How to Start Decluttering Even When You're Overwhelmed

do you ever look around your house and think I have got to get stuff out of here I've got a declutter but then when you actually try to get started decluttering you just completely freeze like you just can't do it you're just stuck that's what we're talking about today we're talking about how to get started decluttering I'm Danny K white author of decluttering at the speed of life and this is what I talk about like this is my thing because that was me like I used to be so completely overwhelmed in my home that I would try to get started and I would just think I don't I don't I don't even know I don't even know what to do how to get started any of that okay so we're gonna talk about I'm going to share with you both the big mindset shift that you need it sounds like a mindset shift should be easy um I know it's not so okay going into it but it I'm going to explain what that mindset shift needs to be and then I'm going to explain the Practical of actually what to do to get started in a way that will help you actually make progress and really be able to really see decluttering difference in your house okay I really think that so many times the reason why we feel Frozen and stuck is that we know what it is we want like we have the vision in our mind of what it is that we're wishing our house was but then we look around at what we're actually dealing with and we think ah I can't even imagine getting from right here where I am to right here where I want to end up and so then there becomes this moment of paralysis so what do you do when you feel that moment of fear panic inability to do anything you just feel Frozen what do you do in that moment well the mindset shift is that you need to redefine your goal the mindset shifts that you need to make is you need to redefine your goal you need to acknowledge that your goal here is to declutter your goal here is not to get organized that's the daunting part that's decision making you just need to declutter get stuff out of the house because that has to be done anyway before you can actually organize ask any organizing expert and they will tell you you gotta get rid of stuff first so let's take organizing out of the equation and say I am just going to declutter that's all I'm not going to worry about problem solving I'm just going to get stuff out and know that for me when I made that mindset shift and I started getting stuff out of my house I achieved what I'd always thought I had to organize in order to achieve I was able to function in my house I was able to see what I had know what I had get to what I had all that kind of stuff just by getting the excess out so acknowledge that when you're feeling overwhelmed and stuck it's possible that you're thinking about that end goal of being organized refocus in on the right now goal which is to get stuff out to declutter along with that we're not here to rearrange stuff we're not here to stuff shift I want you to really focus in on what can I actually remove from my house so that there's less for me to deal with the less there is to deal with the less overwhelmed I'm gonna feel so now let's get into the Practical what do you actually do like how do you actually get started because it's really well and good to talk about mindset shifts but what do I actually do to create that change in my house if you already know me you know what I'm gonna say right grab a black trash bag I'd like for it to be a black trash bag because then I can't see what I just put inside of it and second guess it uh I really do mean a trash bag because the very first step in decluttering is getting the trash out of there remember that every item that leaves this space is going to make this space less visually overwhelming that feeling of being overwhelmed that you have that has contributed to you being stuck that you just don't know what to do every item Less in this space makes you feel less overwhelmed and more able to really make progress okay and more able to really tackle this area so grab a black trash bag a recycling bin if you already have one that's already established and start throwing away trash actual trash even if you're convinced that there is no way that there's trash in here start looking for trash because what that does is it gives you something to do something very specific instead of this big idea of what you want the space to be someday you are focused in on is there any Trash here is there anything here that is not a difficult decision that's not overwhelming to me that's not anything other than me just going oh I can't believe there's trash in here okay look for that and get rid of it so it gets you moving that is huge in this whole process but also it helps your brain start to adjust to what's actually here so you start not only looking at the pile or the closet and instead you're looking at individual items assessing is that trash or not okay and as you do that your brain starts to adjust to what's actually here as opposed to thinking of it as a pile that probably has some big decisions I'm going to have to make in it so I'd rather just not deal with it instead you're saying no just what in this space individual items are trash and then you're seeing what else you're gonna have to deal with which is going to make it easier as you keep going make sense so with every item that leaves that space as trash with zero emotions zero angst zero decision making every item that leaves it there's a little bit less in there you start to Define what it is that you're dealing with so that as you move through the rest of the steps in the decluttering process which declaring the speed of life my book has those in there in great detail uh organizing for the rest of us has it in succinct little with pictures thing I also have a video right here where you can go watch me work through those steps but for right now we're talking about that getting started and the power of getting started with this step of looking for trash okay and I do want to say that I completely understand that there are some of you watching who may think I can't identify trash I look and nothing looks like trash to me even though I know there's probably trash I look and I can't here's what I'm going to tell you there's still hope for you if that's you and you are so completely stuck that you can't see the trash you can't see what's easy you can't see what obviously needs to be donated it's okay to skip ahead and just ask the decluttering questions ask the first decluttering question about every item that you pick up if I needed this item where would I look for it first if it's trash asking yourself that question very well make you realize oh this gum wrapper I would never go looking for oh that's trash so it's okay if you need to ask yourself those questions ideally you'll get to the point where you gain some momentum and you can start to identify trash sooner but if you can't ask the questions and that is a way for you to identify trash okay but if that's not you I say just start with getting the trash out the main thing I want you to remember is that when you start with the trash there is no downside there's no risk there's only success when you feel overwhelmed it's very likely because you have felt like you've failed when you've decluttered before every trash that leaves makes this space a little bit better this space being a little bit better is a little bit of success and that is going to really change how you see your house and remember putting trash in a trash bag means that you're done with that trash the only thing that has to be done is take out the trash on trash day that's it if you are putting things into the trash bag this space is only getting better my whole decluttering process is I call it the No Mess method okay it is no mess meaning you're never going to make piles you're never going to pull everything out of a space you're only ever going to make a space better by getting rid of trash as the first thing when you are completely overwhelmed by the thought of decluttering you can know that you're never going to put yourself in a worse situation you are never going to get started throwing away trash and then think oh my word what have I done now I've got this this and this responsibility I have to step away and I never should have even started that can't happen when you are just throwing away trash makes sense okay I hope this was helpful if you would like a printable as my five-step decluttering process you can go to a slabcamsclean.com five f-i-v-e and sign up for my newsletter and then you can get a copy of a printable version of my five steps or check out my books this is a great time of year to listen to them on audio and get all that in your minds get all that in your head and work as you listen I love hearing from people who love to work as they listen and they tell me that they listen to them over and over sorry that's a lot of my boys sorry anyway I will talk to you later happy decluttering bye

Channel: Dana K White

Views: 321,174

Keywords:

Id: KB1hNf4zQT4

Length: 10min 13sec (613 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 26 2022