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Set reachable goals for your decluttering
If you’re buried in clutter, a goal to declutter even one room can take a long time to reach. Small daily or weekly goals can be a lot more reachable and give you motivation to keep going. They can be of the “spend x minutes” type, or the “toss n items” type. For example:
Declutter for 15 minutes every day
Declutter for 2 hours each week
Toss 7 items every day
Get rid of 50 items this week
Donate 100 items by the end of the month
For ongoing goals, you can set up a wall chart to track your progress – even give yourself a colored star every day you meet your goal, and a gold star at the end of the week.
If you’re decluttering, but you’re stuck with a clutterer in your space…
…try some of these techniques.
- Stop rescuing them as far as practical - don’t find their keys when they lose them, or wait for them when they can’t find a clean pair of pants. Maybe, just maybe, they may get motivated to deal with their own stuff.
- Detach your stuff from theirs - declutter your own stuff, and have spaces which are “yours” (clear and organised) and “theirs” (cluttered)
- Be pro-active - agree ahead of time whose spaces are whose, how you can deal with their mess (bag or box it up, throw it out, move to a specific room…)
- Prepare for chaos - decide how you’ll deal with it when their clutter encroaches on your space, or causes you problems.
- Model decluttering – but don’t force it on the other person: when they see how positive the effects are for you, they may join in.