Just as there are many different people on the world, there are many different motivations. When you are trying to work out how to get motivated to declutter, you need to consider a number of factors specific to you. It doesn’t matter if it works for someone else, if it doesn’t suit your style, you will not have success with it.
What type of person are you? Are you a morning person who loves to get up early, exercise, potter around and still have time to spare?
Are you an evening person who loves staying up late reading, doing crafts, watching tv?
Maybe you are somewhere in between, getting up with enough time to get ready for work and going to bed not early and not late.
It does not matter what your reference is, only that you work to your particular strengths.
How to get motivated to declutter if you are a morning person!
If you are a morning person, then you can use that to your advantage. Spend just 15 minutes in the morning tackling a clutter zone in the home. You will have a built in deadline and this can help prevent you being sidetracked by other things. Then, when you get home in the evening you can be pleased that the work has already been done and you are free to spend your time on other pursuits.
Perhaps you will need to set your alarm for 15 minutes earlier but that’s OK, you won’t mind. It is also a good idea to tackle the decluttering project as soon as you get up, so you get it done before your regular morning routine kicks in.
How to get motivated to declutter if you are an evening person!
If you are an evening person, then you will be more motivated to take action after dinner. Spend your 15 minutes getting stuck into one particular area before going to bed and give yourself the gift of a great morning. When you get up and see the difference you have made, you will be able to start the day feeling ahead rather than behind.
It is a good idea here to set an alarm in your phone to alert you of the time you planned to get this task completed. Setting yourself a specific time to act will make it much easier to commit to the process than planning to do it ‘sometime today’.
How to get motivated to declutter by enlisting the help of a friend!
Sometimes thinking about tackling a decluttering project on our own can be very daunting. We look at the piles of stuff we have accumulated over the years and simply have no idea where to begin.
Two of our readers have overcome this problem in a very clever way.
Amanda says: My best friend came over and we got busy. She is my motivator!!
Judie says: My sister came for a few days. I got more done with her here than I did in the last 4 months!! She should be a professional organizer!!
Both of these ladies have worked out a way to get themselves motivated and keep themselves on track during the tough times: Enlist the help of a friend.
Of course, it can be difficult to admit to another person that we need help in any area of our lives. Living with clutter is no different. Although, if the clutter is a big problem, anyone who has visited will most likely know more about the situation than we would like.
It is important to find someone you trust who will not judge and will simply provide support while you go through this process. Because they are not personally invested in the process or with the items, it is much easier for an outsider to be objective. When we are struggling with whether or not to let an item go, a gentle question from our support person can help us to decide.
They might ask:
When did you last use it? (This is particularly good for kitchenware and clothes.) My closet is full but I have nothing to wear.
Does it have a significant meaning for you? (Something with no actual value can have a significant emotional value because of the memories attached. It may be that you will keep these items.) Emotional attachment to clutter and how to solve it.
Can we take a photograph of it for the album and then throw it away? (Often an image of an item can bring back memories just as well as the physical object itself. Something that reminds us of a special person might be better displayed in an album than taking up space inside a cupboard and never being seen.)
How many of those do you REALLY need? (Something useful can become clutter when we have far too many of them. How many pairs of black pants do you really need?) The Super Simple Way to Declutter the Closet.
Can it be replaced easily if you discover you really do need it? (If you are five minutes from the shops and it’s a fairly common item but you have never needed it, getting rid of it is not such a worry.)
What purpose does it serve? (If it’s just for decoration and you already have plenty of those types of items, out it goes.)
Do you like it? (Sometimes we keep things simply because we feel wasteful for getting rid of them. Perhaps we worry that the person who gave it to us will be upset. Even if we hate something, this can be the catalyst for hanging onto it far longer than we should.)
It’s not about getting our friend to make the decisions for us. No, that would not work at all. We don’t want to become resentful over an item someone else has decided we do not need to keep. The decisions still need to be made by you. We are just using our friend to empower us to make those decisions easier by being objective and giving us a different perspective than when we tackle something by ourselves.
Think about it as them walking beside you as you do it.
Learn more on the Decluttering 101 Ultimate Guide page.
For those who are struggling to find someone who won’t judge, will give encouragement and provided advice, the Clutter-Free Life Community is the perfect solution.