In an earlier post on life laundry, I suggested that making lists would be a good place for starting the process of de-cluttering your life. As my grandmother always used to say: “Every journey begins with but a single step.”
You’ve now taken that step. (But, if you haven’t, you are invited to read my suggestions as to how you might take that step.)
It’s now time for the second step. (My grandmother didn’t say this, but I will: Without that second step – and quite a few after that too – there is no journey!)
I suggest that the easiest and, usually ( though not always) least angst-ful list to start with is the ‘physical clutter’ one. I am going to suggest three possible starting points for your programme of physical-decluttering. The first is here, below. The second and third are in subsequent posts.
So let’s start with the first potential starting point. This involves going through your home and (later) your office or your workspace and, with a critical eye, examining, from a distance of about two metres, each substantial surface: your kitchen counter, your dining table, your coffee table, your bedside table, your desk, your work table. What do you see? A pile of books posing as ‘art’? A kettle, coffee machine, toaster, food processor, stick blender, greasy half-used bottle of olive oil from your trip to Umbria last year and five spatulas in an earthenware jar?
I don’t want to drift into the realm of design. But humour me while I make this comment: For you, books piled artfully on the coffee table may be art. For me that is clutter. But, whatever the case may be, your task is to commit yourself to clearing all the surfaces you have just examined of everything except, firstly, what you consider to be art and, secondly, those tools that allow you to be immediately productive each time you go to use that specific surface. In the kitchen, you want a clear counter to work at and so you will want to free it of everything apart from, possibly, your kettle and toaster. An inviting desk is likely to be the bearer of just your computer and perhaps a pot of pens. Only you know what you need (apart from a fresh, inviting-looking, uncluttered work space) when you approach that surface for the first time each day.
What are you to do with the things that you remove from the surfaces? Ideally, dispose of them (ever heard of Olio or Facebook Marketplace? Freecycle? British Heart Foundation?). If you didn’t have a place to park them economically of space before now, the chances are high that you have no need of them. But if you decide that you do still need them, then find a place for them in a cupboard or in a drawer. Not in the loft! And not in the garage!
Today, clear the surface which, once pristine, would give you the greatest joy. It may be your kitchen counter. It may be your desk. Perhaps it is the table in your entrance hall.
And that is enough de-cluttering for today. Tomorrow you will clear another surface and the day after that another. Only later will we tackle the non-surfaces: the cupboards, the drawers, the loft (aren’t you looking forward to that!)
In future posts I will make suggestions for alternative starting points for your de-cluttering programme. In the meantime, if the angst of even thinking about de-cluttering is bothering you, read more about my approach to counselling, mentoring and life-coaching and message me to help you get started.
