- How much clutter are you dragging around
in your personal life, but also, in your physical space?
When you start to let go of things that you don't need
and don't serve you, it's a powerful catalyst for change.
I'm going to show you how I declutter.
It's just my way, but you might learn some handy hints
so you can declutter your life, declutter your mind,
and find fun and a lot of benefits from doing it too.
(light, vibrant music)
So when you have too much stuff,
it clutters up your mind, it clutters up your life.
For instance, I now have three different types of vitamin D.
Each one is open.
That's open, that's open, that's open.
I don't like that.
I don't know which has got the sell-by date.
Now I might have three of these,
but I will not allow myself to open that one
or that one until I've used up that one.
So I put them away.
I only have one on my counter in my bathroom
and I will not allow myself to open the other one
until I've used up these two.
You might notice I have four different mascaras here.
Somebody bought these for me
and I think I bought these two.
But I have a rule,
although I really want to try them all out,
I will not open these
until I finished one and thrown them away.
Whenever I get something new, I have to throw something.
I get a new book; I get rid of one.
I get a new bra; I throw one away.
I get a new shirt; I give one away.
With makeup, I will not allow myself to use new stuff
until I've finish the old stuff.
So let's start with shoes.
I mean, how many shoes do you need?
I have all these pairs of flip flops
and I really only need two pairs.
I think I was given these in a spa.
So I'm going to give those to charity,
because they're pretty new,
and I'm going to throw these away because they're a bit
ratty. And now I have these shoes.
I love these shoes,
but they kind of look like they've seen better days.
They're falling apart.
So I could throw these away.
Maybe put them in a charity shop.
I'll put them in a charity shop just in case
someone can get a bit of use.
These shoes I love.
My husband bought me these, but they're the wrong size.
He can't change them.
And I just can't wear them, much as I love them.
So I don't know why I'm keeping them.
So now I'm going to either sell these on a resale site
or give them to one of those charities
that helps women who are trying to go back into business.
I'm going to put these here to resell
or to donate to something specific.
These shoes. Well, I love them, but I don't wear them.
They're a bit heavy. They're not good enough to resell.
So they can go to charity.
So charity, trash and be reused by someone else.
I have these two shirts.
I really like them, but they're kind of almost identical.
This one is silk. So I'm going to keep that one.
And this one I'm going to give to a lovely charity shop.
So this shirt, I should never have bought this.
It's too seasonal. It's too gimmicky.
It's actually a bit too young for me too.
So that's going straight to charity.
This one, I just never liked this. It doesn't suit me.
That's going to charity.
That's too old.
I don't know why I've kept this for years.
You see, the problem is with people is that we keep stuff.
I don't feel enough.
So I've got loads of stuff.
My wardrobe is bursting at the seams.
If I go into my closets and there's so much stuff,
I feel I'm enough.
I'm not enough, so I need more.
And that's what runs binging
and hoarding and compulsive shopping and collecting,
and just holding on and not letting go.
The most important words in the whole world are let go.
I love this linen shirt because it's a designer
and it's linen, but I haven't worn it for years.
So that's going to go to charity.
So I know it's sometimes hard
to get rid of something you love.
Your clothes, they're expensive,
but remember, giving it to someone else
will give someone else joy.
Giving your things to a charity shop
will give someone else joy.
Getting the clutter out of your house will give you joy.
Do you know we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time?
The rest just takes up space.
So if you think, "No, no, I just can't part with that
shirt."
"I can't part with my baby's little shoes."
"This is my baby's first top."
"This is my grandmother's shawl," and I did that.
If you have your baby's first shoes,
your baby's first little dress they came from hospital in,
your grandmother's bed,
then take a picture and make a collage of all these things.
I have photos of all my baby's first clothes,
and I can look at those,
but I don't really need to have a trunk full
of all her clothes.
It's just lugging stuff around.
And when you have a cluttered life,
you have a cluttered mind.
There's nothing worse than pulling open a drawer
and everything falls out and you can't shut again,
opening a closet and everything falls out.
It's a wonderful thing to sort everything out
and put it away.
You know, our mind is a bit like our closet.
Sometimes we open them, a cupboard,
shove everything in then ram the door shut.
Next time you open the door, it all falls out.
I believe in your mind, you should go in there,
sort stuff out, label it, fold it up,
put it back neatly, so your mind and your closet,
your mind and your drawers
are actually a bit of a mirror for each other.
Don't ram everything in all messed up.
Sort it out.
Decide, do I need this?
Does this have any purpose?
Does it make me happy?
Is it useful?
Would it give someone else more pleasure than it gives me?
Would it give me immense pleasure
to give it to somebody else?