Don’t we all love a good challenge and what better way to challenge yourself than the decluttering challenge. Let’s debunk and declutter with the help of our clean up expert, Jane Andrew from ClutterFree, Cape Town.
Let’s find tactics to win this storage war and for the clutter to be gone.
Nothing is more relieving than coming home to a clean organised space. The last thing you would like to deal with after a long day is your space being one huge mess. The 30 day decluttering challenge is to help put your life in order and avoid messes from piling. We have teamed up with ClutterFree to help us with a step by step guide on how to create your own 30 day declutter challenge.
We asked ClutterFree for tips to declutter your space successfully here are a few ways to do it:
- Firstly, to set a date and time to execute this project. To actually put aside time to do this. To let loved ones know in advance so that they are not caught off-guard as sometimes there can be a “messy middle”, meaning it can look worse before looking better. Be kind to yourself, to give grace as it always takes longer than what one expects it too: remember it took time to accumulate items so it will take time in making those decisions on what to let go of too.
- Create a keep, donate, trash and sell pile. One can use boxes, garbage bags and containers. To set a “relocation bin or basket” at each door of each room. These are items that don’t belong in that space and need to be relocated to different areas or rooms in the house. Only at the end of each session take the bin or basket and go around merely dropping the items into that space. This avoids wasting time in running backwards and forwards and becoming distracted in any other room by organising there. Just drop them in that room and when one gets to that space, then organise it.
- I tell my clients to have specifically black garbage bags. The reason why I like to use these ones is because then once one has made a decision on what to declutter, one cannot remember what we had decided on if the bag is not transparent. Our brain takes only a few seconds to make the initial instinctive decision, after that, we hesitate or revisit the declutter or donation bag. Our brain will automatically start to “back pedal”, to second guess our first decision made which more often is the correct one.
How do you deal with sentimental items that are hard to let go of?
Letting go of things that hold memories and are of sentimental value can be hard, but we have asked ClutterFree to advise us on how to deal with letting go and they have stated that you can take all donations to the various charities that same day in order to get it out of the house immediately. Just Google, “donation centre near me” – there are tons of animals places like ‘Tears’ that take old pillows, throws, sheets, duvets, blankets as well as children hospitals like ‘The Red Cross’ or ‘Maitland Children Cottage Home’, there is the ‘The Haven Night Shelter’, ‘U-Turn’ which are in so many suburbs, etc. Pet shops often accept donations, such as books to raise money for shelters. ‘Oasis’ who employ mentally challenged adults take everything. ‘The Gear-Change’ cycle shop takes in all cycling equipment too. ‘Rural Child’ will come with a truck and take everything too. One never needs to pack everything perfectly as it all gets unpacked, cleaned and sorted too. There is such a need in South Africa so I suggest to rather donate over wasting time on trying to sell every item. It is the quickest way to also get the items out of the home too. So a win-win on both ends.
Are there any organisers/clean influencers you would recommend following on social media or any tv shows to watch?
ClutterFree recommends, for movies I would watch, ‘Minimalism: A Documentary about the important things’ and their second documentary, ‘Less is Now’. One does not have to be a minimalist to watch these but they offer great insight in all general areas. Minimalism is really only about removing the excess and keeping the things you currentlyt use and enjoying the things you love, making room for things you truly want to do.
On YouTube: Dawn from ‘The Minimal Mom’ who offers practical advice, tips and ideas on how to declutter and simplify one’s home. She is very well known in this sphere and has the highest following.
Books/Audio books: ‘The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up’ by Marie Kondo and ‘The Minimalist Home’ by Joshua Becker, again relates to all areas of simplifying in a very practical way and for parents: ‘Simplicity Parenting’ by Kim John Payne who examines all areas of childhood development especially related to clutter and toys. The less toys a child has the more their imagination increases, their sharing skills improve, the problem solving skills develop and mentally they are happier and more content with experiences over material items and their values develop accordingly too.
Decluttering isn’t just about clearing out drawers or organizing closets, it’s about making room for more, more clarity, more intention, more freedom. Whether you’ve tackled this challenge in a single weekend or stretched it out over weeks, every step has brought you closer to a space that reflects your values, not your chaos. Let the process remind you that letting go isn’t losing but it’s choosing and as your home has more room, so too can your life have more room to improve. Keep choosing with purpose. The clarity is worth it in the end.