So I want to talk about how to decluttter large, overwhelming spaces.
These look different from home to home but I'm talking about garages, basements, attics,
a storage shed, maybe a storage unit somewhere.
What is the process that someone can go through to begin to minimize the possessions in those places.
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before I even begin, let me start by saying this: don't start here, don't start-
I know a lot of people will think immediately "I need to go through my garage,"
"I need to go through my attic," but this is not the best place to start your minimalism journey.
Start in easy places where you can get wins, like a living room, or even your car,
or your bedroom.
Start there, work your way up, and the save some of these overwhelming spaces for the end.
But when you get there, here's a step-by-step process that you can go through.
Number one: remove the trash first.
You'll be very surprised when you enter some of these spaces, you'll see that there are
things that are just garbage, just should have been thrown away years ago.
Begin by getting rid of that stuff.
After that take a quick scan of the entire area, and look for easy things to remove.
So maybe not things that you're necessarily throwing away, but things that you know
can be removed from the space.
Take these paint cans, for example.
This paint's no longer used; I know I can get rid of it.
By the way, if you are getting rid of chemicals, be sure to research in your local area the
best way to dispose of them responsibly.
After you've gotten rid of the trash, you've taken a quick scan of the room to get rid
of some easy to remove items, the third thing to begin looking for is large items that are taking up a lot of space.
Cardboard boxes, for example, I remember when we were first minimizing our basement,
there was a piano that we had to get rid of.
One of the reasons I tell people to do this, is when you begin removing large items first,
you can start to see your progress.
You can start to see how you're freeing up space.
You can see the difference, the fruit of your labor, which will motivate you as you continue
on through the room.
At some point, begin to take these things completely out of the space, out of the room.
Take them to Good Will, take them to the dump if they need to be disposed of in that way.
After you've done that,
what you're going to have left is still a large project, but every large project can
be broken into smaller, bite-sized pieces.
So begin looking for those opportunities.
Maybe you can find one corner that you can complete in one process.
You can look through shelves that you have remaining and think,
"Okay, each shelf represents a different project."
Break the large room in smaller, bite-sized chunks, and begin working your way through
each chunk, completing each one before you move to the next one.
When you're conquering a large space, some other things to keep in mind, take rest, drink water.
This is a difficult process.
Maybe you'll want some help, someone to come alongside you as well.
I think that taking pictures can be very helpful.
Take a picture beforehand, so a couple hours in you can look and see the progress that
you've made as well.
Look, there's no way around it decluttering large, overwhelming spaces is going to take
effort and energy, but if you break it into smaller chunks along the way,
be motivated by your progress, you can do it.
You can complete even the most overwhelming space, and declutter it completely.
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