If you follow me over on Instagram (especially my stories), you know I’m on a mission to declutter. This idea began for us a few years ago when we were in the process of putting our house on the market. We had SO MUCH stuff. We had a garage crammed full and our cars parked outside. Confession: My tendency is to hold on to everything. Oh, that? Well, I can’t possibly get rid of it. What if I need it some day? 

I’m not sure what flipped the switch, but over time, I began to realize that all of the stuff overwhelmed me. Perhaps it’s because we have a big family, with more people, that each have their own stuff. Maybe it was the idea of moving all of the stuff twice as we lived in a rental temporarily while our house was being built. Or maybe it was because we wouldn’t have a garage at our new house to store all of the things. Whatever the reason, both my husband and I felt the insane need to purge and simplify.

I’m going to share two resources that have helped me tremendously on this path. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo was the first one. I think her book helped me to understand that when our home is full of things we only really need and that bring us joy, we will find ourselves in a better place emotionally. Her process helped me to begin to separate myself from all.the.things.  Warning: her book is intense and the process pretty much entails going through groups of things all at once. Like every stitch of clothing you own pulled out and placed on a bed for you to go through. But it is worth it.

The next resource I want to share with you is Emily Ley’s A Simplified Life. After living in our house for three years, the things are beginning to add up again. I’m reading through Emily’s book (which is about way more than just the clutter in our homes) and I was once again nudged towards this need to simplify our things. Life is busy right now. I’m in my third trimester, homeschooling three kiddos, and trying to be a wife and mom. Decluttering huge sections just isn’t my thing right now.

So I decided that instead of putting things off, I would tackle our home little by little, weekday by weekday (I decided to take the weekends off). It’s been a game changer for me. I’m a little over thirty days in so far and it has truly added up. I’m going to share in another post things I’ve learned and how we’ve benefitted, but today I just want to share my approach.

1. Small spaces or sections. I don’t attempt to tackle my entire kitchen in one day. I work on a drawer, a cabinet, or a small space at a time. I do this for a couple of reasons. On most days, this takes me at most twenty minutes to work through, but normally it’s around five to ten minutes. That’s manageable and even on the days where I don’t get around to decluttering until 9pm, I can make myself spend just five minutes working on a spot.
2. Weekdays only. I mentioned this earlier, but I take the weekends off. It’s nice to give yourself a break.
3. No Rhyme or Reason. This may bug some people (and you should totally customize this for what works with your personality), but I work on whatever space I feel like I need to for that day. I may work on a kitchen drawer one day, my closet the next, and my bathroom cabinet another. I feel like this prevents me from getting bored or burned out on one particular space. Plus, there are some days where I only have ten minutes to declutter. I choose an easy space to work on those days. If I have more time, I conquer an area that I know will need a little more attention.
4. I DO Make Up Days. This is the rule follower in me, but there have been busy and exhausting days where I realize at 10pm that I didn’t declutter. I made the decision that when those times happen, I will declutter two spaces the next day. Or if it happens on a Friday, I’ll declutter on Saturday to make up for it.
5. Share, Share, Share!! Sharing on my Instagram account has helped keep myself accountable (and thank you all for the sweet messages over there!). If you don’t feel comfortable sharing on social media, find a buddy to text. Or share with your spouse each day. Always feel free to tag me on Instagram! I love seeing your progress!

Now go find a space to start on! 🙂 And make sure to let me know how it goes!

From my porch to yours,

Sharlie