The beginning of a new year is a great time to declutter your space. This week’s episode offers some ideas and inspiration to get you started.
Declutter to make your space more peaceful and functional
The beginning of a new year is a time when a lot of us are thinking about fresh starts, such as setting goals, and getting our lives and our homes in order, and decluttering. I thought this would be a good time to talk about decluttering and 10 categories that we can consider decluttering in.
Why do we hang on to things we don’t use or love?
- Fear of lack (what if I need it?)
- Guilt for how much we spent
- Sentiment (gifts and memories associated with them)
“Clutter is no more than postponed decisions”
10 categories to consider decluttering
1. Books
Ideas for decluttering books
- A good place to start: old/outdated reference books
- Consider setting limits for yourself: a certain number of shelves and no more–once those are full, if you bring new ones home, some have to go
- Donate to your church library, a senior housing center, kids books to a daycare center or preschool
- You can take them to Half-Priced Books (or your local used-book store) to get a little cash for them.
2. Clothes
Ideas for decluttering clothes
- Items that don’t fit
- Anything that’s stained or snagged or generally shabby looking
- Things that need buttons or other repairs – either get them repaired right away or get rid of them
- Multiples of the same thing: Keep the ones you wear regularly, but let go of the others
- Anything you haven’t worn in the past year
Benefits
- More space = more peaceful
- Less laundry to wash/fold
- Less feeling bad from looking at overstuffed closets and drawers, clothes you spent money on but don’t wear
- Fewer decisions to make = less stress
- Someone else can enjoy the things you don’t wear
- Extra money if you sell on resale apps such as Poshmark or Mercari
The same applies to your children’s clothes. Also, check out former guest Courtney Carver’s book, Project 333, which is all about her experiment of keeping only 33 items in her closet. Listen to episode 169 for my conversation with her.
3. Kitchen stuff
When you declutter the kitchen, you’ll have a more efficient and workable kitchen. You’ll also spend less time cleaning and organizing stuff.
Ideas for decluttering kitchen items:
- Appliances you don’t use
- Even if you spent a lot of money, it’s not an asset if you’re not using it. It’s costing you in terms of space, aggravation, and guilt.
- If you haven’t used it in a year or more:
- Sell on Facebook Marketplace
- Give it to a friend or relative
- Donate to your church kitchen or a local charity that helps single moms or women who’ve left abusive homes
- Food storage containers – how many do we really need? Get rid of old, chipped, or plastic containers. Maybe keep a few for sending food home with guests or taking leftovers to work for lunch.
- Utensils – How many wooden spoons, potholders, spatulas, mixing bowls, cheese graters, etc., do you need?
- Question: How often do I use this?
- The Minimal Mom asks “How do you want your kitchen to feel?”
- The cleaner the kitchen, the better the whole house feels. The less stuff you have in it, the easier it is to keep it clean.
4. Children’s toys
One mom blogger who also happens to have a Ph.D. in Child Development says kids don’t actually benefit from having a ton of toys:
“The research shows us that when we cut the excess from the lives of children they focus better and have less stress.”
She recommends a process for decluttering (check out her article for details) that starts with observing for a week or so – find out what toys your kids actually use and enjoy, but also what value does each toy add (how does it benefit your child)? She suggests we ask these questions about each toy:
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- Does this toy offer opportunities for creativity?
- Will this toy help my kid to burn off energy?
- Can this toy be used in many different ways, by kids of different ages and genders?
- Does my kid LOVE this toy?
In addition to her suggestions, here are some other ideas:
- Consider decluttering by category – toy cars, art supplies, blocks, puzzles, etc.
- Start by discarding toys that are broken, missing parts, etc.
- Donate toys your kids have outgrown (if you’re going to have more kids, box them up for now)
- If you worry about how your kids will react, you can box up toys you’d like to get rid of and put them away for a while to see if the kids ask for them. If they don’t after a couple of months, then donate them.
- To minimize what’s out in the home on a daily basis, box up some of the keepers and rotate every few weeks
5. Expired meds
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration offers guidelines for disposing of expired or no-longer-needed meds
- The DEA offers a drug take-back program
- FDA has a list of medications recommended for flushing down the toilet
- Others can be disposed of in the trash, but they recommend a specific process for doing that:
- Remove the drugs from their original containers and mix them with something undesirable, such as used coffee grounds, dirt, or cat litter. This makes the medicine less appealing to children and pets and unrecognizable to someone who might intentionally go through the trash looking for drugs.
- Put the mixture in something you can close (a resealable zipper storage bag, empty can, or other container) to prevent the drug from leaking or spilling out.
- Throw the container in the garbage.
- Scratch out all your personal information on the empty medicine packaging to protect your identity and privacy. Throw the packaging away.
6. Toiletries (makeup, skincare, haircare)
Besides cluttering our space and increasing stress, toiletries lose effectiveness over time and can harbor harmful bacteria!
Ideas for decluttering toiletries
- Gather ALL of your makeup, skincare and haircare products, and other toiletries in one location so you can see what you actually have
- Ask yourself (Source: Declutter Cosmetics and Toiletries Easily)
- Do I use it?
- Do I like the smell?
- Does it make me feel good?
- Is it way out of date?
- Does it live up to its promises?
- Does it suit me?
- Am I keeping it just because it was a gift?
- Is it usable?
- Am I keeping it just because it was expensive?
- Get rid of free samples or keep a limited number of those you’ll use for travel or make available for guests
- Toss anything that’s out of date: liquid products that have been opened for more than 6 months, dried out products like mascara and nail polish, old lipsticks
- If you have multiple open containers of products you want to keep, combine and consolidate them
- Get rid of makeup or skincare you don’t use because the color or formulation doesn’t suit you. If it’s unopened and still good, consider donating to a women’s shelter
- Offer those extras to friends! What doesn’t work for you might be perfect for them.
- Commit to using up what you have before you buy anything else
- One writer suggests,
“If you’re not sure if you’ve used some items recently or not, put them in a basket and mark today’s date on it (just write on a piece of tape or a sticker or even on the label of one of the products). If you use an item, take it out of the basket and put it back with the rest of your toiletries. If you haven’t used the items in the basket by a certain date (a month, 3 months, etc.), then give them away.”
7. Papers
- Recommendations from an expert (Source: How Long to Keep Tax Records and Other Documents):
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- Keep for less than a year. for example, ATM, bank deposit, and credit card receipts until you reconcile them with your monthly statements. . . . Keep insurance policies and investment statements until new ones arrive.
- Keep for a year or longer. Examples: loan documents until the loan is paid off, car title until you sell it.
- Keep for seven years. Tax records.
- Keep forever. Records such as birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, divorce decrees, Social Security cards, and military discharge papers should be kept indefinitely.
- Kids papers, special notes and letters, etc. – scan and save a digital copy. I have a pretty box where I put special notes and encouraging cards and letters.
- Consider investing in a shredder for disposing of papers that contain sensitive information (when we lived in the country we burned them)
8. Duplicates
One writer encourages us to consider how we might benefit from owning only one of various items. She also points out that “one” might not just mean one of an item; it also could apply to simplifying a group of items
- Kitchen Utensils: mugs, spatulas, whisks, spoons, cutting boards, rolling pins, storage containers
- Junk Drawers: pens, pencils, notepads, bag clips, take out menus, odds and ends
- Closets & Dressers: purses, shoes, jackets, t-shirt collections
- Office Drawers/Desks: piles of post-it notes, pens, paper clips, rubber bands, scissors
- Linens: bath and hand towels, beach towels, washcloths, sheet sets, blankets
- Shoes: sandals, flip-flops, heels, boots, sneakers in various conditions
- Kitchen Accessories: items that do the same thing–rice cooker, slow cooker, and instapot
- Children’s Toys: puzzles, balls, sets of blocks, books
- Hobby materials and sports equipment
(from The Power of Owning Just One)
9. Decor
- Change of seasons a good time to evaluate what you have and thin out the items you haven’t used, no longer love, no longer suit your style or your tastes.
- As you pack up my Christmas decorations, pull out things you didn’t use this year, things that don’t “spark joy,” and put them in the ‘donate’ box.
- You can do the same thing with each season, if you’re one who decorates for seasons or holidays: what do you have that you’re not going to use and didn’t use last year that you can pass along to someone who’ll enjoy it more?
- Walk through your house with an observant eye and a box or basket. Try to see it as a visitor might and notice how it feels. Too much? Wrong colors? Out of balance? Pull things out that just don’t fit, and give them to someone who’ll enjoy them.
- Consolidate things – all your candles and candlesticks, all your florals, all your vases, wall art, trays and bowls. Then, evaluate what you have: how much, how many duplicates, what items that you’re not crazy about. Discard anything that’s broken or too shabby, donate things you don’t love, and keep only what you love and use.
- Before you buy new decor for the next season, make sure you’ve looked at what you have.
10. Tech
- Old and broken cords can be a fire hazard, and cluttered hanging cords can trip people. It is also hard to clean around tech clutter.
- What?
- Start with the tech you’re not using – old phones, printers, CD players, remote controls to items you no longer own, broken cables, etc.
- There is no need to keep it around “just in case” – If nobody has used it in the past 6 months to year, consider disposing or donating
- How?
- Gather everything: have a single place where all stray cables, extra chargers and batteries go so you can see what you have. Whenever you find one somewhere, put it in that place–but if it’s cracked or frayed or broken, toss it!
- Decide what and how many you want to keep, and put them where they belong.
- Anything you’re getting rid of, either give to family or friends, donate to a charitable organization, or sell (eBay, Gazelle, etc.). For ideas on where to get some cash for your no-longer-wanted tech, check out Best Places to Sell Your Used Electronics in 2020.
- As one writer put it: “Many electronics contain hazardous materials and should not be simply thrown in the trash; your city or county should offer instructions on how to safely dispose of these items in your area. And make sure that your personal information is deleted and all hard drives are backed up, and thoroughly erased or overwritten.” That article reminds us that “Many companies, among them Best Buy, Staples, and Apple, offer electronics recycling services. You may also be able to donate old computers and other items to charitable organizations, or to sell them.”
A Few Thoughts
- If you’re not sure, box it up, label the box with what’s inside and the date. Then if you really need something, you can go into the box and get it. But if you don’t go into the box in the next 3-6 months, donate.
- You don’t have to get rid of a single thing you don’t want to. It’s your home. The question is, how do you want your home to feel? If you are satisfied with it, leave it as it is.
- In all areas, consider the concept of less but better
“Clutter isn’t just the stuff in your closet; it’s anything that gets between you and the life that you want to be living.”
~ Professional organizer Peter Walsh
What do you think?
Are you doing any decluttering as this new year begins? What motivates you to declutter? Please share them in the comments section below this post or in The Productive Woman Community Facebook group, or send me an email.
Resources
- TPW Episode 169: Voluntary Simplicity with Courtney Carver
- How to Declutter the Toys
- Where and How to Dispose of Unused Medicines
- DEA drug take-back program
- FDA list of medications recommended for flushing down the toilet
- Declutter Cosmetics and Toiletries Easily
- Day 2: Toiletries {31 Days of Easy Decluttering}
- How Long to Keep Tax Records and Other Documents
- The Power of Owning Just One
- Best Places to Sell Your Used Electronics in 2020
- Tech Decluttering Your Home
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Hi – thanks for linking to less-stuff with the cosmetics declutter checklist.
I’m just checking out your podcast now, it’s ace!