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Episode 199 – 10 things you need for the perfect declutter

Today it is all about getting back to basics. We are delving into 10 things you need for the perfect declutter.
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Transcript of this podcast episode
[00:00:00] Ingrid: Today is all about getting back to the basics. Let's talk about the 10 things we need for the perfect declutter.

[00:00:09] Now, Lesley, today's podcast, we're kind of going back to the core principles, aren't we? 

[00:00:16] Lesley: Yes, we're going to speed through everything that we teach.

[00:00:21] So everything that we teach in kind of like hundreds of hours of learning, we're going to squeeze it into half an hour, aren't we, basically? Oh, 

[00:00:28] Ingrid: we're going to do that. 

[00:00:29] Lesley: I, I dunno if we're still here in like four hours time. We've gone, we've gone too far and we can't squeeze it into a 10 things podcast. But let's try.

[00:00:39] Ingrid: Yes, let's try it. Because yes, there's a lot to decluttering, isn't there? It's not as easy. Yeah. Yeah. Just. But something could have been back and decluttered from your house. We know that our listeners who've been here for a while know this, but there are some basic principles that are so important and we're kind of going to talk about them in a nutshell.

[00:00:58] I mean, that's why we've got a, a, a membership with so much information in there that that where we really change people's mindset. But we're going to try and condense it. In the condensed version. That's the plan, isn't it? 

[00:01:12] Lesley: Very, very, very, very, very condensed version. So let's start with the first, one of our 10 things you need for the perfect declutter.

[00:01:21] I mean, is there any, is there such thing as perfect before we get started now? I know it just kind of came into my mind as I was saying it. Ingrid is there's such a thing as a perfect declutter. 

[00:01:31] Ingrid: Well, I think, you know, we want to aim for doing a good job, but perfect is maybe a very strong word, Lesley.

[00:01:37] We're not about perfection, aren't we? We're about. Let's, let's give it a go. Let's give it a try. And yes, there will be some mistakes along the way, but let's go for it and 

[00:01:47] Lesley: everyone will be happy with that title. 10 Things for the Perfect Declutter and be like, I want to do the perfect declutter. England and Lesley, tell me what the 10 things are.

[00:01:56] So now that I've gone a little bit around the house and said, oh, actually, is that title a little bit misleading? Actually going to say, Kind of as near to perfect as possible. 10 things you need for as near to perfect as possible. Declutter that's, do you know what I mean? Yeah. But it's not really a snappy title, is it?

[00:02:13] Not really a snappy title. So let's stick with the original title and let's go through the 10 things which are going to stay regardless 

[00:02:19] Ingrid: of the title. Yes. So let's do number one. You need to be nice to yourself. Let's start there. We're so hard on ourselves. We always try to, we, we talk ourselves down. We're like, oh, well that was a bit rubbish.

[00:02:34] I didn't do that. Good job. What silly person I am. Let's stop that. Now in, in its tracks. We, we can't do that kind of activity, especially to ourselves. Yeah, because it's life's 

[00:02:46] Lesley: kind of tough, isn't it? And that's why that declutter is never going to be perfect 'cause life's going to get a little bit in the way.

[00:02:52] But first of all, we need to realize that life gets in the way. We need to realize that life has got in the way. Sometimes we need to realize that life will continue getting in the way, and then we need to be kind enough to ourselves to know. Okay, fine. Draw a line in the sand and let's just go forward with a positive attitude.

[00:03:10] Exactly. Ingrid, kindness is super important and being nice to yourself. 

[00:03:16] Ingrid: I think that is one of the things that people don't expect us to teach, isn't it Lesley? They think we teach everything about decluttering and organising and the storage boxes and, and the things you need and the, and the label maker that's handy and all of those things, but we say, You need to start at the beginning, and that's being kind to yourself.

[00:03:34] Because if you are going to be the person who's going to be hard on yourself all the time and, and talk yourself down and be negative about it, how are you going to get there? You need to be your own little cheerleader going, yay, well done me. And it's so unnatural, isn't it? Because. We kind of always look around to other people to go, you did a good job, but we just need to say to ourselves and, and pat ourselves in the back.

[00:03:57] I mean, it was so funny recently, um, we have these weekly, uh, success sessions in our membership while we declutter with our members. And I said, give yourself a pat on the back. And everybody was looking at me going, huh, now like this, it's really important. So they're all sitting there patting themselves on the back and it's, it made everybody laugh and giggle.

[00:04:15] But I'm like, you've done a good job. You've just done an hour of working together on Zoom with each other, and you've done amazing. And it doesn't matter if it's three things, five things, or 12 things, it doesn't matter. You've done it. And that's what it's all about. I. Yeah, 

[00:04:32] Lesley: exactly. So number two is an interesting one actually because it's something that we see a lot in the decluttering world and we become inspired by other people, and we're talking about before and after pictures.

[00:04:44] It's really, really important for you to see the progress that you have made so that you can then be kind to yourself and pat yourself on the back. We urge you, if at all possible, before you even get started to take a picture of what your before looks like. We're not saying that you have to share it, you don't have to splash it around everywhere.

[00:05:03] 'cause I know that some of us are a little bit embarrassed by what a before picture looks like. But what we need to do is we need to understand the progress that we have made towards the end. And sometimes when that journey is difficult, we forget how far we have come. So we are big, big advocates of plotting your progress.

[00:05:19] We do it with every single project that we do in the Declutter Hub, don't we? Ingrid? We ask people, take that before picture, as well as taking the before picture. If you're not really a photograph kind of person, write down how is this clutter making you feel? So it might be a, a visual representation of what that looks like, or it might be a more emotional connection to how do I feel?

[00:05:39] How does this room make me feel when I walk in? And then you can realize, okay, this room makes me feel very bad when I walk into it to the stage where. This room makes me feel fantastic and I feel really happy with myself when I walk into it. So think about those two things, a visual connection to your clutter, i e, a photograph potentially, and to write down the way it makes you feel.

[00:05:59] Both of those things are equally important when plotting your 

[00:06:01] Ingrid: progress. Yeah, I think Lesley, I think we forget how hard we work. Because we always aim for that next step. Where are we going? But being able to look back and go, oh, wow. Because tiny little things, adjustments you don't see. But if you suddenly after three weeks or a week or a month or three months, look back, then you see the difference.

[00:06:26] Well, if you look at it from day-to-day basis, you might think, actually, what am I doing? I'm not making a lot of progress. But to have that start photo there and go. Oh wow. Actually there's so much more gone than I thought. I feel so much calmer than I thought before. Super important. Absolutely. 

[00:06:46] Lesley: So we are all about preparation, and planning is a big part of what we teach the D Hub, and plotting your progress with those before pictures or the way that you feel at the beginning is very, very important.

[00:06:58] It's also important before you start to work out what your vision is, what is your big picture goal? So you might think. I want to declutter my house, but that's not specific enough. We need to think why. What is your why? Why do we want to declutter the house? Why do we want things to change? You know, why do we want things to be different?

[00:07:16] Things like that are very, very important. So work out what it is that you want to be different. What is your why and we need to have that vision. Firmly fixed in our mind the whole time. 'cause that is going to be the thing that's going to spur us on. Decluttering is hard physically, it's hard emotionally, and we need to always be working towards that end goal of what that is.

[00:07:36] Now, that might be I just want people to be able to come and enjoy my home. I want to be able to relax in my bedroom. I want people to come over for dinner and have a family meal. I want to be able to get into my wardrobe without it being a battle. All of those things are visions, and you need to keep those visions firmly in your mind while you're working, and that is the thing that's going to motivate you to continue.

[00:07:58] Ingrid: Yes, and writing it down will really help as well. So don't just kind of do some daydreaming and go, oh, what would I love my vision to be? Write it down so you can look back on it and go, actually maybe through the decluttering and organising, you realize you want to tweak your vision a little bit because you get more clarity as you go along.

[00:08:16] So write that down. 

[00:08:18] Lesley: I think it's so interesting, Ingrid, because you know, when we ask one of our questions like what do you want to do? What bothers you the most? And quite often it is very much, I want to declutter everything. So people are kind of, I just don't want it to be like this. I want it to be something different.

[00:08:31] You know, that you want it to be something different, but you're not quite sure what different needs to look like and it's really important. Before you get started to try and work out in your mind what different looks like to you. 

[00:08:43] Ingrid: Thank you, Lesley. Absolutely. Now let's talk about number four on our list, and that is have an exit plan for the items you're going to declutter.

[00:08:54] So you've done the decluttering of a drawer, a cupboard, a wardrobe. It doesn't matter what it is, where is the stuff going to go? You can't just leave it in a bag sitting in your hallway or your basement or your garage or the back boot of your car. The stuff needs to have an exit plan for it to go, because if it doesn't have an exit plan, that's when it gets left somewhere and then a couple of weeks later, you think, what's that bag doing there?

[00:09:20] What is in this? Oh, and then sometimes you don't even remember it was the stuff you had made decisions on and you were going to declutter it and the cycle starts again. So make sure that before you get decluttering, Where's my stuff going? Is it going to the charity shop? Is there something that needs to be returned to my friend?

[00:09:39] Is it broken and does it need to be thrown away? Do I need to book a slot at the recycling center so I can bring some of the items that I no longer want on a certain day there Is there a special charity that's super close to my heart and I know they've got a, a special event coming up and they need extra stuff.

[00:09:57] Whatever it is, it doesn't matter, but you need to think about it in advance. 

[00:10:03] Lesley: Absolutely. Because if you don't have an exit plan for your staff on the day, ideally that you declutter, and that's very critical, then all you've done is move that clutter from one room to another and you've not actually decluttered anything.

[00:10:17] Now, when we're working as professional organisers, we would never, never. Leave a house unless the stuff was gone or it was ready to go in the car packed up and ready to go. You know, they might be like, right, okay, after you've gone in with Lesley, then I'm going to go straight to the tip. And that is, that's part of the process.

[00:10:34] And when you're working independently and when you're working on your own, it's something that regularly gets missed. And so it's very, very important. It's not something that we think about. We think about the decluttering. We don't think about the end part of that. And it's so important to have that planned out.

[00:10:47] Right? Where, where can I declutter? Uh, are the charity shops open? When can I do that? Things like that. Very, very important to think about that exit plan. 

[00:10:58] Ingrid: Now, Lesley, I love it that we've talked about the X plan, and I want to talk about number five on our list now, which is we need to be a bit brave when we're decluttering.

[00:11:10] We need to be a bit brave and go, yes, today's the day I'm going to do this. Let me muster up some of that courage that I have. Because you're going to need it, because you're going to step out of your comfort zone when you're decluttering. You're not going to go, oh, uh, you want to achieve something here, don't you?

[00:11:31] Let's face 

[00:11:31] Lesley: it, if you are in our world, if you are in our Facebook group listening to our podcast, in our membership, or anywhere else within the Declutter Hub, you are here because you struggle to declutter, you struggle with that process. You have found it difficult in the past. Now we are here to, to encourage you to move out one step at a time.

[00:11:49] Out of your comfort zone and try things a little bit differently to the way that you've done them before. But that is going to involve you being brave, as Ingrid 

[00:11:56] Ingrid: says. Yes, Lesley. Let's all try and be a little bit braver. So let's go for a break and then come back to another five things you need for a nearly perfect, but not completely a hundred percent perfect declutter.

[00:12:10] Hi everyone. Welcome back. Now let's move on to number six of our 10 things list, and that is, Have a checklist to keep you on track.

[00:12:20] Oh, this is one of my favorite ones off this list, Lesley. I love a list. We know it. We 

[00:12:24] Lesley: know it. We love a list. I know. And the reason why a list is so important is because you need to feel that control. So when you're going through this process, sometimes when we are decluttering, it can feel a little bit hectic, a little bit frantic.

[00:12:36] You feel like you're not quite sure what you've done, where you're up to. And that's where a list is really useful. Now, that list might be, if it was in your bedroom, it might be, here's my sweaters, here's my trousers, or here's my underwear draw, or here's wardrobe one, wardrobe two, here's my bedside table.

[00:12:51] So you make a list in the way that you want to do that decluttering. We have a decluttering checklist. Attached to every single one of our courses so that our members can completely stay on track. Sometimes you might do one draw, you might cover it, four things off the checklist, only one go, which is fantastic.

[00:13:06] But it's useful to just keep a check of where you are up to so that you feel that control. Because once you start feeling out of control, that's when you feel a little bit more reluctant. You feel a little bit more regret, and you stop in your tracks and don't continue. 

[00:13:20] Ingrid: Yeah, and I think the nice thing as well, uh, Lesley, from a checklist is that.

[00:13:24] You cannot only mark off the things that you've done, which is completely satisfying. But if you don't have to leave it because you have to, you know, go to the grocery store or cook dinner or pick the kids up from school, or whatever it is that you're doing, you don't have to remember where you've gotten up to.

[00:13:41] You can keep the list and go, right, I'm going to come back to this tomorrow. Oh, let me check my list. Oh, yes, perfect reminder to say, I did this yesterday, or I did this two days ago, so now I know where I go from here. So you don't have to hold all this information in your brain when you've got so many other things to think about.

[00:14:01] I. 

[00:14:02] Lesley: Ingrid is so right, because we talked right at the beginning about how declutters are not always perfect and how things get in the way, and you need to realize that things get in the way. And so this is the kind of thing that Ingrid's talking about, which is all of a sudden you have full intentions to complete that whole room, to complete that project.

[00:14:18] Something happens and you have to drop it and. Depending on what's happened, you might not come back to it for four weeks and then you completely forget where you're up to. This is something that we do all the time when we're working one-to-one with people. We definitely write lists and labels to show exactly where we've got up to so that we can just go straight back to where we left off.

[00:14:36] Really, really important. 

[00:14:37] Ingrid: I. Right, Lesley, let's move on to the next one then. And that is have some temporary storage boxes available when you are decluttering and organising, because now you need to do a little bit of categorization. You need to put some, like, with like items together. So the, all the, the, the model of clutters is starting to make sense and temporary storage boxes can really help with that.

[00:15:04] Lesley: So, yeah. Ingrid. Temporary storage boxes. What do we mean by that? Well, first things first, we mean that you don't run out and buy storage before you start to declutter. Just note that today we are talking about the perfect or not quite so perfect declutter. We're not talking about organising, we're not talking about categorizing, we're not talking about storage.

[00:15:21] We're talking about decluttering. We're right in the middle of the decluttering process, which is organising those things that we want to keep and the things that we want to discard ready for the next stage. Very, very important. Don't muddle 'em all up together if you're not sure what the difference is between decluttering, organising, and tidying.

[00:15:39] Do go back to our second, well, actually our first, I think we had an introduction, and then we had our very first actual podcast, which is number two, which explains the difference between those things. It's very, very important and so. We don't want you to go out and buy fancy storage. That's not what we're saying.

[00:15:56] We're talking about buying some storage boxes that you are going to be able to use to sort things out. Okay. I would say definitely when you have decided that you're going to declutter something, that it needs to go into Abin bag, ready to go with a charity. To the trash to your friend. They can go into bin bags or bags for life, that kind of thing.

[00:16:14] The things that you're going to keep are the types of things that you're going to put into temporary storage boxes. And so it might be that you gather, like with like you might see a pattern. You might think, oh actually I'm seeing there's a lot of paperwork coming. I need a box for that. Actually I'm seeing some paperwork that I can discard, but it needs shredding.

[00:16:30] I'm can see a box for that. Actually, I'm seeing a lot of, um, Stationary, let me put that into a box separately. I'm actually finding things that belong upstairs or downstairs. Let me put that into a box. So really that box is going to be a container for, for certain categories of items. That's why it's temporary storage boxes that we need to take us through this decluttering process.

[00:16:51] Ingrid: Yes, and I mean, I also, um, I know you love your, your collapsible crates, Lesley. I also like to use shoe boxes a lot. So if the items are smaller, shoe boxes are perfect, crates are bigger, so nicely for bigger items. But if you've got a lot of kind of smaller fiddly items and you're like, Ooh, I don't want to get lost in big boxes, shoe boxes work perfectly for that.

[00:17:13] So those will really help you to, to help you on your way when you're in the mid midst of a decluttering project. So, yeah. Temporary storage boxes definitely on the list. Now, Lesley, what we also need is a big. Chunk of realism, don't we? 

[00:17:31] Lesley: We do. We talked about bravery, and so we need to be ready to make those decisions.

[00:17:36] We need to be ready to move out of our comfort zone, but we also need, as Ingrid says, a big dose of realism. Very, very important when we're decluttering to keep ourselves grounded and to be realistic about what our life looks like now, what it's like, what it's likely to look like in the future, and where the stuff that we are keeping fits into that life.

[00:17:54] That is where we need to be realistic. 

[00:17:57] Ingrid: Yeah, and I think as well, we need to be realistic about ourselves and the houses that we live. I mean, and, and the families that we have. I mean, if you have a smaller house, you just can't fit as many items in. As a person who has got a bigger house, let's be real about it.

[00:18:13] You know, you, the more stuff you have. If you think, well, I've got a small house, but I want to fit in a five bedroom words kind of stuff, house. That's when your house will feel very full and be very full. So you need to be realistic about where you live, what's important for you, where you currently are with your life, what your situation is, um, with, with work, or are you at home?

[00:18:37] Are you retired? A lot of things need to be taken into consideration when you're decluttering. 

[00:18:43] Lesley: You, you really do have to take a long, hard look at yourself and what you're doing and what you've done in the past, what things are going to look like in the future. Realism is so important, even when it comes to things like, how long have I got to declutter before I'm going to start flaking a little bit?

[00:18:56] And so you need to be realistic about the time, your energy, your body, all of those things are so, so important. Realism is everything when it comes to decluttering, isn't it? Ingrid? Yes. 

[00:19:07] Ingrid: A very important part of the decluttering process. And also Lesley. Let's then move on to number nine. You need to be about around people who understand what you're going through, who kind of don't berate you, but kind of are you cheering you on because you have to show a lot of bravery.

[00:19:27] A lot of realism. So you want to be around people who go, yeah, you can do it. Let's come on. Well, job well done. This is amazing. And not be around people and go, well, There's still so much. Yeah, we know there's a lot to do. We know, but let's celebrate the wins here. And 

[00:19:43] Lesley: Ingrid, as well as people who are like, yeah, you've still got a lot to do.

[00:19:46] There might be those people who don't want you to do that, who don't want you to declutter, and you are going to need to reach out to people who do understand that. And that's what's so fabulous about the Facebook group, about the community. Other people get what, what you are going through. It might take a while for your family members to come on board and be behind you.

[00:20:05] That takes time. Especially if that's something you've lived with from a long time. People don't believe that you're going to do it. People are like her. We've been there before. You've talked about decluttering before and you've never achieved it. And so it's, it's, you need to then reach out to other people who are going to get it and then hopefully over time, and it can take a lot of time, other family members and friends might come on board.

[00:20:27] Yes. 

[00:20:28] Ingrid: Or maybe you're like, Ooh, in my house, there's nobody very supportive at the moment, but my best friend I know she can help me be my cheerleader, let me reach out to her, not necessarily for for physical help, but for mental help and to say, you know, what can I, can I call you every day and tell you, uh, a little list of the items I've decluttered today, or how long I've done it?

[00:20:49] And even if it's five minutes and, and the other person can go, That is fantastic. Well done. You know, go for it again tomorrow and let me know what you've been up to. And that is what we see here in the membership, don't we? When, when our members post in our, in our own forum, in our own message boards and then other people go, yay, fantastic.

[00:21:07] Great job. You've done so well. Uh, I can really see the difference. I can see how you write and your pictures are, are looking different and I. Can feel the tone in, in, in the messages that you're feeling braver and, and more, uh, positive about it. It's super important to have a good, supportive community. 

[00:21:25] Lesley: I.

[00:21:26] So Ingrid, we've done a bit of a whistle stop tour, haven't we? Of the things you need for the perfect, that's not going to be completely 100% perfect declutter. And we find ourselves at number 10, and this one is a very, very important one, isn't it? 

[00:21:37] Ingrid: Isn't it Ingrid? Yes. Lesley, number 10 is determination to finish the job.

[00:21:45] We need to finish the dope to feel accomplished with ourselves. When we've done a room or we've done a whole uh cupboard, or a drawer or a wardrobe, we want to do it all. We don't want to leave 10 or 20% not done because we want to feel like we finished this, this feels good, and now I feel proud of myself and I'm going to come back because this way create a desire to continue and to take that next step.

[00:22:13] Now, If you've got a whole room to do, you might be okay. Did today I'm determined to do this one drawer, this one box, this one top of my bedside table, this one tiny kitchen drawer with my cutlery. It doesn't matter how big the job is, it's the fact that you finish something that you set out to do so you, it motivates you to take that next step and come back to it the next day or two days later and go.

[00:22:39] That went really well. I'm going to try and do another drawer, another cupboard, and that's when you start to see the, the, the, the tables turning into your favor because it starts to become something that you are enjoying because you're proud of it. 

[00:22:53] Lesley: Yes, Ingrid, and I'd like to go back as well and just mention what we spoke about in number two, which was all about plotting your progress as well.

[00:23:01] We talked about that before, picture that you need to look back on how far you've come. So of course now is the time to take the after picture, even if it's just a draw, just one area taken after picture. Keep that progress uppermost in your mind and that will again give you the determination to continue.

[00:23:19] Ingrid: You know what's, it's interesting, Lesley, because we have, um, several members in our membership who are really, really good at that. They have been taking before pictures and lots of in progress pictures, and then they take an after picture and they really are good at looking back at where I started. And the things that you see then is like, there's not only just a lot less stuff.

[00:23:44] But I feel completely different. I feel different in the room. I feel different in the area. I feel lighter. I feel proud of myself. It goes so much further than uh, the stuff, isn't it? It's all about how you feel in your home, in a space, in an area. And I think I. Taking those before and after pictures will really help to describe you, how you feel and make, give more clarity how important it is to have that decluttering done and how a different outlook our members get on everything that they do on their life, on their shopping, on their families and everything.

[00:24:21] It's, it's wonderful. I think it's fantastic to see, and the before and after picture will really help with that. So Ingrid, 

[00:24:27] Lesley: that's it. Everything that we teach for the last three and a half years done in 25 minutes. Perfect. Why do we, we should just leave this podcast and just leave it there, shouldn't 

[00:24:36] Ingrid: we?

[00:24:36] Yeah, I know, but 

[00:24:39] Lesley: there is a little bit more to it than what we've spoken about today. But if you focus on those 10 things and that's really, really going to help propel you forward, 10 very, very important things that we've gone through the basics of. Now next week, Ingrid, this is exciting stuff because next week.

[00:24:57] We have done 200 of these, I know 200 of these lovely podcasts. We already spoke about the first one that we did earlier on in the podcast, and here we find ourselves a episode 199, about to launch into episode 200, and we have got some quite cool stuff next week, haven't we? Yes. 

[00:25:13] Ingrid: Yes. Which we're going to keep under wraps, but it's one not to miss.

[00:25:18] So tune in next week for our 200th. Episode. I can't even believe it myself, Lesley. So we just wanted to say we appreciate you listening in every week, so we can't wait to see you next week.
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