6 Simple Life Hacks To Help You Declutter

Simple life hacks that can help you declutter and make room for joy.

Simple life hacks that can help you declutter and make room for joy.

Is it time to declutter? Are you suffocating in all your stuff?

Mental and physical clutter keeps us stagnant. We accumulate more and more things that we don’t really need, only to feel emotionally stifled under their weight. Our creativity and wonder suffocate under the piles of “stuff.”

When we decide to minimize the clutter and excess in our lives, we leave room for abundance and meaning to move in.

[Tweet “When we minimize the excess in our lives, we leave room for abundance to move in. #minimalism”]

I have been feeling the tingling of this in my bones lately, but it came to crystal clear awareness last weekend after an intimate Self Discovery Workshop I led. One participant went home and felt compelled to start purging and organizing.

The funny thing is, this wasn’t a direct topic of conversation in the workshop.

We had been sharing a dream/goal we have and discussing what one thing we could do to get us closer to that dream.

The conversation started to revolve around clearing the disarray in our homes because one member (ironically, not the one who went home to declutter) felt she couldn’t move closer to her dream, to be happy doing what she loves and spending time being creative, because of all the clutter.

Three days later, I see this message on facebook:

 “After our Dream Chaser Workshop on Sunday, I was inspired to chip away at things in my life holding me back from moving forward! This tiny corner in my house is now organized. It has already freed up parts of my soul that were dormant. Thanks Karen and Ladies” 

Holy Guacamole!!

Clearing the clutter freed up parts of her soul that were dormant!

[Tweet “Clearing the clutter can free up parts of your soul!”]

WOW!

This was such an A-Ha moment for me!

Not only was it lovely to get such sweet feedback on the workshop, I started really thinking of the implications that were attached to clearing the clutter in my life.

What physical clutter is holding me back? How are the piles and piles of stuff around my house draining me?

How about you?

Are you feeling lethargic, uninspired, or unmotivated?

Look around you? Are the things in your life taking up so much space that you have capacity for little else?

Clutter makes it hard for us to relax. It is difficult to find motivation to be creative when we have an excess of things hindering our movement.

Why do we hold onto the things we do? Do our things make us feel secure? Do they make us feel valuable?

When we get rid of stuff that no longer serves us, it sets us free.

[Tweet “When we get rid of the stuff that no longer serves us, it sets us free. “]


 

love the feeling after I’ve purged my closet or a room in the house. I just feel lighter.

Creating a space free of clutter allows us to be mindful about the space we choose to live in. For more ideas on mindful living, read this.

After I had this lightning bolt moment about the excess and disarray in life holding me back, I came up with a few simple life hacks to help clear the clutter.

Simple Ways To Clear The Clutter

Hack 1.) 

Organize your work space at the end of every day so when you sit to work or create the next day, your creative energy isn’t being held back.

I am a tactile and experiential learner. When I write, I have to see and touch practically everything to get inspiration. I have 3 spirals out and open to what I’m working on, two books at the ready, scraps of paper with quotes, and oodles of sticky notes with all my thoughts and ideas scribbled on . . . you get the idea. This gets multiplied over days and days as I continue to work without really putting things back in their place. It gets to the point where I can’t do another thing because I’m drowning in papers.

I have found I just can’t be creative when my space is cluttered.

Organizing my desk and work space helps my creative flow. The less clutter I have, the more productive and inventive I can be.

Hack 2.) 

When tackling a daunting area, set a timer for a specified amount of time; 30 minutes, an hour, whatever feels right. When the timer goes off, stop where you are.

When the task is this overwhelming, it is easier to feel successful when we can break it down into bite size pieces. We don’t have to do it all at once. Which in my case would take days.

I have a few closets in my house as we speak that might cause an avalanche if the door was opened too quickly. The thought of even looking inside overwhelms me, so I never do.

But, they need to be gone through. I can feel the weight of the excess keeping me off-balance.

Do you have a closet, drawer, garage, or room like this, that overwhelms you to even think about?

Hack 3.) 

When you are purging items, ask yourself, “Does this bring me joy?” Enough said. 

Do your clothes or household items need to be purged? I used to have a hard time with this until I heard a suggestion from the book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.

Honestly, I didn’t read the book, but I know many people who loved it. They shared the main idea with me and this one simple question revolutionized my closet.

For example: I had this flirty, boho orange blouse with lace at the neck and wide flowy sleeves. I loved the look of this blouse. It channeled the hippie in me whenever I saw it. The problem was, the arms were too tight and it wasn’t comfortable. But, I just couldn’t part with it. I loved the idea of it so much, it took me 2 freakin’ years to realize I was never going to wear it because it didn’t feel good. When I was cleaning out my closet a month ago, I asked myself, “does this blouse bring me joy?” I had to be truthful and say, “no.”

Into the donation pile it went.

Hack 4.) 

Make sure everything you keep in your life has a place.

If we have to buy more things, containers and organization paraphernalia, to keep our stuff organized, then maybe we should let go of the things we are trying to make room for.

Hack 5.)

Only touch something once.

For example, with mail, take care of it now instead of putting in a pile to do later.

Hack 6.)

Don’t hold onto the things you might want someday. This takes energy from the here and now.

If we are to be mindful, we must live in the present. 


 

These are just simple, real life ideas, I am certainly not an expert on organizing (just ask my husband.)

I do think it is important to get a handle on the “stuff” in your life.

Once you clear the clutter, you will free your mind.

[Tweet “When you clear the clutter, you’ll free your mind. #decluttering”]


 

Now I need your help:

One area I’m still struggling with is the many boxes that hold things that belonged to my mother and grandparents. My mother and grandparents have all passed away, so these are sentimental for me. I have photos, heirlooms, books, etc. All things I know were important to my family.

Do they bring me joy? Some yes, some no. I struggle with how to purge these things without feeling incredibly guilty.

Let me know in the comments below if you have any ideas that might help. 🙂


 

I love what simplifying communicates. It says we do not need “stuff” to make us feel valuable or to create abundance. It says by minimizing the things in our lives we are making room for creativity, joy and love. It says we can live in the white space. We don’t need things to make us feel worthy.

[Tweet “We do not need “stuff” to make us feel valuable or create abundance.”]

If you’d like more ways to simplify your life to make room for abundance, here are two of my favorite blogs. Let me know what you think:

For ideas on minimalism, check out the blog The Minimalists.

For ideas on simple living, peruse the blog No Sidebar

To receive more simple life hacks on how to create a life you’re in love with, sign up below for my monthly newsletter.

Salty Kisses,

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26 responses to “6 Simple Life Hacks To Help You Declutter”

  1. Hi Karen, I wish I could offer advice on what to do with your mother and grandparents stuff, but I’m in the same boat. I have things from my grandmother, like her old costume jewelry, that I will never wear, but I can’t seem to part with it. I do agree 100% with the power of decluttering to promote creativity. I can do so much more work when my desk is clean and organized. In fact, you’ve inspired me to clean it off right now!

    • Haha well I’m glad it inspired you to clean off your desk. I am always amazed how I let things just pile up when it feels so much lighter to have things organized and simplified. Thanks for reading Monica! 🙂

  2. I love, love all of the topics you touch! Thank you! As you know, after moving to Oregon believe it or not we are still shedding possessions. Thank goodness for our new church’s coming Garage Sale. The hardest has been mom and grandmother things, and I’M way older than most of your readers! And now I realize just how many “To Save” boxes we brought: Theirs plus ours! And you know friend, I had your Mom and Dad’s pinning announcement in a scrapbook from our college days!

    One thing I did before we left Seal Beach was to take photos before I gave things away. I will continue to do this; my questions remain the same: “Does this bring me joy?” I did read Marie Kondo’s book. “Am I using this?” Forget “Will I?” My goal is to finish my life with only the things that I truly needed and those that my children know mattered to me.

    • Aww thank you for your sweet comment friend! It is so hard parting with the sentimental stuff but I don’t want my kids to have to go through my things and keep it out of guilt. I’d like them to have joy when they look at anything they keep of mine. I hope all is well! xoxoxo

  3. Ah spring! And the cleaning that goes it. I walked into my closet to start clearing it out. Looked around and walked back out. UGH. I’m going to have to break it up into sections to tackle it. I think I’ll start with the junk drawer in the kitchen…

    • Oh my Rev, I have been there. Yes, break it down into small chunks. I find it’s easier to get it done and not feel so overwhelmed this way. Thanks for your comment . . . it gave me a smile.

  4. yes! i was fantasizing about doing some decluttering this morning . . . it is a rare occasion, so i’m not inspired to strike while the iron is at least warm.

  5. I just sold a home and moved cross country….so lots of stuff was tossed, sold, decluttered! Now I have boxes not opened yet; but haven’t missed anything!….guess they should be addressed. I like your timer idea! That’s why I’ve been procrastinating. And not keeping things for ‘someday’ has been really freeing for me. Thanks for sharing these…..great post!

    • Thank you Joan, I appreciate that. When we remodeled our home several years ago, we put most of our stuff in storage. Except for holiday items, we didn’t miss a thing. I should have just sent it all to charity without even looking. Thanks for stopping by!

  6. Karen, I too struggle with heirlooms from family members. One thing that has helped me is to see if there is a way I could recreate these items into something I would use. Maybe it is a shadow box, a display on a shelf, or a photo collage. One rule that I insist that we follow in our house is the “Like it, Love it, Have a place for it rule.” I will admit when dealing with sentimental items, I will usually find a place for it once it meets the Like it, and Love it criteria.

  7. Karen, I’m saving this post to read again this week. I’ve got the itch and need to start walking around w. a garbage bag to get rid of all the things!!! I’ve shared your post on Midlife Boulevard’s FB page. Let me know if you’d ever consider submitting for a re-post on the site. I love it!

    • Oh Andrea thank you for sharing! I would love to repost it on Midlife Blvd. I have done it once before, is the process the same? Thank you so much! 🙂 And I LOVE that idea to help with decluttering . . . just walk around with a garbage bag! 🙂

  8. Hi,
    I enjoyed your post. I felt it was on a higher level of getting rid of what doesn’t work in your life as well as practical–decluttering. We save everything here.
    Janice

    • Thank you Janice! Yes-I feel the physical clutter leads to mental and emotional clutter. It helps to move on from what doesn’t work any longer. Thank you far taking time to read it and your comment! 🙂

  9. So many thruths… I have been pretty good, but there is still so much more do declutter.

    How can I motivate my husband to let go of stuff that belong to Hack No 6? He hoards magazines that go back to the 1990s, and he swears he wants to read them once he retires ? They have yellowed, they are smelly, and they take up so much space!!

    • Oh my goodness Tamara, I feel your pain! I have done that exact thing with vintage furniture magazines! I had to get to a point where I was honest with myself and realized I was NEVER going to read them. What really sealed the deal for me in purging clutter was when my grandmother died and I had to go through her things and decided what to keep. She kept everything . . . Easter cards from 1963 for example. I vowed then and there not to do that to my kids. I don’t want them to have to go through the agony of sorting through my belongings and try to decided what is precious enough to keep. Thank you for reading and hopefully we can both come to some peace with this! 🙂

  10. I love the idea of using a timer. Regarding the boxes of “family history,” I, too, share that dilemma! Maybe if I get rid of other junk, I will have more room to display some of my grandmothers’ treasures.

  11. Hi, Karen

    In order to have good health, successful career, and successful relationship, we need to start to declutter our space. The excess physical stuffs in our home really create feeling of blockage in our life.

    I love your suggestion “don’t hold onto the things you might want someday. This takes energy from the here and now.” It is so expensive to pay for storage space for all these stuff. That also reflects the internal insecurity character of the person. They may afraid they are not able to buy them in future.

    It always give me good feeling when i donate the stuff that i want to get rid off. I feel so rich i can bless somebody with mine

    Thanks for sharing

    – Stella Chiu

    • Thank you Stella for your very thoughtful comment. It’s true-the excess does create a feeling of blockage. I agree-donating things to others feels good! I appreciate you taking time to read my blog! 🙂

  12. Hi Karen (that’s my middle name!), I enjoyed your ideas so much.
    There are some lovely ladies on line: Gail Goddard and Brenda Spandrio (The Declutter Lady), and 10 tips for decluttering by Coco Living Light. They have been a great source of help for me to get rid of sentimental items from relatives that are gone (or are still here and want to get rid of their stuff so give it to you). One idea is that you need to work on getting rid of the guilt. What good are the items from your loved ones sitting in a box? Wouldn’t it be so much nicer if other family members could use the items and display them, how about a homeless shelter that might be able to use that extra microwave etc. Keep only the things that bring wonderful memories for you. Keeping items out of guilt will only stress you every time you see the box, or look at the items taking up space you could use – and those loved ones would not want that for you. If you have items that, say, your grandmother owned, but she never used them either, give them away, or sell them. Keep an item that you love and cherish. That might be one cup your grandmother gave you warm milk in on cold winter nights. You do not need to keep her whole dish collation unless you are using it on a regular basis. When I purged, I felt so much relief and the guilt went away because I no long owned the items, and I felt good that others were happy to have them. The end results are that I had space and peace of mind. Check these ladies out for so many more ideas. I also follow your reader’s questions and add to them, Do I love this? Does it inspire me? Does it fit my decor? Are there any negative memories attached to this? Search your heart for the answers, then be strong to follow through. In the last 3 1/2 years I have gotten rid of 11,000 items from my house – yes, 11,000 that is not a typo. Best of luck. Debbie