Hello. I'm Rachel Papworth, from Green and Tidy,
and this video is to talk you through my straightforward
ten step process for decluttering a area of your home or office.
It's primarily aimed at people who are on my 10 week programme, Clear Your Clutter, Stay
Clutter-Free, and Live the Life You Want ("Hi!" if I you're on that programme)
and I've made it available publicly because it's useful to
people more widely as well. So,
the first thing you've done (obviously, if you've already chosen the area that you're gonna be
decluttering),
the first thing to do is to take a photo of it. So grab your phone
and take a quick photo: a "before" photo.
And that's because, after you've decluttered an area,
the new way it looks will very quickly come seem normal to you,
and you may forget how much you've achieved
in decluttering that area. And decluttering is quite
an emotional process, it's quite a tiring process,
so it's good to have a little reminder of how much you've achieved
to keep yourself motivated. The second thing is to
to get in touch with WHY you're decluttering. Now we do a lot more about this on
my 10 week programme
but just be sure that you understand for yourself why it's important to you to
do this 'cos again that's going to keep you motivated.
Third step. Clear the space in which you're going to be working.
So, say I was going to be decluttering this bureau behind me, it's got
you know a pull-down area, and it's got drawers and so on. I would want to clear the space in front of that, on the floor
in front of it,
so that I had room to work. And I want that space to be as close as possible to the thing that I was
decluttering or the area that I was decluttering,
and I'd need enough space in which to work.
The fourth thing is to assemble
some boxes and bags in which to declutter, so that you're gonna sort
everything that's in the area that you're decluttering into seven categories.
Now what boxes or bags you use is going to depend on what you're decluttering
and where they're likely to be going. So, for example, if you were doing a wardrobe
and you knew that quite a lot of that stuff was gonna go to a charity shop
you might want to use some dustbin sacks or some strong carrier bags.
So it depends what you're decluttering,
as to what you're going to sort into but some things that I find useful:
I mean, most people have got a stock of carrier bags around their house, they can be useful;
or may you want some bigger, stronger bags... I particularly like these plastic crates.
They store flat but then they open up
into a box shape
and they're lightweight, they've got carrying handles, they're great for carrying this
round your house. But don't go and buy things specially.
We've all got loads of boxes and bags around our house,
so just assemble boxes and bags that you've already got to sort things into.
Now the seven basic categories into which you're
going to sort items (and you can sort any area of your home or office
into these categories) are as follows: 1)
I'm keeping this item and it belongs where it is.
So I've taken it out of that bureau, I've decided I'm going to keep it,
when I finished, I'm going to put it back in that bureau. Secondly,
this item needs something doing: it needs some action taking. So it's a piece of
clothing that needs mending,
an electrical item that needs a repair, maybe it's a bill that needs
paying. So, that goes into your "take action"
box or bag. The third category
is that this item doesn't actually belong to me. It needs returning to somebody else.
It could even be a library book, or you've borrowed it from a friend, or
you know, whatever. You come across something, and you're like. "Oh" I could give that back to Mum".
You know, so that item belongs to somebody else.
Or, it belongs elsewhere in your home. So you're gonna keep it
but, at the end of the session, you're gonna put it away somewhere else. You're not gonna do that now
because that would distract you. You might spot an area of clutter somewhere else. You might spot
something else that needs
doing. You wanna stay focused on this area so, for the moment, you're just gonna put
it in the "belongs elsewhere or to someone else"
box or bag. The fourth category
is items that you're going to get rid of by giving them away or selling them.
So maybe you're gonna give them to a charity shop,
maybe you're gonna put them on eBay, maybe you're just gonna hand them to a friend.
But you're gonna give them away or you're gonna sell them. The fifth category is items for recycling.
The sixth category is items for landfill,
for rubbish, and the final category (and this is a really important
category), the seventh category,
is "I'm not sure". Now the purpose of that
is to stop you getting hung up and stopped by a particular item that you just can't make
a decision about.
Like, do I want to keep this picture? Oh! I don't know. Oof!
Had it for a long time. I do quite like it.
But, I dunno, maybe it's time to refresh it... And then you get stuck and you're sitting there for a long time, unable to
make a decision. Don't spend more than 30 seconds on any item. If you're not sure,
fine, put in the "not sure" box or bag. We're gonna come back to that later
and it's not a problem. Move on to the next thing.
So, setting up those boxes and bags: that's the third stage.
You might even find it helpful to label those boxes and bags:
to actually get a piece of paper and write on it "Take action",
"Belongs elsewhere"...and stick it to the box or bag.
You might not feel you need to do that but, if it's helpful, go ahead and do that,
and, if you do do it, do it so that the label is gonna really stick.
What you don't wanna do is get some Post-It notes and scribble it on those
and stick that to a black, plastic sack because, I guarantee you, during your decluttering session,
that's gonna fall off, it's not gonna be helpful, it's actually gonna create more clutter,
more confusion. So if you do label your boxes and bags, do that firmly, make sure the labels are
well stuck on.
One last thing about the categories: they're not absolutely fixed.
Do feel free to play with them, depending on what you're declutttering.
So, for example, in the UK, charity shops will take bags
of clothing that's too worn to be resold as clothing,
but which can be ragged, to be sold for rags, and so you might specifically want a bag
that you label "Rags".
So do feel free to play with the categories a little bit. But those seven are
the basic set.
So, fourth stage take everything out of the area that you're decluttering and move it into the
area you're working in,
all in one go. Get it all out. And then clean
the area that you've just taken everything out from.
Now, cleaning might not seem like it's part of decluttering but the thing is, when an
area is cluttered,
it's really hard to get it clean. It's too much stuff there to
clean round it so, either you don't clean it at all
or maybe you kind of clean a bit around the stuff,
but generally we find that when we take everything out of an area, it's quite
dirty, it's quite dusty
and it could really do with a clean. And it's just the perfect time to do it, 'cos it's empty, it won't
take a minute.
Run the vacuum cleaner around it, rub it down with a wet cloth, whatever, get it clean.
Okay then you get onto stage five. Now this is where you're actually starting to make decisions
So, the important thing here is to be systematic. Go through each thing
one at a time and ask yourself three questions:
1) Am I legally obliged to keep this item?
It's my passport, my birth certificate, my driving licence,
something I need for tax records. I HAVE to keep it.
2) Am I realistically likely
to use this item? And the key here is about being realistic.
And there's a good way to help you make that decision.
Have a look and see if you've used it in the last 12 months. Now, it's not a guarantee that, if you haven't
if you haven't used in the last 12 months, you won't use in the next 12,
but it is a guide. It helps you think, "Well, actually it's been a long time since I used this.
How realistic is it that I'm gonna use it again in the future?"
Third question: do I just love this item?
Now, I might not be about to use it. I may not be legally obliged to keep it.
But just looking at it
gives me pleasure. It's beautiful. Fine.
Then you might wanna keep that item.
Don't cut corners here. So, you find a box of papers, go through the box of
papers. Don't put the whole box to one side.
And remember what I said about not spending more than about 30 seconds on one
item. If you're
not sure, put it in the "not sure" box or bag.
And with each item that you decide to keep, you've got a further question which is, "Does it
belong in this area
or does it belong elsewhere?" and then that decides which of those two boxes or bags
you put the item it. Okay, so you've been through everything now.
Move on to the sixth stage of the decluttering process,
and that is to revisit the "not sure" box or bag.
Now, when you first saw those items that have gone into the "not sure" box or bag, you may not have seen them for a
long, long time. You might even have forgotten that you owned them.
But, in the time that you've gone on working through that area that you're decluttering,
you brain's had a little bit of time to process thoughts and feelings around those items
so you might find that actually, now, you CAN make a decision about them.
Often I find that people, when we go back to the "not sure" box or bag, they're quite
surprised what's in it. They're like, "Well, actually, I'm really clear I don't want this" or "No, I definitely do want that".
Or, you're still not sure. In which case, keep
the item. It's fine. Look how much you HAVE got rid of.
Its alright to keep something that you're not sure about. You can always make a decision
about that item again further down the line, in some months, weeks, years.
Stage 7: briefly revisit the
"I'm keeping" boxes and bags. "Keeping here" or "keeping elsewhere".
Don't go right back through them. But just have a quick look and see if there's anything that, now
you look, you
think, "Actually, I said I was gonna keep that but I don't want it anymore", and you can move it into
one of the 'get rid'
boxes or bags. But don't spend too long doing that. Just a quick
check back. Stage 8
is to return the items that you're keeping
in this area to this area. So, in this case, it would be to
refill the bureau. Now obviously, how you do that, and how you organise it, that's a whole nother
subject, and we go into that in some detail on Clear Your Clutter, Stay
Clutter-Free and Live the Life You Want. But I'm not to do that now. But return those to the area that you've just
decluttered.
Stage nine is to
take the actions associated with putting away all the other boxes and bags.
So, the landfill box or bag: bag it up and get it ready to go out for the
refuse collection. The recycling: similarly
get it ready for collection or for taking to wherever you have to take
recycling.
Go to the "take action" box or bag and, anything that you can do quickly - any actions that
are just a, you know, a 30 second task - get them done now.
Anything that's gonna take a bit longer, schedule it. In other words, decide when
you're going to do it,
put it in your diary or calendar, make sure it's going to get done.
And then, finally, stage 10: grab your phone again,
take an "after" photo, compare it to the "before" photo
and give yourself one huge pat on the back. Give yourself a little reward. I don't mind what it is.
Just don't make it a shopping trip! But you've done a really good job and it is
worth taking a moment just to acknowledge what you've achieved because that will help you
with the motivation to go on and do the next area of your home or office.
I hope that's been useful to you. If you've got any questions, do send me an email, do
contact me through my website.
I always love hearing from you. I also love seeing those
"before" and "after" photos. If you're willing to share those with me. And, if you're on Clear Your Clutter, Stay
Clutter Free and Live the Life you Want, I hope you're enjoying the programme.
and I'll see you in the next video. Bye!