Hello. It's Rachel Papworth here, from Green and Tidy,
and I'm going to talk to you today about how to reduce the amount of stuff that
comes into your home, and also a little bit about how to manage that stuff
that comes into your home so it doesn't become clutter.
There's loads I could say about this! So, I'm just going to cover a few points
in this video. So do have a look at mygreenandtidylife.co.uk
for more tips and pointers.
I'll just cover a few things now.
So, the first thing that I want to cover is: keeping yourself out of temptation's way.
Do you know which shops tempt you to buy stuff?
Do you know which shops, if you go in,
you're likely to make an unplanned purchase.
If you don't know, have a think about it now and see if you can identify them.
It might be bookshops, or jewellery shops. It might be clothes shops or a particular clothes shop.
It might be gadget shops. It might even be jumble sales or charity shops or eBay.
Whatever those shops are,
don't go into them unless you've made a considered decision to buy something.
And don't believe that devil on your shoulder that whispers in your ear that
it's OK 'cos you're just going for a look.
Because you know, in your heart of hearts, that you will be tempted to
buy if you see something that you like.
OK, next thing. Play the one in, one out game. Every time you bring something into
your home, something new into your home, let something go in its place.
And if you've got too much of a particular thing
try playing the one in, TWO out game for that particular thing.
So I did this with my clothes when they got completely out of hand.
Not only were the wardrobe, and the cupboards, and the drawers in my
bedroom completely stuffed, also the wardrobe in the spare
room was full of clothes, and I actually had a hanging rail in the spare room too,
which was so loaded with clothes, it was so
heavy, it was like it was groaning under the weight of clothes and it would occasionally
collapse under its own weight. And it stopped anyone using the mirror in the room and so on.
So, I put in place a one in, two out rule for
clothes until I could get rid of that hanging rail. And, actually, it
was surprisingly easy. You know I'd find myself getting dressed in the morning
and spotting items in my cupboard and thinking,
"Ah, next time I wanna bring in a new piece of clothing, I could let that go".
So I'd actually have items held in reserve that I could let go in order to let myself bring something in.
So try playing the one in, one out game.
OK, next thing: always shop with a list. ALWAYS shop with a list.
We know how this works for food. We know it's good to do grocery shopping with a list, to make sure that we only buy what we want or need.
It actually applies to all shopping. Don't ever go shopping without a list.
Shops are set up to have us make unplanned purchases.
So, decide what it is that you want to buy and go and buy just those items.
A list will keep you focused. It won't stop all the impulse purchases
but it will keep them...it will reduce them.
It will keep them down. And, if there's nothing on your list, don't go shopping.
If you find you want to go shopping
when there's actually nothing that you want or you need, have a look at what it is you're trying to
get from that shopping experience. Maybe you want to be among
people, out in the hustle and bustle of the world. See if you can meet a
friend for a cuppa or, you know, or just go for a stroll with them.
Maybe you're just bored and you're looking for occupation.
Is there something else you could do? Could you read a book, or go for a swim, or go and see a film?
Or maybe you just can't stand the sight of your clutter anymore.
You want to get out of your house because you can't bear the sight of all your clutter.
In that case, could you maybe spend an hour or two decluttering part of your house, and actually make some progress on that?
See if you can find some other way of getting that experience.
OK, next thing: gifts.
One of my clients, for example, is constantly being given stuff by her Mum.
She's only got to say, "Ooh, you know, I'd quite like some new plates" and, the next time she sees her Mum, her Mum will have bought her
new plates and, of course, they won't be the plates that she herself would have chosen
and they just become more clutter in her house. If you have someone in your life
who shows their love for you by giving you stuff constantly, unsolicited,
I recommend you tackle this. At the very least
move the items they give you on as soon as you can.
Regift them, give them away, Freecycle them, give them to charity shops, return them to the
shop and get a refund if you can. Actually though, I recommend you go further.
I recommend you actually have a gentle word with the person that's
giving you all this stuff, and just explain to them that
you have too much stuff in your house and how that makes you feel and that you're committed to
reducing it. Don't blame them for your clutter. It's not their fault.
But just explain to them how it is for you. Explain that you
know that they do it out of love for you, and ask them to support you
in becoming less cluttered by showing their love for you another way, and
not giving you unsolicited gifts.
OK, and then the last thing: mail. So, first of all, reduce the amount of mail you receive.
So, register with the Mailing Preference Service to
stop unsolicited marketing mail coming to you.
Cancel registrations for any catalogues you
receive that you don't want anymore. The Mailing Preference Service won't stop companies that you've
dealt with in the past sending you stuff. You need to deal with that yourself.
And register with junkbuster.org.uk to opt out of receiving
the Yellow Pages and the Thomson Local and BT telephone directory.
So that'll reduce the amount of mail that comes in.
And then deal promptly with the mail that does come in. So set aside 10 to 15 minutes a day
to open all your mail, and have a recycling tub beside you there where you can
put all the unwanted paper for recycling, remembering to shred
anything that has personal information on it. And then deal with
the stuff that's come up in the mail in that 10 to 15 minute period.
If there's stuff that comes up in the mail that can't be dealt with in that period,
actually schedule it so you know when you're going to deal with that stuff.
So, I hope that'll help you to reduce the amount of stuff coming into your house, and manage the stuff that
comes into your house. Do have a look at mygreenandtidylife.co.uk for further tips
And do drop me an email at
rachel@mygreenandtidylife.co.uk
I'm always pleased to hear how you're getting on.
And I'll see you again soon. Bye for now.