declutter Archives • New Nostalgia

How to Declutter When Overwhelmed

I’ve gathered some tips and tricks to help you know how to declutter when overwhelmed.

If you read my post last week called Facing the Clutter in that One Dreaded Room, you know I’ve been busy decluttering around here, and honestly was quite overwhelmed when facing my own clutter. I talked about how we cleared out the study (that had become a storage room) and put all clutter in one area upstairs.

I purposefully transferred all clutter to an area where I could not close a door or drawer and ignore it. It is in our upstairs landing area, a place that I must walk through to get to my bedroom. I can’t stand seeing it every day, so I have been very motivated to chip away at the clutter.

In the process of dealing with my own clutter, have gathered some tips and tricks to help you declutter when you are feeling overwhelmed, too.

~Just start. There is no system or checklist that is going to do the work for you. You have to just start.

~Don’t be an overthinker. If you think too much, you will be paralyzed and get nothing done. This is when procrastination happens. Stop analyzing and just get busy!

~Clear out a small space, then keep plugging away at the rest. Think progress, not perfection.

~Have bins/boxes and black yard waste bags all ready to grab and use.

~Use black yard waste bags. You can’t see inside the bags so you won’t second guess or retrieve, and neither will your kids! I have one kid that is notorious for searching through my donate bags.

~Use these 3 things:

Keep Box or Bin
Donate Bag
Trash Bag

*Notice I did not include a ‘Sell’ box. This has tripped me up too many times. I end up keeping clutter thinking I’m going to sell it, which just creates more work and does not help me embrace simplicity. No more ‘sell’ box for me. It all goes to the ‘donate’ box.

{My FAVORITE timer. Click here to buy on Amazon}

~Set timer 15, 30 or 60 minutes. You choose. When the timer goes off, go make yourself a cup of tea. Then repeat or give it another go the next day. Pace yourself.

~ Find trash first. Scan the area and get rid of obvious trash. When trash bag gets full, take out the trash and keep going. Only use one trash bag for trash at a time.

~Start with easy decisions–the easiest being gather obvious trash. Make harder decisions, like what projects to keep and finish or what sentimental items to donate, for later. Set them aside and move on to something else.

~Self-talk is important. When you feel overwhelmed, change your thoughts. A ‘can-do’ attitude makes a difference!

“I can do this.”

“I don’t have to do it all now.”

“A little bit every day will get the job done.”

“I will be amazed at what I can achieve in a short time”

“One session done quickly will add up to a finished room in time.”

“My worst room might just become my best!”

These type of thoughts will lift your spirits and help you get the job done.

~Those items that are hard to let go? A helpful way to think about them is, “Am I holding onto someone else’s blessing?” Just because something has value does not mean you need to hold onto it. It could bless someone else.

~Use the 20/20 rule. This is a great tactic I’ve read about. If you can replace it for under $20 within 20 minutes, don’t keep it just because “WHAT IF I need it in the future?” Many things that are hard to part with can be found at your local thrift store, less than 20 minutes away and less than $20. So let it go, because if you truly need it in the future (you most likely won’t) you can get it in 20/$20!

~Take the ‘donate’ bag right to the car when full, and replace with a new bag. Doing this with both donate bags and trash bags will keep your area clear and you will see progress quicker, which will reward and motivate you. This tip is key for me! It is so motivating to see the area I am working on getting more and more clear as I take out the bags. It is so rewarding!

~Go through the ‘keep’ box as it fills up. If you find duplicate items or if one item replaces another, get it right to the donate bag. Put items you want to keep into ‘like with like’ piles.

~Ask a friend to help. Have them be the one to put things in ‘like with like’ piles, while you move quickly and take the items from the piles to their home.

~Make it fun. Play music or listen to a favorite podcast.

~Be ok with stopping but make sure you pick it back up the following day. A little each day and you will get it done!

How about you?

Do you have a dreaded room that needs decluttered and that is overwhelming?

Do this tips resonate with you? If so which one?

Please share your favorite decluttering tips!

HOME/ Homemaking/ Organizing/ Simplifying

Facing the Clutter in That One Dreaded Room

Don’t we all have them? That one dreaded room full of clutter? I’d like to think I’m not alone. The time has come for me to face the clutter in the one dreaded room in our home. There are a couple of little areas in my home that need my attention, (and a big garage) but for the most part, the main areas stay decluttered. These are not the ‘dreaded room’ I’m talking about.

{the home office before it became a room-sized junk drawer}

The Dreaded Room

For me, the dreaded room was our home office. I’ve posted before about this room, about how to do the deconstructed chevron paint treatment on the wall, and how I organized the desk drawers, and the office closet. Honestly, I’m embarrassed to admit how bad it got! The organizational systems I set into place worked really well for at least a couple of years, but then… life happened.

A year-long fight with anxiety, raising 3 teenagers, a blog that became a business our budget depends on, and medications that take me on an emotional roller coaster ride every 3 months…these are the reasons that come to mind when I think of why our office became a dumping ground. Yep, these are my excuses and they are quite good ones if I do say so myself!

If you have a similar room, have grace for yourself. You are certainly not alone, and it is ok to not have any good excuse. I just like to make myself feel better by listing mine. {grin.}

The office is on the main floor of our home. Until the last 2 days, it was full. Imagine an oversized junk drawer–it was a place to stash things that do not have a home. That was what our home office became and it was driving me crazy.

Clutter Attracts Clutter

An additional problem–the office is a room that one must walk through to get to my oldest daughter, Teagan’s room. She has always been my creative-minded daughter, who sees beauty in a lot of beautiful things, and likes to keep those things. I have to say, she has become much better releasing some of those things the last couple of years.

{door to my daughters’ room, must walk through the office}

Teagan has the ability to be organized, but it is not easy for her. She loves all the things but has the smallest room in the house with the tiniest, most dis-functional closet. You literally have to step up about 2 feet to get into the tiny closet. Once inside the floor slopes and makes it hard to stand straight and reach anything. She does NOT enjoy this.

Ironically, she choose her tiny room when she was little because of this “fun” step-up and slanted closet…it made the perfect private fort! I found her a few times using it as a place to pout about her ‘annoying’ little sisters or when she got in trouble for reacting to that annoyance! I picture her all tucked into the closet with her favorite yellow fuzzy comfort blanket, and it makes me smile..she was so little!

Now it is overflowing with clothes, high heels, and past homecoming and prom dresses. My baby has grown up and needs more usable space in order to live more organized.

Because of her lack of space and her love for all the things, I would often find her stuff overflowing into the office area. We all know clutter attracts clutter, so I take responsibility for how easy it was for her to add to my piles with her stuff.

Facing the Clutter

Teagan and her Grandma came up with the brilliant idea of clearing out the office and giving Teagan the space. It made sense since the rooms flow into each other, but I was immediately resistant. I feared a few things: giving up space where I stored a lot of my stuff, facing my room-sized junk drawer (who has the time?), and fear that I would just be trading my messy clutter for Teagan’s.

The last few weeks I have softened to the idea for a few reasons. I know it would force me to declutter and get rid of stuff that has been overflowing the office and office closet. I also recognized that Teagan (being a senior) has at least a year left with us, and has been talking about living at home for her first year of college, so we might get her for 2.

Over the summer, she worked so hard, saved a ton of money and showed so much responsibility in many areas. She is such a good kid. During the school year, she studies her cute little head off and needs a calm, clutter-free, quiet place to do it, especially as she enters college. She is amazing, and could use more space…and I have the ability to give it to her!

After communicating with her about my expectations for the ‘office turned Teagan’s extended room’ area, (which really is just to keep it orderly enough for me to easily dust and vacuum it with the rest of the house once a week), I decided she could take it.

I’m ok with just shutting the door to her main bedroom, but this second room I truly want her to keep orderly. She understands this and part of our agreement is that I can take the room back if it is not appreciated and taken care of.

Teagan has all kinds of plans to update her room and create a great space for her extended room. She and her boyfriend (who is super handy and helpful in these projects, and who has already helped by clearing the room) came up with a list of things that need to be done, from taking down wallpaper and painting/updating her room, to buying a few things to make the old office space beautiful and functional for her.

Clear Out the Clutter

She started clearing out the office clutter–another part of our agreement. She had to help by clearing the clutter, or really just transferring it to a place where I would be forced to deal with it. I wanted her to be a part of the process of making this space her own, experience hard work, and frankly, I needed the help to get it all up the stairs!

I had her carry it all upstairs to our landing area, an area that I pass to get to my bedroom. I could not handle having it strewn all over the house, and was purposeful in choosing where to gather the clutter. A single area, and a place where I would be forced to deal with it ASAP.

She made a bazillion trips up the stairs and commented on how great a leg workout it was. Ha!

I have a post coming out very soon titled ‘How to Declutter When Overwhelmed’ which will walk one through the process of tackling overwhelming clutter. I plan on making quite a bit of progress on the transferred clutter mess using the steps in the upcoming post. One thing about me is when I finally face the clutter, it has no chance. I’m good a tackling it and getting it done!

My anxiety rises every time I pass the transferred clutter. It is jolting to come up my stairs and walk through it to get to my nice, clean, de-cluttered and peaceful bedroom. It doesn’t feel good….talk about motivating!

Sometimes all it takes is to pull clutter out of closets and drawers (or entire rooms!) and place it in a space where you have to come face to face with it. It is definitely working for me, and I have already had two 20-minute sessions of decluttering in the area. Progress! I have a lot of tips and tricks I’ve learned when decluttering over the years, so watch for my upcoming post.

What about you?

Do you have a dreaded room or area that you need to unclutter?

Tell me all about it…it will make me feel so much better about mine!