Yes. Yes, I truly believe that life would be better if I decluttered 10,000 items from our home. I’ve been thinking about this for a while and want to tackle some extreme decluttering. I’ve noticed how even small amounts of clutter have hindered our everyday operations as a family of four with young children.
And because I am a personality type that likes facts and research, I couldn’t help searching around the web immediately after this thought popped into my head. Psychology Today references a study directly correlating voluntary simplicity (minimalism) to positive well-being. Verywell Mind links clutter to lack of focus. Huh. Focus is a problem of mine. And Happiful Magazine justifies the hype around the mental health benefits of decluttering.
There may be something here. Let’s dive in.
Let Me Paint A Picture
Yesterday, while trying to get the kids ready and out the door in a hurry, I had this epiphany moment. I was picking up all the things on the coat closet floor yet again. Piles of hats, mittens, coats, boots, ski pants, and more. Neither of our children ever put their outdoor things away and I get it. The closet is small and the things are many.
Cleaning up the coat closet is a regular chore of mine. I clean it up every day. Sometimes multiple times per day. And still, every time I go in to grab my coat, it’s often a mess. Sometimes, I can’t even find one hook free to hang my purse on. I just want one hook!! Organizational gods can you please just send me one hook for my damn purse! That’s all I ask. Enter exhibit A, the messy closet:
Yesterday’s chaos didn’t stop at the closet. We couldn’t find toothbrushes to brush our teeth. Our entire family keeps getting hit with strep and the toothbrushes keep getting tossed and I couldn’t remember who’s toothbrush belonged to who. And where was the toothpaste? Answer, amidst the playroom clutter because someone’s doll needed their teeth brushed.
The playroom is another master class in mess, clutter, and disorganization. It’s a war zone in there and the parents have surrendered, waving the white flag of overwhelm and defeat. We have spent days cleaning up in here, organizing everything, but there is just too much stuff. We try to declutter with the kids but it turns into a fiery pit of yelling and tears. Rare is the child who voluntarily gives up the obscure toy they never play with.
As I’m searching for the toothpaste, I can’t help but think if they just had one quarter of the toys they have, they would play with their favorites more and I would spend less time on my hands and knees picking up all the things. Picture of the messy playroom, which we perfectly picked up just two days ago. Let me pause while you pin it.
Almost 20 minutes later, toothpaste tube in hand, I go searching for the children. As they’re brushing their teeth, I start looking for their water bottles. Clean water bottles typically get stored in the kitchen cabinet above the sink along with travel coffee mugs and cookbooks. There is so much stuff crammed into the cabinet that two coffee cups fall into the dirty sink as I’m rummaging. No water bottles. I start searching adjacent cabinets since Colby has a penchant for finding any empty spot and leaving the water bottles there. I find water glasses where coffee mugs go, coffee mugs where kids cups go, and one rogue water bottle behind it all. Huzzah!
Leaving The House Doesn’t Have To Be This Hard
I can’t help but think that leaving the house doesn’t have to be this hard. Or just our regular, day to day operation as a family doesn’t have to be this hard. It DOES NOT have to include picking up all the things day after day. If there were fewer things, there would be less picking up. AND it would make cleaning easier, and blog work easier, and (insert anything else) easier. AND it would be easier for our children to help put away their things.
This is the one that gets me. Our kids struggle to put things away. I notice that it’s just as overwhelming to them as it is to me. It pains me that our home environment, which I am in charge of, isn’t set up well for them to learn the basic skills of taking care of their belongings. Or taking pride in their spaces.
For example, maybe if we pare down the toys and kids’ stuff, they’ll keep it neat and tidy because it’s easy to find where things go. Like in the girls’ bedroom, Rowan’s bookcase of things she doesn’t want her sister to play with. My personal favorite, the random pedestal sink.
Where Did I Go Wrong?
Clutter has been a problem for a long time at our home. I recognized it last year when I kicked off a declutter challenge. The challenge was super successful and I removed 1,830 items from our home in just a couple of months.
The challenge was supposed to be a kickoff to get the decluttering ball rolling and start building some daily habits around decluttering. But you know what happened as soon as I broke the decluttering challenge chain? I haven’t decluttered a single item from our home since then.
I am a person who needs written down on paper goals and tasks to do something. I can’t just say to myself, “I’m going to declutter our whole house,” and expect myself to do it. I need a plan, action items, and a schedule for it to get done. Otherwise, I see it as not important or that I don’t have enough time to do it, and it will have to wait another day. That’s where I went wrong after the declutter challenge. I did not implement a system to keep the ball rolling.
The Fallacy Of Not Enough Time
My kryptonite, for just about anything but especially with decluttering, is the fallacy of not enough time. I truly believe I don’t have enough time to declutter. Or that there are more important things that need to get done first. But isn’t a tidy row of pantry items decanted in glass ball jars worth it?!
Rationally, when I sit down and think about it, there is plenty of time. How much time have a spent sucked into reading the news? Or how much time did I waste waffling on what was most important to do instead of doing the things?
My favorite thought pattern is the irony of thinking there is not enough time to declutter when I spend huge portions of my day picking up. What would happen if I just took 15 minutes a day, every single day to declutter? Would my picking up time decrease over time? Magic 8 Ball says, “it is certain.”
The Decluttering Goal For The Year
So this is me, declaring to the internets, that I will declutter at least 10,000 items from our home this year. We’re talking extreme decluttering. No corner of our home, including the outbuildings where we have a shop and storage, will go untouched. Internets, you are my accountability partner.
I feel like decluttering 10,000 items is a bit extreme. But I also feel like we need a goal a bit extreme. I am so sick and tired of the clutter. And honestly, Colby and I agree that the 1,830 items removed last year during my declutter challenge was just the tip of the iceberg.
The Responsibility Is Mine
I also need to take full responsibility for making this happen. I sometimes think the clutter is a problem because I can’t get my children to donate toys they no longer love. Or that it’s out of control because my husband lets the clutter pile up (especially the mail…he has a box overflowing with unopened mail). I also factor into this equation.
Decluttering also isn’t as important to them as it is to me, and the process of decluttering, once I set my mind to it and make a plan, is a strong suit of mine. I’m very goal-oriented and will power through to achieve what I want. The rest of my family? Not so much. But will they help if I set forth goals and dole out tasks? Absolutely.
What Will The Extreme Decluttering Process Look Like?
While I don’t have all of the details worked out or a plan in place, I do have some ideas.
Decluttering Checklist
I need a decluttering checklist. Check boxes motivate me. I need to be able to go down the list, finish a category, and check it off as complete. I’ll likely go room to room and within each room, go through the checklist one at a time.
Donation Collection Zone
I created a collection area for all donations when doing the declutter challenge and this habit has stuck. I do scan for items to donate pretty regularly and put them in this giant, rolling tote bag just outside my craft room. I stopped the donation collection process mid-year last year because the tote got filled and I never got around to taking the items to the thrift store. Which leads me to…
Weekly Donation Drop Habit
One of the things that helped so much when doing the declutter challenge was making a habit of going to the thrift store to drop off donations. I knew my drop day, packed the car the day before, and rewarded myself with a maple latte at a local coffee shop afterwards. I never had to think about scheduling a donation drop trip, which was so handy.
System For Toys
The toys are our biggest problem area. I’m leaning towards making a habit of every day taking one toy the kids don’t play with to store in a tote in the attic. I’ll keep doing that until the tote is filled, mark the tote with the filled date, then start filling another tote. Once a month has gone by and if the kids have not asked for a toted toy, the entire contents of the tote go to the thrift store. Same with the kids’ books.
Now, I’m off to make a plan and a checklist, which I’ll share more of in future posts. I’m a little hesitant to press publish on this post because one, clutter is embarrassing and two, it’s a big, vulnerable goal that I now need to follow through on.
Now, are you with me or are you with me? And show of hands, who wants to make this the year of clutter-free homes?
Angie, I’m with you! Wow 10,000 items! That’s ambitious but I admire your goal. You can do it! Good luck and keep us posted…I love these posts!
To say I’m quaking in my boots a bit over making that proclamation is an understatement! Now I must do it! Thanks for the comment and I will for sure keep you updated.