Eliminate “delays” to Get Things Organized in the Long Run
Most existing decluttering techniques involve step-by-step processes that force you to develop new habits and try new approaches. Many of them are based on the same principles: you should go through your belongings and organize them into piles based on what you will keep, throw away, donate or sell, then you should organize what you store, usually putting them in containers. . However, this leaves you with a lot of storage space for things you don’t really need, so while you’re working through the steps of your preferred decluttering method, you need to add another one.
Stop making “delayed decisions”
This tip comes from my favorite professional organizer, iOrganize , aka Kristen Fackler. I constantly scroll through her feed for organization and decluttering because she has a way of making even a seasoned organizer rethink parts of her home and approaches. For example, she recommends thinking of your home as a store when you’re deciding how to organize a large number of essentials. Her ideas about “deferred resolutions” recently caught my attention because, like retail, I hadn’t thought about this kind of decluttering before.
When you’re sorting through what you have and destining it for storage, throwing away, donating or selling, it’s easy to err on the side of saving. I’m guilty of doing this with clothes, especially when I tell myself that they might become fashionable again, that I might need them for a certain kind of event, or that I should keep them in case my body goes through changes, even if they don’t. will change. not suitable at the moment. Of course I’m lying to myself. I will almost certainly never wear them again. The same goes for batteries, assorted screws, old charging cables, super-specific tools, and all the other items that end up in various junk drawers, storage cabinets, and hidden containers. Sure, I put them away, store them, and organize them, but since they have no use for me, they still create clutter no matter how carefully they are stored.
Deciding to put off making a real decision about these items—which in most cases should be “donated” and in some others simply “thrown away”—does not help the overall decluttering process, even if it fits fairly well with standard labeling and content rules for stored items. That’s why it’s important to take one more step when decluttering: stop making pending decisions altogether. Don’t hold on to anything if the excuse is “just in case.”
How to stop putting off decisions when tidying up
On the iOrganize website, Fakler sells a list of 50 questions you should ask yourself to figure out if you really need to hold on to something. This includes asking whether these objects represent who you are now rather than who you were before, and what emotions they evoke in you. Using a checklist like this is smart because it will help you untangle complicated emotions and sentimentality by looking at your possessions more objectively.
I’m a big fan of the hands-on approach. I ask myself these questions, depending on the subject:
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“Do I have an event coming up where it would be appropriate to wear this?”
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“Do I already have something like this that I could wear instead?”
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“When was the last time I used this?”
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“Did I even realize I had it?”
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“Do I know what this [key/charger/etc.] actually does?”
Perhaps the most helpful questions I ask myself are the ones from the 20/20 rule : If I really need it in the future, can I get a replacement in 20 minutes, and can I get it for less than $20? There are also two questions from the Cleaning at the Speed of Life method: If I needed it, would I know where to look for it, and would I even know that I already had it?
If something can be easily replaced or has no specific use in the near future, it may disappear. But getting to the point where you make these choices easily and automatically takes practice. Next time you’re decluttering, take the time to look at each item carefully before tossing it into the “just in case” pile. Ask yourself objective questions like Fakler’s or the 20/20 method and commit to getting rid of things that don’t serve you and will simply become hidden clutter. The first few times, it can be helpful to create a “purgatory,” a fifth category in which you can sort your things. This involves storing more complex items in a box out of sight for a few weeks and then returning them to the box. and finally part with him for real. If you need an item or miss it during the few weeks it’s in purgatory, be sure to pull it out. But you will probably find that this is not the case. By doing this for a while, you can build the muscle needed to make faster decisions when reorganizing, eliminating unnecessary items and completely eliminating delayed decisions.