Webinar: A Simple Declutter Method + Dealing with Problem Clutter

In this webinar, I talk about why it is hard to declutter, types of problem clutter, and I answered some awesome questions.

I’ve broken this webinar recording into two parts:

  1. Part I – My Talk: A Simple Declutter Method + Dealing with Problem Clutter (See notes)
  2. Part II – Questions & Answers: I answered questions on creating rituals to let go of old identities, regrets, useful resources, organizing pictures, and more!

Part I: Leo’s Talk (with notes)

You can download this video here or download the audio. Or watch above.

Here are the notes from my talk (video is below the notes):

A Simple Declutter Method + Dealing with Problem Clutter:

As we start to clear out clutter, let’s look at a simple decluttering method to work on all areas. Plus a few tips for the hardest types of clutter.

Why It’s Hard to Declutter

Simple Declutter Method

  1. Pick a spot – just a small spot, like a section of your kitchen counter, a single shelf, a small area on your bedroom floor, the floor of your closet (or half of it), your dining room table, a drawer.
  2. Set a timer for 10 minutes.
  3. Clear the spot, putting all items from that spot into a pile. For example, clear your dining room table, putting everything in a pile on the floor.
  4. Pick the thing that’s on the top of the pile. No moving things aside to search for easier things. Make a quick decision with that item: keep or give away. Keep it if you use it regularly and it brings joy to your life. Otherwise, let it go. Be ruthless about letting things go!
  5. Put items that you’re keeping into a permanent home. Meaning you’ll always put it back in that home, so it has a place in your life. Put things you’re letting go in a box for donation or recycling. “A place for everything, and everything in it’s place.”
  6. If something needs an action (say, a paper bill or an item needs repair), put it on your todo list. So your todo list captures all your “stuff that needs to be done” instead of keeping the things lying around to remind you. Put “todo” objects into a part of your closet or a box in the garage, so you have one place to go when you need to do that task on your list.

When your 10 minutes is up, you can stop and do the rest later. Or keep going if you have time and enthusiasm. But the idea is to do this in small chunks, so it doesn’t get overwhelming.

The key to this method is its simplicity – you pick one area, pile everything up, and make decisions on the first item that gets into your hand. Clear decisions, with only a couple options. Don’t waffle, get good at decision making through this process.

And smile.

Problem Clutter

Resources:

Part II: Questions and Answers

You can download this video here or download the audio. Or watch below.

Questions answered in this video:

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