easier to make  quick decisions for me clothes aren't as easy so   I didn't start there when I did my first declutter  of my home I started with my pantry tons of items   to choose from and the food was either expired  or or it wasn't so choose an area for you that's   the easiest to begin with this next one has to do  with just keeping your house clean and tidy so she   says bring a bag with you or wear an apron with  a deep pocket as you buzz about the house doing   your regular routine and chores fill up this bag  or apron I really love the apron she don't even   have to carry it but she says whatever belongs  to other people let them deal with their stuff   at the end of the night something that I really  love doing is having a bin labeled with with each   family member's initial and this is where their  stuff goes when I'm cleaning the house and I   notice people left their toys drun about their  books whatever they have their own bin where I   put their stuff and they have to take care of it  at the end of the night she suggests creating a   stepbystep to-do list of each either room or area  of your house that you want to declutter I loved   this organized approach and this is exactly what  I did when I went about decluttering my space I   also call this my Master list it's a list that  I do not throw away because these are areas of   my home that I'm now going to have to go back  and revisit otherwise my house will just pile   up with clutter again so having this broken down  and outlined for you keeps you on track she says   reach out to family members let them know that  you're decluttering and then take notes on things   that they want you to set aside for them and even  now with my kids still living at home I've never   thought to go and ask them is there anything  really special that's belong belong to me or   our family that you would like to have one day I  think figuring out how to have that conversation   delicately is a really beautiful thing and then  I can take notes on that and make sure never to   declutter those things she talks about having a  throwaway box this is a box where you keep little   collections that are only valuable and meaningful  to you that you don't think anyone else is going   to care about she says have this box and label  it throw away way that way people know when   they come in to clean up your house after you've  passed on they know that they don't even have to   worry about making decisions about the contents  of that box it's just stuff that meant something   to you and it can be recycled or thrown in the  garbage I love this thought she says so if you   do not have children of your own you still have a  duty to sort out your life go through your items   remember them give them away there is always a  young person starting a new life starting a new   home you don't have to be a blood relative to  give them pots and pans chairs from your attic   and old rug when these young people can afford  to purchase exactly what they want they will pass   your old furniture onto their friends and then  to their friends and so on you cannot know the   places your objects may go after you are gone and  that could be a wonderful thing to contemplate so   here's a category that I really really struggled  with and still to this day have the hardest   time with and that is baby clothes the memories  attached to these little items are are Priceless   and of course I have pictures of my babies wearing  their outfits but first when I was getting started   with decluttering I couldn't make any progress  in this category this was too difficult for me   so I didn't start with this this was one that  I did several months into my journey having the   thought of somebody else being able to put their  children in these darling little outfits is what   finally helped me make progress in this category  I of course kept a few things but I was able to   get rid of most most of it and sometimes I even  wonder if saying getting rid of it isn't a great   way to phrase that sometimes I think passing it  along is so much more helpful just a little mind   game to play with yourself so me thinking  of passing little baby clothes along was so   helpful speaking of decluttering being hard here's  another video on the screen to help motivate you   and give you tips to inspire you to declutter  your own space I will see you over there bye

Channel: Simply This Life

Views: 14,390

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Id: OkwZ66DmvL4

Length: 9min 55sec (595 seconds)

Published: Wed May 08 2024