Why Decluttering Is So Hard (and how to make it NOT be)

hello my friends i'm batch filming today all i did was change my shirt same pants sweatpants and then i put on lipstick this is how we do this is how i balance a full-time job as a pharmacist and a youtuber that can sometimes put out two videos a week so i have adopted the tools of minimalism and intentionality into my life in order to sort of streamline and only surround myself with things that i actually use love and enjoy everything else is just clutter it's excess it's noise it's stress but in order to curate a space that makes you feel calm and feels purposeful you need to start somewhere you need to start decluttering and sometimes decluttering is hard we like our stuff we are attached to our stuff we feel sentimental about our stuff so today i wanted to talk to you guys about things that i found hard to declutter and how i ended up letting go of them and today's video is sponsored by skillshare but i'll talk about them a little more later in the video one of the first things that i found really difficult to declutter and i still find hard to declutter are expensive items things that i felt i paid a lot of money for or things that were premium high-end brand name products and i'll tell you it's difficult but here's the thing and here's how i'm letting go of those items one is telling myself that the money is already gone it's long gone when i would hold the thing in my hand wondering if i should declutter it or not i would really focus a lot on oh i had to work this many hours to get that thing oh man it was so expensive all those thoughts would sort of float around in my head and it would make it really hard to justify letting go of the item but i guess the one nice thing about having expensive items or things that you paid a lot of money for especially if you took good care of it is that you can try to do your best to recoup that cost by selling the item on platforms like depop poshmark facebook marketplace so a lot of my expensive items i did just that i sold them on depop i sold them to friends i took them to consignment stores so i could get a little bit of money back from that that expensive item but the bottom line in the decluttering process was one i was not wearing it two it did not bring me joy or value and three i didn't love it because i wanted to get rid of it i think the common thread that you'll see in why things are so difficult to declutter sometimes is that a lot of these things have some sort of attachment or connection to how we see ourselves and how we value ourselves they have a connection to our self-worth in some way when it was an expensive item i was very focused on the idea that because i bought this expensive thing i had made it in some way but really looking back on that thing i wasn't fooling anyone and i especially wasn't fooling myself because i was walking around with a negative net worth in my bank account but i looked good because once you can disconnect yourself from the stuff and the idea that this stuff is somehow tied to who you are as a person your self-worth and how you represent yourself once you suffer that connection you'll really start to see that all of that value is coming from you and not your stuff not what you're wearing just because you viewed the thing as mine or was once mine doesn't mean that it's me as in you you pressed you referring to me that is incorrect the correct answer is you the second thing i had a really hard time letting go of were so nice items you know those items in your closet that you totally forgot you had and in the midst of decluttering you pull it out and you're just like oh that's so nice oh how come i forgot i had this it's so nice oh i have such good taste i've said that to myself a lot i'm sure i feel like i have good taste i know what i like and that's all relative but you know what i'm saying but the bottom line is is that i forgot that item was even there and if i forgot it was even there when i declutter it i'm probably gonna forget that i even had it it's letting go of that attachment and letting go of those things that are holding you back that is very easy to rationalize your way into thinking that you need to keep it or regretting letting go of it or creating scenarios of what if i'm glad that it's nice someone else is gonna think it's nice too so let them enjoy it instead the third item i had a really hard time letting go of in the decluttering process were i could items items where i would say to myself oh i could definitely make three looks out of this or i could wear it here or i could wear it to this party or i could wear it to this wedding that's never gonna happen so when it comes to i could items i think this is where you can really test yourself if you decide to keep the pieces then make sure you are making a point to use them and style them in those ways and be specific about it give yourself a time frame so if there was an item in the back of your closet that you could wear in these three to five ways challenge yourself to do that give yourself a month a week two months whatever it is whatever works for you and in your everyday life give yourself a time frame and if you didn't style the item if you didn't use it then that should be a signal to let it go the fourth type of item that i would have a hard time decluttering were just in case items the just in case what if just in case i gain weight just in case i lose weight just in case i have this wedding and i would rationalize almost everything in being just in case i hate to break it to you but just in case is never coming and if that thing was gone and that just in case thing came you're gonna use something else because you're adaptable we can adapt to whatever situation or scenario that we're in and we're creative so maybe you for a split second will regret letting go of that dress when that wedding comes along but you know you have other things in your wardrobe that you can wear and you'll look just as good feel just as good you're not going to be thinking about the dress that you wish you kept when you're actually at the event spending time with real people and developing real relationships so have you guys been enjoying some of the little drawings and texts that you've been seeing in this video that's because i've been wanting to use my ipad a little bit more and specifically use the app procreate to start drawing and creating little custom text and animations in my videos after taking a class by brooke glacier on skillshare so brooke's class goes through everything you need to know if you want to get started drawing on the ipad and creating your own illustrations designs text anything you want she goes through all the tips and tricks of how to use procreate and a bunch of little hacks to make it easier and more efficient as you do it skillshare is an online learning community with thousands of classes where anyone can come to learn illustration photography procreate art and so much more and for less than ten dollars a month for the yearly subscription you have access to thousands of classes that they update all the time so you can always stay inspired and stay learning the first thousand people to click the link in the description will get a free premium membership trial so you can start exploring your own creativity and maybe start drawing on procreate yourself but let's get back to decluttering look at that i drew that the next thing i think a lot of people have a hard time decluttering are gifts and sentimental items i don't know sentimental items to me are weird because i think there can be a lot of positive reasons why we hold on to things and there can also be a lot of negative reasons like you feel guilty you feel like you might offend someone but if there's items that you do not get joy out of or the only thing that comes to your mind when you think about actually getting rid of it is guilt or worrying about offending somebody then i don't think that's a good enough reason to keep it and i think sometimes there's a fear of letting go of a memory or a feeling when you let go of that thing and i don't think those two thoughts necessarily have to be all that connected and if you do have some fears about losing memories or letting go of memories i think taking photos of items and having a digital library of those things is a really great way to look back on those things and sort of rehash those feelings when you want to experience them and i'm not saying you have to get rid of all your sentimental items if you put on your grandmother's old jacket and you think of her every time you wear it and you love wearing it or even if you don't wear it and every time you look at it it brings you happiness and peace and great memories absolutely keep that item keep whatever has meaning to you but when we start attaching meaning to everything then i think that meaning starts to get lost in those things so sentimental items and gifts are definitely a sore spot when it comes to decluttering and again you don't have to get rid of it all all at once but i think there's ways of preserving memories if it is indeed a memory that that thing sparks for you and i also don't think that guilt or worrying about offending someone if you get rid of it is a good enough reason to hold on to something either the sixth thing that i experienced when i decluttered that i had a hard time with was items that i had to rationalize into sparking joy basically it would be things where i would hold in my hand marie condo style and think about if it sparked joy or not but there are the things that wouldn't spark that immediate joy like it wouldn't be an instantaneous feeling that i experienced when i held the thing in my hand and decided whether or not i was gonna keep it it's because all those other barriers would start to come up like oh it's so expensive oh it's so nice oh i could wear it these ways so really what i think all those things boil down to is rationalizing whether or not the thing sparks joy for you so if you find that you're not experiencing that immediate yes and it's like ending up in the maybe pile more often than not when it comes to your decluttering process then i think it's a cue to start thinking about getting rid of it again i'm not saying you have to do it right away but things that end up in the maybe pile or in the rationalizing spark joy pile have to start going through a test and over time you have to find out if they pass or not because i in my experience that spark joy feeling is pretty immediate and i usually feel pretty clear about it when i do experience that feeling you know what decluttering is hard especially when you spent a lot of time curating a stuff pile that you may have enjoyed at some point or that you put a lot of thought into that's definitely me too but when you're choosing to declutter and create space for yourself so you can start experiencing the benefits of a less cluttered home like more time less stress and more clarity then you start realizing that these things are not the missing pieces in your life that make you any more whole than you already are so let me know things that you've had a hard time decluttering and how you sort of worked your way through that did you get rid of it did you not let's have a discussion down below in the comments leave this video thumbs up if you liked it it really helps me out and if you want to see more videos like this please consider subscribing thanks so much for watching guys i'll see you in the next one

Channel: Christina Mychas

Views: 51,376

Keywords: style apotheca, decluttering, how to declutter, decluttering tips, decluttering minimalist, minimalist declutter, decluttering hacks, simple living, minimalist, minimalism, minimalist lifestyle, decluttering your home, declutter your life, declutter, decluttering and organizing, closet declutter, minimalist closet declutter, things to get rid of today, things to declutter, decluttering mistakes, minimalist beginner, beginner minimalist, marie kondo, how to let go of things

Id: LndTC7G1Rwk

Length: 10min 34sec (634 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 27 2021