A graphic of an overflowing laundry basket with lots of dirty clothes and socks lying around it and on socks pegged on a washing line

Episode 195 – 10 bitesize tasks that mean big wins

Episode 347 – Dealing with grief after losing a pet with guest Kevin Spurgeon

Episode 346 – Pros and cons of decluttering one item a day

It can be so satisfying to get small tasks done. Bite size tasks can go a long way to making you feel accomplished and inspiring you to continue on your decluttering and organising journey. In this podcast we are going to discuss 10 bitesize tasks that mean big wins.

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Transcript of this podcast episode

[00:00:00] Ingrid: It can be so satisfying to get small tasks done. Bite-sized tasks can go a long way to making you feel accomplished and inspiring you to continue on your decluttering and organising journey. In this podcast, we're going to discuss, 10 bite-sized tasks that mean big wins.

[00:00:22] Now, Lesley, in today's podcast, we are talking about 10 bite-sized tasks that you can do, but that have, you know, quite a, a big impact if you do them right.

[00:00:33] It, it's, it, I feel like I can take these things off a list and it makes me feel good. I 

[00:00:40] Lesley: just think they make you feel like, oh, I did that. And they don't take as long the kind of things that you put off and put off, but when you do them, you're like, haha, I did that. And that was a big thing and a big win.

[00:00:51] Yeah. So that's what we're going to talk about. Today. It makes you feel better. It makes you feel like you've achieved something. And that's what this is all about. Decluttering sometimes can take a long time, but often there are a lot of little things that we can do that give us, take us in leaps and bounds forwards, and that's what this is all about.

[00:01:07] Ingrid: Well, Lesley, we are all about. Breaking it down in manageable chunks, aren't we? And I think this list will be really help our listeners who are thinking, yeah, but it, it, it, it feels so overwhelming and it feels so much, and I don't know where to start. We'll start with these small things because it's just a really good feeling of satisfaction, even if you only do one of them.

[00:01:30] You know what I mean? It doesn't have to be all of them. Just start with one we love starting small. That's what we are all about. 

[00:01:38] Lesley: I know if you're feeling really inspired, you could do all 10 in one day. 

[00:01:43] Ingrid: Yeah, that sounds a bit much less. That sounds a bit, but on the other hand, they don't take that long.

[00:01:47] They're little. They're 

[00:01:48] Lesley: little. They're little. I know. Exactly. Well let the listeners decide for themselves. Yes. How many. Of our small tasks they want to do, let's get started with number one, and that is to take the expired food out of your fridge. Now, hopefully there is no expired food in your fridge, but if there is no expired food at all in your fridge, you're a better person than I.

[00:02:12] That's all I can say, because every time you go in there, you're like, How did that happen? It doesn't necessarily need to be vegetables and fruit and all that kind of stuff. It might be jars that you've opened, jars of pesto that you kept for the next one, and then you put it in and then you're like, oh, that's definitely longer than the four or six weeks that were allowed.

[00:02:29] And then that needs to go as well. So have a look in your fridge and remove the expired food. 

[00:02:37] Ingrid: I think, you know what I think. Things happen, you know, things get shoved to the back and, and, and people are very, you know, it's very easy to kind of go, okay, just put it in. They open the door, put new stuff in, and they don't kind of look through what's the, what kind of stuff is left.

[00:02:53] And then before you know it, you're like, why is this fridge absolutely choke a block? I can't fit anything in here. So I think it's really important to occasionally when, when you've run the contents low a little bit and before you put the new stuff in to go. What's in here? What, what's kind of gone past is best.

[00:03:10] And I agree with you, Lesley, let's have as little food waste as we can because you better eat it and, and, and save the money that you spend on it. And by eating it instead of throwing it away. But every once in a while it does happen that that things go out of date. So, yes. Brilliant. Number one. I like it.

[00:03:27] I think there's also an 

[00:03:28] Lesley: upside that comes from that ingredient. 'cause you might find stuff that's about to expire that you can use as well. So looking through the contents of your fridge doesn't necessarily need to mean that you took it all away. 'cause it's gone off. It could be like, oh, you know, that's only got a couple of days.

[00:03:41] Let me make a soup. Let me make this for dinner tonight. Let me do a bit of meal planning. That includes the stuff that I have left in my fridge. It never does any harm. Does it? Ingrid to, oh. Check what you have. Do the inventory of your fridge. So number one, do an inventory of your fridge and take any expired food and use up the ones that is about to 

[00:04:00] Ingrid: expire.

[00:04:01] Yeah, I like it. I like it. Let's move on to number two. Lesley, empty your donation station. We love a donation station. Our members in our membership love a donation station. It is life changing a donation station because all the stuff that's. Do around your house that you're thinking, oh yeah, yeah, I need to get rid of that.

[00:04:23] Suddenly has a place to go. And then when you're actually going to the charity shop, you can go, huh, I can go to my donation station and empty it. Instead of you going, oh yeah, had lots of bits. Where are, but where are they all now? 

[00:04:37] Lesley: My donation station is, Quite over flowy at the moment because you know, Ingrid, that I love to do a bit of decluttering when I'm packing for holidays and I packed my holidays recently and I put some stuff into my donation station and it's a little bit on the full side.

[00:04:55] So I need to practice what I preach. Tonight I am going to take 10 minutes to empty my donation 

[00:05:02] Ingrid: station. Well, my kids just keep growing at the moment, so. I can hardly keep up with empty my donation station. 'cause every time I think wow. Those socks, they're far too small that that swimsuit is far too small.

[00:05:16] And so I'm like in the, in the throes of, of emptying my donation station all the time at the moment because it, it just, it keeps getting filled up quicker than I can empty it nearly Lesley. So, I'm with you. I'm with you. Yeah. 

[00:05:27] Lesley: Important not to leave that in the way that I have done, not to leave it too long before till it gets overflowing.

[00:05:33] So. A little job for you that is going to have a big impact is empty your donation station and take it to the charity shop number three. Now, this is one of those things that we put off and put off and put off. We procrastinate hugely and we are saying take action and pay a 

[00:05:51] Ingrid: bill. Yes. Because the thing is, if you don't pay it, they're going to send you a reminder and possibly another reminder and possibly a fine because you've missed the first payment date.

[00:06:05] So you have to pay more money for something that you didn't have to pay as much money for. And it just adds up to all the clutter and the post and the emails and all of the things that kind of come in. Well, if you would've just paid it in the first place, you would've shaved yourself from all of that.

[00:06:23] Lesley: I think this is definitely about that kind of breaking things down into small, manageable chunks. Now we're not suggesting that every single time something comes in that you action it there and then, but once a week say something like that, then we definitely need to make a point of making sure that we get through all our life admin and not put it off.

[00:06:40] 'cause if we put it off and put it off and put it off, then it builds to something colossal, then it's this huge job that's going to take several hours or several days. And so, Pay a bill today that you know you've been procrastinated about and you'll feel so good about it. 'cause it's the one thing that is ticked off your list.

[00:06:58] Ingrid: I'm sorry I'm laughing. Lesley, I have a, i, I, I have to admit something. I haven't even told you this yet. I got a ticket. Oh, I know. It was like terrible. And I definitely did not procrastinate about paying this bill because if you paid within like two weeks, you pay like half the money, 55 pounds, because I accidentally parked somewhere wrong.

[00:07:25] And I'll explain to you in a minute why that happens, because I actually think, oh my gosh. I was like, I was absolutely fuming. So basically when I go to choir, I have a standard kind of parking space where I kind of always park because I go, of course 

[00:07:39] Lesley: you do. Of course you do. It's got Ingrid Johnson written on it and no one else is dares to go in it.

[00:07:45] Yeah, okay. Sorry. No, 

[00:07:46] Ingrid: no, no, no. I just, I get, I drive up early and then I kind of always park in the same. Place. I think it's the same when you go to like your weekly grocery shop, you're going to always park around the same area, don't you? So on a Wednesday night at when I normally go to choir, I. That is free.

[00:08:04] But of course I've been doing that for years and years and years. On a Wednesday, it's on a single yellow line, and apparently now I know after six 30 you can park there, but recently we had a workshop with rock Choir on the Saturday afternoon. So what I do, I drive up, do my regular thing, park my car, go in, have a great, come out, have a ticket, because apparently during the day, You can't park on a single yellow line.

[00:08:30] But of course, I had not clocked it. I had not clocked the little, uh, sign that was very much there, but it was so in my routine, so I was very cross with myself. But, 110 pound, but if you, if you paid within like two weeks, it's 55. So I was like grumbling and procrastinating for about a day, about it being very cross with myself.

[00:08:52] But then I thought, no, I need to pay this now because I definitely don't want to pay 110 pounds. I mean, oh my gosh. Terrible. What a waste of 

[00:09:00] Lesley: money. Ingrid Shocker. Acquainted with the highway code 

[00:09:09] Ingrid: even. It's like, it's so in my system. But anyway, we digress, but I it, that's why I started laughing because you were like, don't procrastinate, but paying a bill.

[00:09:17] And I thought, I haven't told you this.

[00:09:23] Lesley: Anyway. Right. Okay. So we, we move on from paying bills to something that is kind of a nice therapeutic thing to do and makes you feel super satisfied. I'm going to pass this one to you, Ingrid. 'cause you love to do a little bit of folding. 

[00:09:38] Ingrid: Yes. Just fold the contents of one drawer. If, if your, if your t-shirt drawer, for example, has got a little bit out of hand and it's open, it chucked in there, just take.

[00:09:50] Five, 10 minutes. Just refold a couple of bits, put 'em back in there and it can make you, it makes me very happy, Lesley, but you know that it does, but it makes such a difference. It because immediately you can see again what you have. It all feels a bit neat and tidier and you think, yeah, one drawer.

[00:10:09] Massive difference. 

[00:10:11] Lesley: It does. It just makes you feel satisfied because it looks nice and neat, doesn't it? Yeah. Doesn't mean they can't get bogged down with folding. Sometimes people get bogged down with the folding and don't do any of the decluttering side of things, but all we're saying is if you see something, take 10 minutes and just fold it and it'll make yourself feel so much better.

[00:10:30] Ingrid: I love it. I love it. Yeah. I can't beat a bit of folding, Lesley 

[00:10:36] Lesley: folding and going on double yellow lines, single yellow lines. Okay. Um, right number five. So this is a good one actually. Uh, which is something that we leave and leave and leave probably actually for decades sometimes. And we're saying break this down into bite-sized chores and do yourself a favor.

[00:10:57] And when you've got 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there. It's a super easy thing to do, which is to look at your photos, your digital photographs, it says, and to slot some into a folder. Now, many of us, if you're me, I've got, I'm doing a lot of work on my photos at the moment. Um, but I've got, I had 30,000, I've got 20,000 digital photos at the moment, which makes me very happy 'cause I've got rid of a third of them.

[00:11:21] And, but what we're suggesting that you do is not just delete photos. So you can do that as well if you want to, but create a folder. So if you see. Grease 2016 on the holiday. Create a little folder that says Grease 2016, and pop all those photos relating to your holiday 

[00:11:38] Ingrid: in Greece in 2016 into that folder.

[00:11:41] Lesley: Makes 

[00:11:41] Ingrid: it so much better, doesn't it? Yeah, I think so too. I mean, it's just nice to be able to find some of the pictures instead of kind of having to scroll through thousands and thousands of them. I mean, I mean, and even if that feels a lot, just look at, at the, at your photos from your last week. You know, I mean, my phone saves like screenshots and saves funny WhatsApp memes and photos and things like that.

[00:12:08] Just get some of that stuff out. Don't let it all be lurking in your, in your folders because in your photos, because it's just all, before you know it, you've got thousands that you actually don't want anything with. Can I 

[00:12:20] Lesley: just stop you there, Ingrid? Now, because you've said my phone saves WhatsApp memes, you do know there's a setting on your phone that means that you don't save WhatsApp photos, don't you?

[00:12:31] Yes, I do. Lesley. And do you choose to have those? Well, 

[00:12:34] Ingrid: there's a lot of photos that I do want that I, I don't want to save the memes, but I want to save the photos on the other. I'm refuse to do those separately. I know, I know, I know. I know. I know she loves stuff. Some stuff, 

[00:12:47] Lesley: honestly, honestly, everybody, digitally, this woman loves stuff honestly.

[00:12:53] So she's got barely anything in her house stuff wise, physical 

[00:12:58] Ingrid: stuff. But digitally, she's got millions of photos, of memes, of folders, of email. 

[00:13:06] Lesley: Honestly, I'm going to have to wrench them out of you for the rest of your life. And now I find that she's saving every WhatsApp photo that's. Do every single thing that I sent you on WhatsApp.

[00:13:16] You've got it there somewhere in your photos Probably. Yeah. Re when are you ever going to change? 

[00:13:25] Ingrid: We need break. Let's go for a

[00:13:27] Hello everybody. So we have, I've stopped laughing now. I was getting a bit hysterical there because Lesley telling me off about my, my crazy keeping of all kinds of digital files.

[00:13:37] So I'm going to put us back on track. Lesley, let's talk about the next set of bite-sized tasks that mean big wins. So I got a good one. Go to your car with a rubbish bag or a little recycling bag and empty your car of all this kind of rubbish that's in there. Just take a bin bag. It's going to take, honestly, not that long unless you kind of maybe possibly have not done this for like six years.

[00:14:06] It might take a little bit longer, but normally, normally you can just take a bin back to your car and get a few bits out that have been lurking in there. 

[00:14:16] Lesley: What sort of rubbish have you got in your car? Come, 

[00:14:18] Ingrid: come clean. Come clean. Yeah. Probably like some car park tickets maybe. Um, one of those, um, when we travel with like the ferry, they get these hangers that you have to put around your mirror for which, which lane you're in and which kind of time you're going.

[00:14:34] And, you know, you tuck 'em on the side in your door when you're done with them. Um, but I mean, I'm pretty good with emptying it, but probably like, Some plastic or you know, like little bits and bobs. That 

[00:14:47] Lesley: doesn't sound like, that. Doesn't sound like a 10 minute job. That sounds like hardly any rubbish in your car.

[00:14:52] So I would have, I'm not bad either. My car's quite clean actually, but I will, I do get coffees, take away coffee sometimes. Mm-hmm. So, Sometimes you can't quite carry everything, can you? So there might be a, a stray coffee cup in there. I'm really quite bad for dime bars, so when I go to Ikea and you buy those dimes, you know, I just can't help myself.

[00:15:12] You know, when you go to IKEA and you have to buy meatballs, or for me it's dime bars and the little tiny wrappers and they just go everywhere, whatever. So if I've had an IKEA trip, you will undoubtedly find probably 20 or 30 dime bar wrappers, like somewhere in the, in the door. So they need emptying out.

[00:15:29] So yeah. Yeah. Things like that in my car. 

[00:15:32] Ingrid: Yeah. I think, you know, I think it really depends. I mean, some people are in their cars so much. Yeah. You know, they, it, it just always seems like they're always driving, always getting around, dropping kids off, going to work, going running errands. And before you know it, you're weeks down the line and you haven't done it.

[00:15:51] And then it can become a little job, can't it? But it's nice to be in a car that's a bit tidier and a bit cleaner. You know, we're not talking about spotless here, but if you're looking at lots of rubbish around you, it's like, oh, maybe papers from, from things where you've been, or I don't know, just it, it, it builds up.

[00:16:09] Yeah, it does. I mean, 

[00:16:10] Lesley: I always find a good time to, to empty your car of rubbish, which is super easy, is when you're at the petrol station. Another way that petrol stations work in different countries is different, and sometimes people fill your car before you and all that kind of stuff, but you know, there's always rubbish, um, bins aren't there next to where you put your petrol in.

[00:16:26] Yeah. So that's the time to chuck that. That's when I took my dime. Bar wrappers and coffee cups in the bed. So, um, 

[00:16:33] Ingrid: that's when I do my, the evidence, the evidence is being destroyed. Lesley, I 

[00:16:38] Lesley: know the evidence. Yeah, I know. I'm really bad. Like kids are like, been to IKEA again, like Yeah, I into IKEA again.

[00:16:45] It's the only place you can get dime bars, I think. Isn't it Ikea? I dunno where else you get them from, apart from ikea. Yeah. I mean, I'm sure they're available elsewhere, but. I just get mine from Ikea and eat the whole pack every time I go, basically. Right. Okay. So away from the car, something else that you can do that makes you very, very satisfied.

[00:17:05] But it can be a bit of a thankless task sometimes. So what we're saying is break it down and do 10 minutes of work on it and see how you get on. And that is to pair 

[00:17:14] Ingrid: some socks. Yes. Absolutely. The last thing you want is three bin bags full of random socks. Because then it's like, what? How did it happen?

[00:17:28] So if you've got a little pile of random socks, go through 'em, pair them up, then it's done. Bring 'em to the right people. And if you're like, wow, this sock, I've now seen three times, you know? Declutter it. Use it as a rag. Bring it to the charity shop as a rag. You don't want to hold on to all these random socks, honestly.

[00:17:51] Lesley: You don't. So do yourself a favor. 10 minutes at a time. Pair some socks. Break it down. Break it down. 'cause if you've got, if you're not a sock, pairer, this can take hours on. Hours and hours. We have done a whole decluttering sessions with clients only pairing socks, haven't we? Ingrid? Yes. And that is no word of a lie.

[00:18:12] We've literally done a five hour session just pairing socks. But it's very satisfying, wasn't it? 

[00:18:18] Ingrid: Yeah, it's. 

[00:18:20] Lesley: Mind blowing at the same time. But anyway, okay. 

[00:18:25] Ingrid: Number. 

[00:18:27] Lesley: Eight on our listing 

[00:18:28] Ingrid: grid. Yes, unsubscribe from emails you do not read. People think, oh, you know, it comes in, I just delete it, but it's a thing.

[00:18:40] All the deleting adds up as well. And I know you always say that I keep on everything but Lesley, over the last, while I have become so much better at unsubscribing from emails, still got a long way to go. 

[00:18:52] Lesley: I still got along with her. 

[00:18:55] Ingrid: She just wants to tell me off all the time. Listeners, you need to help me.

[00:19:01] No, but it's true. I mean, I have become a lot better with unsubscribing from emails because it's all these, it's, yeah, seconds here, seconds there, but it really adds up. And also I think when you're unsubscribe from emails, you're not getting tempted. To buy lots of stuff because when you buy something online, they sneakily for some reason, always add you onto their mailing list.

[00:19:23] And then you're like, oh, what's this, what's that? I mean, and then they start sending you emails. You're like, no, no, no, no, no. I don't want to buy. I bought what I wanted to buy. I don't want to buy anymore. Stop sending me stuff and when I need you, again, I Google you. I know that you exist. Hello, shop. And I'm not going to, I need emails from you every three days to tell me what the newest thing is that I need to buy.

[00:19:42] Do not want it. 

[00:19:45] Lesley: Good. Well done. I'm getting quite feisty there. Feist Daring Bridge. I want to add a little thing in. 'cause what you said is unsubscribe from emails you never read. I want us to go one step further and unsubscribe from things that you do read, but you don't need. I think that's the, that's the important thing.

[00:20:00] Take that temptation away, as Ingrid says. So she's getting very fasty. I'm, I'm slightly obsessed by unsubscribing. If I've not unsubscribed from something in a day, it's not been a good day. Do you know what I mean? I said, I've just got one before we signed up for this. How I'm like, who is that? Who is this person sending me an email?

[00:20:16] Get really crossed with them. Anyway. Okay, so we're nearly at the end of our 10 things podcast. Mm. So let's go to number nine. 

[00:20:27] Ingrid: I know this, this can be very hard, Lesley, but we are going to throw it in here anyway. Do a phone call that you have been putting off. Because the thing is, you might have been putting it off, but it's been on your mind eating our pressures energy.

[00:20:48] I need to get around to that. I need to do that. When I get 10 minutes to sit down, I'm going to do it, but I really don't want to. And it just, it's on your mind and it takes up so much brain power and brain space. Just go to the phone, find the number, do it. It, it, there's a, you know, a weight falls off your shoulders sometimes when you do stuff like that or when you have to organise something.

[00:21:12] These are 

[00:21:13] Lesley: supposed to be bite-sized tasks. You sound like it. It's like, I dunno what kind of phone call it is that you are wanting to make. You 

[00:21:19] Ingrid: sound like, I dunno, you're going to 

[00:21:21] Lesley: declare you and I love for somebody. Or like, what kind of phone call are you proposing here? Well, maybe a 

[00:21:28] Ingrid: hard conversation I was thinking, but anyway.

[00:21:30] And that's true. You're right. Actually it can be something like, Just call the dentist for an appointment if you've been putting that off. That's what I 

[00:21:37] Lesley: was thinking. I feel like yours is a bit more like serious and I'm not sure it's 

[00:21:41] Ingrid: quite bite size. That's what service's like. He's been weighing on your mind for decades.

[00:21:48] I'm like, oh my word. What kind of phone call is she talking about? Bite size. 

[00:21:54] Lesley: Anyway. Yeah, I was thinking more about making an appointment for your nails doing or your dentist or. That kind of thing. 

[00:22:00] Ingrid: No. Yes. For, well, you know what? What women procrastinate about as well is making their cervical smear appointments.

[00:22:08] Okay. And then they keep sending letters and letters, and then it's like, have you still not seen the doctor for this? It's really important. Really important. Exactly. Make that phone call, make that appointment. Bloods or. I know hair, maybe a nice hair appointment. Treat yourself, have your feet done, you know, chill out a little bit.

[00:22:26] You now she's changed hack. Yeah, 

[00:22:29] Lesley: now she's changed hack from her original idea, but we'll leave them both in. Either is fine. One is less bite 

[00:22:36] Ingrid: sized than the other. Yeah, that is definitely true. It can be hard. It can be hard, but it can even maybe to make an appointment with like a lawyer or a Wills person or all of these things that, that they, these are bite-sized, but they are like, you need to kind of mentally get ready for it, 

[00:22:54] Lesley: don't you?

[00:22:55] You do and you feel so much better when you've done it. And then you wonder, this is the thing, you wonder why you procrastinated about these things for so long. 'cause it was actually quite straightforward and simple one once you got around 

[00:23:04] Ingrid: to it. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, well let's close then this podcast, 'cause let's with number 10, a little bit more lighthearted perhaps.

[00:23:11] I was getting a bit dramatic there, wasn't I? 

[00:23:14] Lesley: Yes, you were getting a little bit dramatic there. So let's go for number 10. Post an item on EO Free Cycle, a Facebook group. That you are going to give away something that you want to give away, get it on there and get rid of it out of your house. Honestly, that will be 10 minutes well spent.

[00:23:32] Yesterday in our success session in the membership, somebody did exactly that. They were like, you know what, I'm going to spend this success session posting some stuff that I want to get rid of, and they got rid of a surfer. 

[00:23:43] Ingrid: I Absolutely. That's a big 

[00:23:45] Lesley: win. 10 minutes sofa gone. 

[00:23:48] Ingrid: Brilliant. Yeah, exactly. I know. I mean that's the love.

[00:23:52] That's what I love about the success sessions because we've introduced them in the membership and um, our members, we once a week for one hour, we get together with our members and we say, let's work together. And it's so inspirational and motivational, isn't it? List. And you see everybody on Zoom working and doing stuff in their house.

[00:24:09] Indeed. One of our members said, I've actually. Decluttered the sofa in the last 10 minutes because I've finally put it on oleo or free cycle, whatever it was that she put it on and it's been gone. Brilliant. Exactly. 

[00:24:24] Lesley: So I think they're pretty big wins. Yeah. Bite-sized tasks, apart from the long lost phone call that English wanted to make 

[00:24:33] Ingrid: that have a big impact.

[00:24:36] Yes. Thank you, Lesley. No, I will never, ever let you get away without anything. No, no. It's like, why do I even try even, even if I think, oh, let me set it. No, no, no. You've said it now. You can't change your mind anymore. It's in there. It's in the podcast. All of our listeners will know. Exactly. Anyway, we appreciate you listening every week, don't you Lesley?

[00:24:59] I mean we, we, I think we just love laughing and chatting and I dunno whether there's any 

[00:25:04] Lesley: value in anything that we ever say. We just laugh our way through half an hour of content. I believe that there is value in there. Even if you just do one of these things and think, you know what, I've got 10 minutes.

[00:25:15] Let me do something that Ingrid and Lesley mentioned today. Yeah. It will make you feel so much better about things, won't it? 

[00:25:22] Ingrid: Yeah, I think so too. So thanks for being here and we're looking forward to seeing you next week at the next podcast of the Decla podcast. So thanks so much for listening and see you soon.

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Suitcases

Suitcases are something we may have invested heavily in at certain points in our lives, and there’s no doubt they are built to last. They have lots of life in them and they are useful – but are they?

Travel has evolved and with it the restrictions on luggage allowances have changed. Lightweight, wheeled suitcases are everyone’s go-to luggage now, but we still keep the old heavy, bulky suitcases that we haven’t used for years because we think we will return to them one day. But the chances are we won’t.

Create some valuable space by only keeping those cases you have used on the last few trips you went on.

For some, memories are enough, and there is no need for a tangible object to evoke those memories. Others need time to be able to let go of precious things that have deep seated memories attached. Don’t be rushed. This is a decluttering task that will have a huge impact.

Appliance Boxes

We just can’t help ourselves. There’s a voice inside our heads telling us that we NEED to keep appliance boxes for ever and a day. And even if we don’t have that voice ourselves, someone else in our family undoubtedly will. But why do we keep them cluttering up garages, attics, and basements for years or decades?

For when you move? For when you sell the appliance? In case it’s faulty and has to be returned? Here’s a little secret – you’ll probably forget you have it when you move, will never sell it, and the shop is fine without the original packaging if it’s faulty.

So, be brave and chuck out those boxes today!

Coats

We all love a coat and amass so many over the years. They are big, heavy, and bulky. We have our go-tos, our favorites that we wear again and again. Sometimes we wear the same one every day.

We buy new ones because the old ones are not quite right. But we still keep hold of the old ones because they cost a lot of money and we feel guilty. Is it time to let them go?

Go right to the underneath of your coat storage – that’s where you will find all the seldom used coats. You’ll either uncover a gem that you forgot you had or more likely find plenty to declutter and create some valuable space for those you do love. Either way, it’s a win-win.

Pots and Pans

You’d be surprised how many pots and pans we amass over the years. There are very few people who have all their pots and pans neat, accessible, and perfectly placed. Normally, pots and pans storage is awkward and unruly. Why? Because we have way more than we can sensibly use.

Take a good look at your pots and pans. Do you use that huge wok or is it just taking up valuable space? Has your scorched milk pan seen better days? Have you not used that pan with a wonky handle for years? Time to let some go and create some order in your pan storage.

Books

Are you double stacking books? Are they stored in boxes in your basement, loft, or garage? This is a red flag that you have too many to handle but I’m guessing you already know that. It’s so hard to declutter books because you love them so much!

As hard as book decluttering may be, I can guarantee that once you allow yourself the opportunity to look at books one by one, there will undoubtedly be some that can go.

Whilst the emotions involved in decluttering books are amongst the most tricky there is in the decluttering world, the key is to stop looking at your books as a collection. When you want to declutter them, take them off the shelf and look at them one by one.

I promise you there will be some books that you no longer love. And ten books decluttered is a huge amount of space created. Be strong, be brave, and tackle a few of those books today.

If you can tackle just one of the categories above you will create some space in your home for the things that you truly need, love, and use and that is most certainly a decluttering task that will have impact. That is what life is all about. To have only those things in our lives that reflect our current lifestyle.

If some of the emotions we mentioned above have resonated with you, there are lots more than that holding us back and keeping us stuck. Life is too short to be surrounded by clutter!

This article was first published on Sixty and Me on 26th December 2020. It can be found here https://sixtyandme.com/decluttering-tasks/

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