Change of Plans
I had already planned my decluttering tasks for the remainder of the year about 2 months ago but decided to go in a different direction. Because my decluttering group is for the purpose of accountability and community, I only share from my experience and offer tips I have learned through my own journey. BUT what I like to do is make recommendations of other available resources. Earlier this year, there was a great deal on a clutter course so I jumped on that but hadn’t found time to fit it into my schedule. I’m learned that there’s no “perfect time” and “one day” may not come for some things so when the creator/instructor announced that he would be leading members through the courses again to end the year, I figured it would be a good time to complete the course and let you know what I think of it once I’m done. For now, I will share weekly-ish how my decluttering is going!
Vehicles + Living Areas
The vehicle was an easy one since we recently cleared it out to bring in for a check-up. The living room and other living areas consisted of piles I had ignored the last time I went through the areas. Scroll to see before and after photos (posted on IG Stories) and I’ll share my lessons learned at the end.
As you can see, it’s not perfect, it’s not all decluttered or even uncluttered, and it’s definitely not clean or organized. Because of my season of life, I don’t really want to spend time cleaning and organizing clutter that may or may not stay in our home AND my time and money are limited so I’m okay with working on small areas for short amounts of time for now. It’s slow progress but it’s progress and I’m happy with forward movement. Some is better than none. 👊
Lessons Learned
One lesson/reminder is the same ones that many, many former and current members of my decluttering group have shared after they complete a month of decluttering check-ins. And that main lesson is this: Start small and it will add up. It seems small. It can be defeating. But one pile each day means 365 piles decluttered in a year!…even one pile each week means 52 piles decluttered in a year! That’s huge! The results are not instant. If it didn’t take a day or a month for your house to accumulate clutter, it won’t take a day or a month to clear it out. Actually, from most “experts” I’ve heard of, their own personal journey usually took a year.
One other lesson I learned this week is that sometimes things seem harder than they really are when I expect them to be hard. They usually end up being not as hard as I thought and/or something I’m glad to have done after I finished!
Are you on any decluttering journey? What’s it been like? What are you learning?