Episode 371 – 10 Areas of Your Home Where the 80/20 Principle of Decluttering is Holding You Back

Ingrid: If you feel like you're surrounded by stuff, but only use a small fraction of it, you're not alone and there's a reason for that. We're diving into the 80 20 rule, a concept that pops up again and again in our homes. Whether it's your wardrobe, your kitchen gadgets, or your children's toys, chances are you're only using 20% of what you own 80% of the time. But what happens to the rest? Why do we keep so many things that aren't serving us? And more importantly, how can we overcome this habit and make our homes more manageable and calm? We are chatting through 10 areas of your home where the 80 20 rule holds us back and how to overcome it.

Ingrid: Hello and welcome listeners. I'm Ingrid.

Lesley: And I am Lesley. Now, if you are here for the very first time today, or you've been listening in for ages, we want to say a huge thank you we have a little favour to ask.

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Well, lesley, we are talking about something today that we see all the time in people's homes, and I'm excited about this.

Lesley: I mean, to be honest with you, Ingrid, when we were prepping it, we knew what we wanted to talk about. But it's kind of evolved, right? It's evolved from when we first said we would talk about it. There's a couple of things that have been sort of stumbling blocks or you know, that have made us change what we're doing.

So. It's because we call it the 80 20 rule, but it's not a rule, is it? It's something that we don't want as a rule, but it just gets known as the 80 20 rule for some bizarre reason. So we've changed it to 80 20 principle. That's what we wanna talk about, which is kind of like a rule, but we want to kind of throw it outta the water.

And then when we started prepping it, we realized that actually there was a lot of different categories where this 80 20 principle shows up in our homes. Let's lemme just do it as a 10 Things podcast. So it went from the 80 20 rule to the 80 20 principle, although I think we're probably gonna say 80 20 rule, about 50 times in this podcast.

and then it went to 10 things. And so it's your favorite thing, A 10 things podcast, Ingrid. So yeah, I think it's important for us to talk about where this shows up. It is a problem. Let's talk about the 80 20 rule. Rule principle First, Ingrid.

Ingrid: Yes. So it basically means that we use 20% of our stuff 80% of the time. Now, this is a kind of a business concept that's used in other things, but when you look at your home, you see the same. Principle kind of unfold. And, it's, it's not only because we use it a lot in wardrobes and we're gonna definitely in clothing, we're gonna definitely kick off with that in a minute. But it basically means that you use 20% of your stuff 80% of the time. We have our favorites, we like the stuff we like, and you see that everywhere around your home. But of course then that begs the question, why is the other 80% there if we can do with 20% of our stuff?

Lesley: Yeah, exactly. It's a really interesting question, but one that perhaps everybody's not ready to do, which is to let go of the 80% just 'cause we're not using it all the time. 'cause we like choice. Right? And so, you know, it's not all of the time, we're not using 20% of our stuff a hundred percent of the time.

We're using it 80% of the time. It's a broad principle as a broad rule. So, yeah, let's talk about where it shows up. We wanted to give you some kind of ideas of where, you know. Where it shows up in your house and where you might have a little bit more stuff than you actually need, and you're only going back to what we call our go-to items.

Really, Ingrid, so let's get started. You mentioned wardrobe. Let's get cracking on the wardrobe.

Ingrid: Yes, that's definitely number one. You know, you open your wardrobes, you have nothing to wear. According to a lot of people. The wardrobes are bursting at the seam, so you kind of get the same thing that you wore yesterday and three days ago, and last week and a couple weeks ago. You are like, oh, I like that one.

I'm gonna wear that one. And I like that top. I'm gonna wear that top. you kind of go, but I've got all these clothes. How is it possible that I've got nothing to wear? So the rest kind of sits in your wardrobes kind of? Yeah. For, I don't know, just it sits there because we grab the same old, same old, because we probably like the color, we like the fit, we like the fabric, we like the way it makes us feel.

We like, Yeah, there's a chunk of stuff that doesn't get used at all, which is actually such a shame.

Lesley: It is, you know, and, and I think, you know, not to go back to the old chestnut of half worn closing grid, which is our little, our little discussion point many times. And if you've not listened to our podcast on that, please do. That doesn't help the 80 20 rule. 'cause what that means is we have a selection of clothes that we are wearing on a certain day, and we keep it out for its next wear before we put it into the laundry.

Or some people do, not me, but people keep it out and about on a banister, on a. Chair or this side of the wardrobe on the outside of the wardrobe, on a hook on the back of the door. And we feel compelled to wear that stuff again before it goes into the laundry. So that that adds to the problem of the 80 20 rule, I think, as well, doesn't it?

So I guess that what, what we would suggest on the wardrobe side of things is to. Put yourself through a little challenge. Maybe it'll be good to do a challenge. We do this quite a bit in our membership, although we've not done it for a while, have we? We do a wear your wardrobe challenge, and it's quite a nice thing because it kind of reintroduces you to the stuff that you've got in your wardrobe, that 80% that we're not wearing, and you kind of consciously choose different things rather than wearing the same things all the time.

So wear your wardrobe challenge for a month where you kind of. Have the opportunity to think differently about the way that you do things, to change the habits of this 80 20 rule and to kind of force yourself almost to wear something different. And then of course you can decide, actually there's a reason why I wasn't choosing that.

'cause actually when I put it on, I don't actually love it. So you give it almost like a last, A last chance Saloon. Right.

Ingrid: You know, it's very funny that you say that. I was speaking to one of my rock wire friends a couple of weeks ago and she said, Ingrid, I've actually been decluttering my wardrobes. She said, because I've got several. And she said, the funny thing is I've taken out, I think seven or 10 bags of clothes. I actually feel I've got so much more to wear now.

She said, is that normal? like, it is normal because we go back to kind of the same old, same old all the time. And when you kind of look at all of your items of clothing and kind of, you know, do I want to wear this? Do I like this? You kind of find hidden gems, things that have been kind of buried behind something else, something get found. You realize that you. Bought maybe some, some new things last season that were kind of put in the wardrobe but never got around to it. So it is really good to go through your wardrobe on a regular basis. And also then gonna go, I'm gonna challenge myself and I'm gonna wear a different top. I'm gonna wear some different trousers.

And then indeed that wear your wardrobe challenge is like perfect. So you can really win when you, look at this 80 20 principle in your wardrobes and go, hold on a. do I always feel I've got nothing to wear when I've got 1, 2, 3 wardrobes full of clothes? I need to look at this and kind of challenge myself a little bit because you will, you will.

It'll make you feel really good.

Lesley: Absolutely. No, it's a nice, it's a really nice thing to do that where you wardrobe challenge, isn't it? Just to, just for a change. 'cause you know, things that we wear all the time. So yeah, go for it. So that's our number, one of our 10, 10 areas of your home where we are falling foul of the, excuse me, excuse, excuse me.

where we are falling foul of the 80 20. Principle. So let's move on to another big room in the house. Ingrid, let's move on to our number two, which is kitchen cupboards. A lot of things in those kitchen cupboards we don't use right?

Ingrid: Oh my words. I mean, we just gather stuff along the way. We maybe get some gifts. We buy some things that we think are gonna revolutionize the way we cook and prepare dinner, and then we buy this fancy new gadget. We use it a couple of times and then go, wow, this is actually quite labor intensive to use this. I dunno. Multi-functional machine. How do you call them? I, I've got a, I've got a blank here, lesley.

Lesley: Like an appliance? You mean multifunctional, like the sort of choppers or Yeah,

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: of different things. We know what they are. Things with loads of different thing, different things that they do. Right. And we, as you say, you think they're gonna revolutionize things and actually they're quite complex 'cause we like simple, don't we?

Ingrid: Yeah. Yeah. And I think we always grab our favorite plates, our favorite mugs, our favorite pan to make dinner, to boil an egg to use a walker, a frying pan. We have our favorites. And of course if you've got a bit more space in your kitchen, you kind of go, oh, you know, well, I can store it away and put it in my kitchen cupboards.

You know, when you're tight on space, you have to be, of course, far more like selective of what you have. But if you've got a bit of a couple of more cupboards, then it's very easy to fill it up with all these random bits. But we have our favorite glasses and our favorite mugs and our. just our favorite knives to cut chop vegetables and things like that. So why have we got all the other stuff

Lesley: I think it's interesting really, 'cause we've got the things falling into different categories. Even in the things that, even in the things that we've mentioned there. So we've got the appliances, which are kind of seldom used. We might not ever need them. we've chosen not to use. And then we've got things like mugs, which are the every day, and actually by keeping extra mugs.

So we all have our favorites. I've got my favorites in my, you know, I look at it. I keep lots of stuff. I've got my favorites. But if you are a kind of generally kind of messier person, if you're somebody who procrastinates on things like resets on things like washing up, it can be super handy to keep those things to a minimum.

'cause you get to a stage where you haven't got any more stuff in your kitchen, so you have to keep on top of what you've got. And so just think about the detrimental side effects of having too many mugs, just as an example of that, or too many glasses. It means that you've always got extra ones. And then what happens is those 80% start to sit on your work surface waiting to be washed up or dealt with.

And so it's really important to kind of pair those things down, not only because you're not using them, but because it gives you an excuse and an opportunity. To be a little to procrastinate on things like daily resets, so really important to keep on control, in control of those.

Ingrid: Absolutely. let's move on to number three, lesley. which is absolutely, also, definitely somewhere where we can see an overflow of items, and that is in bathroom. Cupboards and mainly things like shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hand lotion, little scrubs, face creams. We, we buy stuff, we get stuff given to us.

we win maybe something in a raffle and we think, oh, that's nice. We'll just put it in the bathroom cupboard. And then what happens? Our normal stuff doesn't fit in them anymore because it's bursting at the seams. So that's all out on the sides, on the sink, on the little ledge that we've got, hopefully in the bathroom because our cupboards where we normally would put the items away are overflowing with all of that stuff that we never use.

So. I think it's really important to have a look at that and be, be honest with yourself and realistic, because a lot of times bathroom stuff is expensive, right? It's the makeup and the creams and the things all quite expensive, so we're like, oh, we're just gonna hold onto it.

Lesley: It is expensive and it's a lot of it is aspirational. So the, the, the, the kind of 80% that sits in a bathroom is aspirational. And as you say, a lot of it has come to us without us asking for it. With freebies, it's extra things. It's mistake purchases perhaps sometimes. And so I think our kind of. But what we don't want you to do is we don't want you to get rid of stuff unnecessarily that you could use.

And so it's important to be honest with yourself. You know, we are big, big advocates of a used first container 'cause we go to our favorites all the time. So. Take that op in the same way that we were talking about a wear your wardrobe challenge. Give yourself a challenge in the bathroom to use this additional stuff first.

So have a youth use first container in your bathroom with all of these little bits and pieces, the, the stuff that you got from the hotels. I mean, we'd like you not to take that next time as you're going through your decluttering journey. but for now, we want you to use it because it's there. It's useful.

So really, really important. So just think about that. Think about having to use first container and almost forcing yourself into using the little bits and pieces first before you use the stuff that you normally go to.

Ingrid: Yeah, and also, you know, finish all of those bottles with just a tiny bit left in it. Right? You don't wanna have a ton of shampoo and conditioner and body wash bottles in your shower because then it makes it difficult to clean. Finish up all the little bits of. You know, put them on, turn them around so you can squeeze that last bit.

It's all money and it will all then be, you know, easier to clear it out, and then get the next thing from your cupboard and you will get a much better overview of the stock that you have in your house as well, and what needs to be bought next. And trust me when I say this. members, for example, who've done this are like, wow, I have not bought anything for like a year because I've been

Lesley: Longer. Ingrid Sometimes longer. You know, that longer, you know, somebody was like two years, two and a half years or something and they were like, I've literally not bought another shampoo 'cause I had so much back stock that I've used it all up and it's super satisfying, isn't it? 'cause you feel that you're making money.

Don't.

Ingrid: Yeah. Yeah. It's very satisfying. We love, we love using up stuff. It, that's the frugal, the frugal people in us because it's good, you know, and you can spend your money on something else, which is fun to do, of more stuff that's already in your cupboards. all right. Let's then move on to number four, lesley Paperwork.

Oh. Paperwork and files. A biggie. A biggie. We have so much paperwork in our houses and we never, ever look at it again. We need the same old things, but we still hold onto everything, don't we?

Lesley: Yeah, I think paperwork is a little bit more complicated really, isn't it? 'cause it's not something that you're grabbing and using on a daily basis. Like most paperwork is archival, you know, apart from the stuff that you're working on at the moment. So it goes to be stored in an archive, but again, you need to be intentional with the archive and really pair it down and look at.

What, why are you keeping that? You know, I would, I would wage that most people have got way more stuff in their, archival paperwork than they actually are ever going to need. So this is about where examining your own behaviors and keeping on top of it. So if those credit card statements come in and you've made a decision as you've gone through your paperwork, dec declaratory.

That actually six months or four months or whatever that might be is the right amount for you. Then make sure that the ones that are six months and older are going out as you're putting your new stuff in. So some of this is about your processes and things like that. It's about keeping on top of things because we need to keep archival paperwork.

Sometimes, for certain things, not always. We make a decision that's within our comfort zone, which is absolutely fine. Some people don't need any credit card statements 'cause they're happy with an app. Some people need it, but, so whatever your comfort zone is, do it. But make sure you, you, you keep within those boundaries of archive.

Ingrid: Yeah, I, I think although I have a very streamlined paperwork system, lesley, I think this is really one, I could even thin it out more. And I've done tons and tons of work on it, already over time. And I've let go of lots of stuff. Everything is filed, everything is in date order. But if I really, I, if I'm honest with myself, I think I could let go of more stuff. So,

Lesley: I think we always could, and I think the reason for that, ingrid, we talk a lot about the, the, the sort of passage of time things change and paperwork. Is one thing that's really changing. You know, if we, if we go back 15 years, even to the beginning when we started as professional organizers, you know, the paperwork projects that we were doing then, and the paperwork projects that we do now are very, very different because

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: most stuff is digital, like whether we like it or not, you know, whether.

It's digital, and then we bought, we, we are more concerned about the planet now than we were 15 years or more conscious of the planet, let's say, of the, of the environmental impact of having somebody deliver posts and all of those kind of things. And so we've changed our mindset. The amount of paper and the, the, the quality of the paper and the type of paper that's coming through our doors is very different.

I hardly get anything. Pretty much the only thing that comes through my doors is mostly stuff that I don't want, if I'm honest, which, you know what I mean?

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: of the stuff that I would actually use is digital, you know, and some people don't prefer to have a paper-based system that's different. So this is, this is just about maintenance, I think.

So don't let that 20% of archival paperwork that you've kept, sensibly start to creep up into being 80%. I think that's, that's where we are with paperwork, right?

Ingrid: Yeah, definitely. I mean, we have to really, I think when you do a project like this, you have to really think, okay, which are the, the documents that I need, that I use, that I need to have at hand, that I need to, You know, be, be able to lay my hands on quickly, but the other 80%, do I actually need to use all of that or can I actually slim that down because it, it can otherwise become super overwhelming.

Oh, paperwork, of course, within our membership is much later on our roadmap because you need to. Other things sorted first before you can tackle that paperwork, because you also need that space to work in your home to have a big sort out as well. So, very important. number four. wow. Well, let's do one more, lesley, in our, 10, 10, well, 10 areas basically, where the 80 20 principle shows up. And we got another biggie. definitely toys and children's stuff. Oh my word did. We have so many toys when the kids were little, you know, gifts presents Christmas celebrations. When you go to your weekly grocery shop or you see a new toy, that's the hype of the moment and you buy it. I mean, woo. It's

Lesley: I mean, honestly, Ingrid, I would go so far to say the 80 20 rule doesn't even cut it when it comes to kids toys. I bet it's more like 95 5, isn't it? Do you know what I mean? Really, you know, and certainly in the moment because kids, as they should and as we want them to, you know. Move through things at a rate of knots as well.

And so they might have a favorite for a month and then move on to something different that becomes the favorite for a month and stuff like that. And then become a little bit hyperfocused on that type of toy, depending on what's going on around them. So I don't think we really need to say much about this really.

You know, we just need to pare down. I think a lot of it is about buying less, you know, and stopping that clutter at source because it really does. The volumes of toys are so difficult for most parents to manage. It's really hard to stem the flow because external sources, we've got guilt. We've got our kids asking us to buy things.

We've got all the things that Ingrid mentioned, presents, blah, blah, blah. All at force, conspiring against us to have these colossal kind of areas that we have to store. Toys that just seem to breed right.

Ingrid: Yeah, definitely. And you know, in the beginning when the kids are little, the toys are kind of, it's really weird, but when they're little, the toys are really big. And when they're big themselves, the toys are really little, but there's a whole kind of a. you know, range of years in between that you've got it all.

And when you, we are not on top of that, it's really hard. It, it really goes out of control quickly, you know, because a lot of toys have a, lots of small bits. And then I haven't even talked about board games and puzzles and those kinds of things. But indeed, children love their favorites. They love the things they play with, and they, it, it's. You know, and yes, of course some things come back and because parents are like, yeah, but they, they need more than five toys. Of course they do, but it doesn't mean that you need to keep everything in some sort of, I'm gonna take that out now and I'm gonna get, bring that back in and. All of those rotational that things that sound really fantastic, but very overwhelming.

And you know, kids, a lot of kids, you know, are busy. They go to school, they've got their, all of their clubs that they go to and the things that they do outside of school, they also need some downtime. So. don't need to have 300 toys, for, for the one hour a day that they can, you know, or two hours a day they can play with something.

So think about that. Have a look at that and go, okay, hold on a minute. What is happening here? And can I actually create. A better system so it's better visible for them what they want to play with. Can I filter some stuff out that I've outgrown? Can I, it to somebody else? Can I donate it? Can I, whatever it is, you know, give it to a friend who's got now children in that right age.

if it's still in good condition, there are things you can do, but you don't have to have. Everything. But because what we would like is that it's more visible what the kids have, so they actually play with more.

Ingrid: So that was your number five, this ten things podcast. Let's go for a and we'll see you after.

Hi everyone. Welcome back. We are talking about the 10 things where the 80 20 principle really shows in your home and we're swiftly moving on to number six, which is. and I feel the book lovers around the world shuddering in their boots, quaking in their boots going, no, don't touch my books.

Stay away from the books, lesley,

Lesley: I think it really depends, doesn't it Ingrid on how you look at your books. So some people acquire and acquire and acquire, some people have got libraries. some people are not worried about the fact that they may not look at a book for the rest of their life. They just love the thought of having that on their bookshelf.

And it's not for us to say whether that's the right or wrong thing to do. So. We don't wanna go into books too much. There are loads of ways that you can start to tackle your books mainly by breaking it down. you know, don't look at it as a collection. Even if you've got, if even if you are that person that's got a library and loves it, then there will still undoubtedly be things in there that can go.

It's hard. We can't do justice to books in like a two minutes kind of slot in this podcast. But I think what we want to say is just think about whether or not the books that you have in your home are holding you back from having something else that might give you more value. You know, I would, lots of people have got.

I, you know, are we even using, you know, we can only read one book at a time, right? To some, some people have got two or three books on the go, but that doesn't mean to say that we don't keep those books. But really think about whether you should be keeping books that you've read or whether, you know, want the throughput.

You know, if you make a decision, I'd love to keep buying more books. You know? Then think about whether or not you need to keep the ones that you've already got, or whether you wanna go for a one in, one out sort of rule. There's loads of different things that you can do. But it's too simplistic, I think with books to say, to use the 80 20 rule.

But having said that, we probably, most of us have got 80% more more books than we need, right?

Ingrid: Yeah, I think we all have our favorites, lesley. We have our favorites that we love and that we revisit time and time again, but if you've got hundreds or thousands of books in your home. I think some realism and some things need to take place because as soon as you start to double stack books, books, go into a crate in your basement, your garage, or your loft, do you still even know that they're there? Can you create some space by letting books go that are maybe less meaningful for you so you can actually put the ones that you really, really love all out. but not an easy, decluttering job, but very satisfying. And the, even the other day, one of our members went through her cookbooks and she said, I've got over a hundred.

And she said, I've actually parted with 51, which I thought was totally amazing because indeed, you know, cookbooks is a subcategory of, of. Of the main book project, but I thought she did fantastically well because you have to be realistic and go, okay, what books do I actually use to cook? Which ones do I like? And you can use that same kind of thinking on all your other categories of books. Just because it's on your shelves mean you have to keep it. So, Hmm so food for Thought, perhaps for many of our listeners.

Lesley: Now that we've done books and we're kind of scooting past that quite quickly and just recommending that you go and listen to full podcast on books, if you want any more hints and tips, let's move on to our number seven, which is really all about sort of household decor or decorative items. You know, things that you've got on your mantle piece, on your windows sill, all of those kind of things.

Even, pictures on your walls, I think sometimes. Some people love a few knickknacks around, and again, it's not for us to say what your home should look like, but what we want to urge you to do is to look about whether those. You know, if you've got an excess of those kind of things, are they truly making you love them when you look at them?

Or have you got too many of them to be able to see the really special ones? Because sometimes what we see, Ingrid, when we, you know, particularly on those mantle pieces and windowsills, for example, in the living room. Is that we just acquire and we never let anything go because they become almost part of the furniture, right?

And so it's difficult for us to let go, but what we found is that quite often those things that we are looking at every single day, like our mantelpiece or our windowsill, are actually quite easy to get rid of because they have served you really well for so many years. You know, you have loved, looking at them for.

Decades sometimes. And actually, so they've, they've, they've done their bit for you and so you can more easily pass them on to somebody else who will enjoy their second reincarnation.

Ingrid: I think we could become really clutter blind to these items because they, like you said, they become so much part of, of, of how our, how our rooms are set up, which just stops seeing things. And I think once you start to kind of move some stuff around and look at your shelves and look at your, and go, gosh. I kind of Wow. A a and you might find things that you think, actually, I want to give that a more prominent place because why is it stuck away in a corner somewhere? Or maybe it's like, wow, that frame is now really dated, or, Hmm, that candle that's been kind of an ornament for years has gone completely yellow and there's like a whole layer of dust on it. It doesn't look good anymore. It can really help to look at, with a fresh pair of eyes and goes, you know, how do I like the look of this room? Have I got so many ornaments out that it feels really cluttered? Because when you are in day in, day out in, in your living room, in your kitchen, in your o office or wherever, you stop seeing the things and when you take a kind of a fresh perspective, it's like. is all this stuff here? So it can be super helpful to kind of have a look at that and go, okay, actually, I want to see some of my stuff much better, but that also means I need to clear out some of the stuff that's been there for ages and ages.

Lesley: Yeah, it's about curating, isn't it? It's about curating things and everything being intentional. I think that's it. So the, the 80 20 rule, you know, we need that, that 20% or, or, or a hundred percent of the stuff to be intentional, I think, for us to really, for it to really add value to our room.

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: So, another one that we're gonna be scared to talk about Ingrid before we've got the, the crafting police on us here.

So, but we cannot not mention. Hobbies and craft supplies in our top 10 things where the 80 20 rule is taken over your home. Yeah. Craft supplies. Do we need to even say anything other than just say the words?

Ingrid: Do we dare to say anything? It's like it needs its craft supplies and hobbies. And I actually saw a very funny video on social media this morning, lesley, when I was having breakfast where it was this guy, it was chatting. He was like, I've got a new hobby. And he wanted to go running and she was like, right, I'm gonna go running.

That sounds like the next thing that I wanna do. And then this first thing was, okay, I'm gonna, I wanna buy all the supplies I need to have like. Good running shoes and a, a running app and I need to get, let everybody else know that I'm doing running. And, and it was like, it was such a funny meme, it had me on completely stitches.

And then he did like one run badly according to himself. And then he went, oh, oh, oh, I can learn how to play the piano. This sounds interesting. And boom, all the running gear was like chucked in the garage. And it just really tickled me because, you know, we start something, whether it's a hobby or a craft. With the best intention because we think we will enjoy it, but especially with craft supplies, we can go a bit like, Ooh, oh, I wanna have that knife, or I wanna have that fabric, or I wanna have that tool, or I wanna have that. And we build it out and build it out, and all of a sudden it's like. Oh wow. I've actually now lost interest in all of the other things, but I really like this one thing and I keep doing that, but all the other stuff is sitting there unused in my cupboards and, and I never look at that again and. Maybe it's because there's not enough time to do it all. Maybe it's because I don't know. I mean, my eyesight is getting worse with the day. lesley, I just, I was trying to read something on the packaging in the shower this morning and was like, I, I can't see it. So maybe you can't do

Lesley: Is that why you told me? Is that why you told me you look, that I look nice this morning, Ingrid, because you can't see me anymore. Yeah, actually I was like, oh, I'm feeling good about myself. Do you know what I mean? But obviously, obviously not. It's just ingrid's degrading eyesight that's taken her that.

Ingrid: I know. Why did I make the words on the packaging so small? But anyway, I think it's the same with crafts, right? We, we lose interest. We find something else that we love doing. More people who are creative, love to try out different things, but it can become a bit out of control. Let's be honest here. Dare I

Lesley: Because I think that we, we spend money on crafts and hobbies because they are a positive part of our life. So why would we not spend in an area that's gonna. Bring joy and positivity so we completely where it gets, where, where, where it comes from. But then it can go too far. And then what we see, of course all the time is that the craft room is so chalk a block that there's no space anymore to be creative.

And that's, and that's the downside of it. So say anymore, we're not gonna talk anymore about craft, but we're just saying

Ingrid: I'm

Lesley: I think

Ingrid: I have a

Lesley: there's a lot around.

Ingrid: our listeners are going to be like, commenting that we are gonna have emails come in to support inbox. Like, what?

Lesley: Yeah, exactly. I think crafters know. I think crafters know that they've got too much generally, if I'm being honest. Do you know what I mean? So, they're aware. The awareness is high on the crafting. So let's move on from crafting and let's talk about something that actually doesn't take up space in our home, but it kind of does, which is digital clutter.

We wanna talk about digital 'cause it can be very easy. To forget about digital 'cause it's not voluminous. Right? Ingrid?

Ingrid: yeah. Yeah. It hides away on our phones, on our computers, in our, in books of, e in books, emails and folders. In our photo apps. the shows on TV that we are still meaning to watch, that have been in our watch list for like three years. Yeah, there's a lot of it. And, It needs to clear out. It does need to clear out because otherwise, you know, it, it, it can all come to a grinding, grinding halt.

Lesley: I think, you know, I think we have to be mindful with digital, that it's not just in our own personal spaces as well, but this data is. Is being stored on big servers somewhere that we never, ever see or hear about. And so there's a, there's an effect to the environment of these things as well. So it doesn't stop with us.

And so we need to be very conscious of that. And I think whilst it doesn't take up space, physical space in our homes, it very much takes up mental head space all the time. You know, a lot of people what, what we found, like with the emails, a lot of people w. Wear their email number, like a badge almost. Oh, I've got 10,000 or whatever in my inbox and things like that.

And this is the kind of thing, it's taking up that mental headspace, even though you, you still see that 10,000, 5,400, whatever that is, that number, that notification number on your email is still, it's popping up and it's taking a little, like, look how many you've got. Look how many you've got. You know, it's like a, a mental thing.

And so don't ignore the digital because. It is all about feeling in control of your environment and things in it. You know, we talked about paperwork before and talked about the fact that digital is taking over as we know we need to be more and more on top of it. But I think a lot of it, I mean, what we found we did, in our membership a couple of years ago, we did something called a digital deep dive.

'cause it was something that our members really wanted, wasn't it Ingrid? 'cause they were. I think the reason why they were stalling on these things was because of the lack of knowledge about how to do it without doing something wrong. I think that's the thing. So depending on what generation you are. A lot of times we clinging onto this stuff because we fear what might happen if we let go of something that we shouldn't or do something or click something that we shouldn't, you know?

So I think a lot of that kind of 80 20 with digital is fear. Fear based, if I'm honest, or, or the kind of, well, it's not taken up any space and I've got a bigger fish to fry in terms of the space in our, in our home. So we would always advocate for the stuff, the physical stuff in your home. Being more of a priority than the digital stuff, but we don't want the digital stuff to be neglected because there comes a point at which it is time and the digital stuff, of course, can be done alongside.

That's the kind of thing that you can do while you're waiting at the doctor's surgery that you can do while you're sitting on a train or a bus or whatever. And people have make great progress, devoting downtime to digital decluttering, right.

Ingrid: Yeah. Super, super satisfying to know that the contacts in your phone are actually people that you know,

Lesley: Yeah,

Ingrid: because we all gather like phone numbers and things and, and, and you're. Huh? I've got like 12 su in my phone, but I don't know half of them who they are. Because you meet people along the way.

You kind of put their phone in your, you know, your, their name and their number in your phone. But it's nice to do a bit of a clear out like that and go, actually, I, I wanna thin it all out a little bit. So actually then in the future when you need to ring Sue, you actually know what the number is and what their address is, or when you need to send them something. It's just, you make it much easier for yourself. So definitely do that digital clutter later. But it's, it's a big part of our life, so yeah, it's important to kind of get a handle on that. So let's move on to number 10. You know, the, the nice thing is, lesley, we've got to number 10. We've got to number 10. And of course, we have to talk about sentimental items.

Lesley: Yeah, I mean, it's.

Ingrid: it's the, it's the hardest area to declutter, but we, so we have to talk about it.

Lesley: We do. And it, it's really simple, really with sentimental, isn't it? It's really all about quality over quantity. And so this is, there's no more perfect thing really than sentimental when it comes to this age 20 principle. You know, we definitely have way more stuff than we actually ever need, or we'll bring us joy.

So when it comes to sentimental, it is about. That one fuzzy feeling inside. And we're not gonna get that by multiples of the same thing. We need to have one or two very special things that are gonna give us what we need when it comes to evoking special memories of a loved one, of a time of a place, whatever that might be.

So go through those sentimental items. Gather, like with like, as you, as you're decluttering the rest of your house, gather these sentimental things and take your time, doing your sentimental project. If we were talking about it, you know, the, it just popped into my head. If we were doing a, a whole house, for example, spend 80% of the time doing all of the rooms, but then keep that 20%, you know, a face of your time to do your sentimental, because we need to give that more time because it's an enjoyable project.

Going through photographs, going through sentimental items, you need to take your time over it. By clearing out the other 80% of the stuff that's not bothering you, that's not worrying you. You've done your kitchen, you've done your bedroom, you've done your bathroom, you've done your garage, all of those kind of things.

Then you can, then you can extend the amount of time that you spend on your sentimental and really enjoy it. We feel very passionately about that. Ingrid.

Ingrid: Mm. Yeah,

Lesley: You know, some people see it as just another room, and it is not. It's a completely different type of project, which is there to be enjoyed after all your hard work on the rest of your home.

Ingrid: ab absolutely. And you know what, lesley, what I was thinking, we've now talked about these 10 things, right? And the nice thing is. We in our membership can help you with all of these. We have courses to tackle your wardrobe. There's a course for doing the kitchen. We can help you with sorting out your bathroom.

There's a a fantastic course about books. I know, I know some people don't wanna know, like, oh no, but we do. There are people who are like, yes, you're right. My bookshelves are overflowing, and then we need to sort it out and you need to tell me how to do that. got three amazing courses about paperwork.

We've got a course about toys. We are talking about di ornaments and stuff like that because we've got a living room course. We have a, a, a fantastic masterclass about crafting. We had did, like you mentioned, we did three courses about digital clutter and we've got an amazing sentimental course, with 18 videos of different sentimental items.

So if you're listening and you're like. Okay. Okay. I need to put this whole 80 20, principle. I want to do this, but I don't even know where to start. got you right. We've got you. And have a something greater offer, haven't we, lesley?

Lesley: We do. Yeah. Before we talk about our offer, I think it's really important. You know, we talk about the courses and of course, as you would expect with a decry membership, we have everything covered and English has, has summed that all up. But I think more importantly. It's like, what happens if I get stuck?

Like how do I move on? Like I could do the courses, but is it gonna be that straightforward to just go, okay, there's a course, that's what Ingrid and lesley say that I should do. Here we go. That 80% that I'm not using is going out the door. It's not as simple as that, is it because we get stalled, we get stuck, we dunno where to go, and that's where our Q and As come in where Ingrid and I answer your specific questions.

That's where our forum comes in, where you ask, your fellow members and Ingrid and I, then we have our success sessions, which are accountability sessions to make sure that you actually get the job done and don't just learn about it. We need to actually take it to that next step. So. What we've got in the membership is, yes, there is self-study courses in there, which gives you all the knowledge, the education.

But what we've got is so much more. We've got tools that are going to get you over the line, and that's what this is about. That's why we don't stop at just courses because you need more than courses. If it was as simple as doing a course, then we'd all have clutter-free homes 'cause there's loads of decluttering content out there.

But you need more. You need input, you need expertise, you need motivation, you need a community. And so. That's what our membership is, and we absolutely love it. Our members love it, and people have so much success. You must have heard our podcast with people who absolutely love the membership and have transformed their lives because of it.

So when we were doing our 80 20 podcast, and we were like, yep, let's talk about the 80 20 rule struck, principles struck thing, which we have done. I think we were like. Let's bolt onto that, an actual offer for the membership, because we want people to have the opportunity to see what it's all about. We know that jumping into a membership is quite a big leap for a lot of people.

You know, we're worried about, have I got the time to do it? You know, is it gonna be what they say that it is? Is it gonna be a lot? Am I gonna feel overwhelmed? Will I like the people in there? Are Ring England and lesley not gonna show up. All of those things. And so what we want to do is we want to give you an opportunity to come in and have a proper look at what it's all about and give you an appropriate amount of time to do so.

So what we thought we'd do is our own little 80 20 promotion. So what we're gonna do is we're going to do, a a, I've got to get this right now. we're gonna do an offer for the next week or so. Where you will get, the first month of your membership for 80% off. Okay? So 80% off your first month with us, and then after that.

We want you, it will then go into, it will automatically renew if you want it to. It doesn't have to. You can cancel if you want. After that first month, it will then go to a 20% offer. So you've got an 80% offer for the first month, and then a 20% offer after that, which is arguably one of the best offers that we've ever done.

I think it is probably one of the best offers that we've ever done. It's only on the monthly, it's not on the quarterly or the annual, although you will get the 20% of quarterly and annual going forwards. Because we would be bankrupt if we gave 80% off the annual, wouldn't we? Ingrid? Or the quarterly. So we can't do it on the quarterly or the annual.

but we can do it on the monthly. So come in, take your 80% off that first month, which makes it like something like. $12 if you're in America, 10 pounds maybe for a whole month of Declutter Hub membership. so really think about that. That offer is gonna be on for the next week. You need to be signed up for our mailing list.

We'll put the details in the show notes of when that offer is going to end. But watch out for those emails 'cause this offer will be limited time. It will only be for the next week or so.

Ingrid: So yes, listeners, what a fantastic, offer we have for you. go to members dot Declutter Hub dot com if you wanna find out all the information. This offer will run until the 26th of September, so make sure you, check it out, have a look, and of course we'll also put it in the show notes, all the information that you need. But for now, we really hope. That this, podcast has been helpful for you and it has made you think, and maybe you wanna let us know where your 80 20 is, maybe the best or the worst, let us know. Send us an email or leave us a comment because we would love to know from you which of these 10 things has resonated with you.

So thanks so much for watching or listening, and we will see you next week.

Emma: Oh, I can't thank you enough, Ingrid. I have loved it and it feels like such privilege and an honor. I, love your podcast. I love your advice and I definitely love what you've just said. What's the one little next step people can do to just move a step forward and then celebrate what they've done?

Ingrid: Exactly. Exactly. thank you listeners for tuning in and we can't wait to see you next week.