Setting up for Success
Now you’ve created a plan and you have your notes. It’s time to start clearing that dreaded clutter.
Decluttering is a process that requires the diligence to scrutinize every little thing in a space to try to understand if and how it serves you in that space. In some cases, all of the every-little-things can be a whole lot. Putting it through this process can be overwhelming. But it’s possible to make a not-fun task, less not-fun is by setting up an excellent space.
Where to Set Up
These projects spread out and they take time. You’ll need clear, flat spaces for sorting to accommodate the amount of stuff you pull out. And you need to not allow the stuff to impede your daily life. Break the project up to fit your availability and space. If you don’t have much of either, do it in small spaces and small increments, but make sure you can tuck away what you decide to keep but don’t have a home for, Or if you’re committed to finishing and won’t abandon it, set up in an unused space and haul to stuff to be sorted there.
How to set up
Make sure you have the right tools for the job. It’s a huge help to have the basics receptacles to avoid tossing what you’ve looked at into new, mysterious piles.
Start with TRASH, RECYCLING, & DONATE, for sure. If you’re going through paperwork, always have a container for what you’ll want to shred or burn. The size and scope of the receptacles will be determined by the size and scope of the job. If it’s your annual junk drawer overhaul, pull up a kitchen trash bin and have a little container for recycling or donate at your side. If you’re emptying an entire house, go ahead and order a dumpster delivery. Helpful tip: As you go, you can save every box you empty to be used for more categorizing and hauling away.
Make your workspace functional.
Make yourself comfortable. Set yourself up to be relaxed and chill while you work. Grab a chair. Light up the room. Don’t work in the dark. Open the windows; let in some fresh. Put on music, a podcast, or the TV. Invite a friend to keep you company, whatever it take for you to not hate life. If you give yourself as much pleasure as you can, you may even enjoy the job while you’re going at it.
Commit to looking at and pondering every little tiny thing you own. Then go easy on yourself. It is a process. You can only eat an elephant one bite at a time, and every little bit you do is an accomplishment. Give yourself credit - and even rewards. Positive reinforcement is the key to staying committed. Setting yourself up with everything you need, making it enjoyable, breaking it down into smaller, manageable pieces, and crediting yourself for even the tiniest amount of time spent working on it will be the tools that lead to your success.
[Warning to the extra motivated: if you’re on a “getting organized” kick, please don’t try to organize before you declutter. Don’t buy another container until you’ve taken away all the unused, useless, unwanted, or broken things you no longer want or need to contain. Declutter first. Figure out exactly what you have. Then organize it.]
In the next part of this series, “Digging In,” I’ll talk about the process of deciding what stays and what goes and how to manage an ongoing project as you work on making those decisions.