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Episode 315 – 10 ways to declutter spontaneously

We talk a lot about scheduling time and planning to declutter, but let’s not underestimate the power of decluttering when the urge takes you. In this podcast we’re going to chat through 10 ways to introduce spontaneous decluttering into your life.
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Transcript of this podcast episode
00:00
We talk a lot about scheduling time and planning to declutter, but let's not undermine the power of decluttering when the urge takes you in today's podcast, we're going to chat through 10 ways to introduce spontaneous decluttering in your life. 

00:25
you're listening to the declutter hub podcast, bringing you tried and tested no nonsense tips and advice from the leading experts in decluttering and organizing your home. Now here are your hosts Ingrid Jansen and Lesley Spellman. 

00:48
Hello and welcome listeners. I'm Ingrid and I'm Lesley. If you're new to the declutter hub podcast, you're so welcome. What you'll find is that we try and find a fun factor in the serious business of decluttering, and if you've been here for a while, you know exactly what we mean. So thank you so much for listening.

01:07
If you'd like to get involved in conversations relating to this podcast, it all takes place in our Facebook group. So come and join our lovely, warm, supportive community. To find the Facebook group, go to declutterhub.com, forward slash group to find out more, or you can search for the declutter hub community on Facebook. Well,

01:27
Lesley, spontaneous decluttering. I mean, we're like the planning people that get organized. You need to schedule time and energy and things to your diary when you want to declutter. But now we're going to talk about spontaneous decluttering, I actually quite like it.

01:43
I know you never do anything spontaneous. Let's face it, if there's anybody that's going to do spontaneous decluttering, it's not going to be you, it's absolutely going to be me, isn't it? Well, we're a spontaneous person, actually,

01:58
don't you think I'm a spontaneous person. No, if

02:02
there's no one less spontaneous than you in life, why do you think you give me an example? Have you been spontaneous?

02:13
Um, you put me on the spot there. Now, I do like to plan maybe, maybe you have got a point here, but we're going to talk about 10 ways, and I think I'm going to saw the list. I was like, Yeah, I do a couple of these things,

02:26
yeah, planning to be spontaneous. Yeah, yeah. Some of these things are kind of planning to potentially be spontaneous, but most of them are spontaneously clutching and you'll be unsurprised that I do quite a lot of this kind of stuff,

02:40
yeah, but still, I do think it's a very good idea to talk about this, because some people find it really hard to plan time, because their lives are busy, but they still struggle with the clutter in their homes. So I think it's really good that we talk about this.

02:55
I think it's important first of all to allow that into your world of possibility. I think that's the first step. Is to think, you know, what if the urge suddenly takes me, even though everything that I'm reading and learning and we're teaching all the time is plan, plan, plan, put in your diary, schedule, time, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, then if suddenly I get the urge to do some decluttering because I see something that's annoying me, or I think there's an opportunity to do something. Open your mind to the possibility of doing that. Don't just close it off and think that you can only declutter when you've planned it. Yeah, so, but it's finding that balance, because if you're too spontaneous, what you can do is think time can run away with you and you get stuck down a rabbit warren, a flitting from one thing to another. So we want to avoid that. So want a little bit of sponsor spontaneity, but not too much spontaneity. I think that's what we're talking about today,

03:51
right? So let's then get started with number one, one of our 10 ways, and we're going to do a telly right, as we always do with the 10 things, so I'm going to barely end up with zero, Lesley with 10, but we'll see. We'll see. We never know. Number one, decluttering when guests are coming. So

04:12
you could argue that this is not really spontaneous, because it's planned, but I think that a lot of the time when guests are coming, it would be more tidying and organizing that we would do in preparation for guests coming. So what we're saying is, as you're doing that process, which you are almost forced into because something's happening, and you know, we're all we all know what that feels like if somebody is coming over there, if we have a deadline in mind, and we try and work towards that, but as you are going through a decluttering, tidying and organizing, ready for your guests. Come in if the opportunity presents itself to do some minor decluttering. So if you find things that can be decluttered, go for it along the way. Don't just put it into a drawer and tidy it up. Go actually, while I'm doing my tidying, I've just found something that I don't want, and I'm just going to. Pop it straight into my donation station. This is where a donation station really comes into its own right Ingrid, because this time, spontaneous decluttering is not going to give you bags and bags and bags of stuff. This is going to give you a few items here and there. So that's the kind of, the very kind of thing that we put into our donation station Ingrid. You want to explain what a donation station is to those who don't, who haven't come across that same Yeah, definitely.

05:22
So a donation station is a place in your home. It doesn't really matter where it is, as long as it's kind of easily accessible. It can be in in a cupboard under the stairs, it can be in your utility room, it can be in a bottom drawer in your kitchen somewhere. But it's a place where you can put a box, crate, bag. When you find something around the house, you think, Oh, I don't need that any longer. I'm going to put the I'm going to donate this one item to Goodwill charity, give it away that it has a place to go so you don't leave it where it is. And think, oh, yeah, I'm going to remind myself next time when I'm going to do a drop off at the charity shop to walk around the whole house and gather up all these random loose items. No, you can then just put it in your books your donation station. So you can just grab the books and go, here are all my items that I'm going to donate, which I think is really helpful. When you see something that's out of place and you actually wonder, huh, don't need it any longer, I'm going to donate it. There

06:23
you go. And so that's the perfect place. So we our donation station will be coming into its own through our spontaneous decluttering bursts of energy. Yeah, right. You

06:32
know what? Lesley I was just when we were talking about the guests coming over, I actually had another thought, because I was chatting to one of the members recently, and she said, I'm having people over. I'm going to make my room look nice and tidy. So she then put away stuff at other places because she wanted the room where the guests were sitting, or book club or something I can't remember. And I said, Well, she said, So tomorrow I'm going to have to put everything back. And I said, Well, when you put stuff back, why don't you instead of put everything back, why don't you also then do a bit of spontaneous decluttering and not just put it back, because it's always been in that room, go through a couple of these bits and filter some stuff out. Instead of going it was in this room, it has to go back. And that really helped her as well.

07:16
So she was kind of so we're incorporating so many of our things that we talk about, so she kind of did a sweep, right? So she did sweep, take stuff out, put it into a different room, and then reset it later. And so we're saying, you know, don't just and she but at least she got to the stage, the stuff is going to have to go back. But, yeah, take the opportunity to just fine tune. So spontaneous decluttering are very much about fine tuning things and finding odd things. But I think it is, as I mentioned before, about opening your mind to the possibility of doing that on an ad hoc basis, and not scheduling huge rafts of time to do this, you know. And this is very different to scheduling 10 minutes a day, very different because we are planning to do those 10 minutes a day, this is like, Oh, why have I got that? I don't think I want that, and then it might lead to something else. So, so, yeah, okay, so that's the first one, decluttering when guests are coming over, take the opportunity to expand your decluttering and your tidying into decluttering as well. Number two,

08:15
declutter spontaneously when you're inspired, when you're looking at social media, for example, when you look at a reel and you think, Oh, actually, I've got that item too, or I want my thing to look like that as well. You know, you can kind of get a little burst of OH energy, exactly.

08:37
So, I mean, we'd like to think that there are things that we inspire you to do through what we put our weekly podcast, our 10 things podcast, all of those types of things that reels that we put on Instagram, we have on our Facebook group, we have Challenge of the Week, all those kind of things. So again, the waters are a little bit muddy about whether this is planned or whether it's spontaneous. But I would, I would put it into the spontaneous kind of category, because you may not have thought before that that's something that you wanted to do this weekend, today, later on, today, whenever that is. And so it's spontaneous because it's not pre you had not thought about it before. So take the opportunity not just to doom scroll through social media, but to take some action on some of the things that you see, because that's what it's there for. So social media posts that we put together, that other decluttering communities put together are not just there to kind of entertain you, that they're designed for you to take some action based on them, to inspire you to to go, I am going to I've got that thing, or I want to declutter the area, and I'm going to spend five or 10 minutes doing that. So do do take that scrolling on social media to the next level and be inspired by it and do some spontaneous stuff. Yeah,

09:53
I love it. I love it. Let's go to number three, spontaneous. You see cluttering when you get dressed and you see that something can go you had a good example about that. This is how it all started this podcast right this morning. Yeah. So I,

10:10
I like to think that I am a bit, you know, sometimes you get stuck in a bit of a rot down you and you just kind of, you know, it's this 2080, rule thing, you know, you start just wearing the same things over and over, blah, blah, blah. And this morning, I was like, blah. Morning, I was like, bored, bored, bored. And, you know, I kind of wear trousers all time, or jeans or whatever, and, and so I was like, I'm gonna put a skirt on today. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not moving out, but I have got a skirt on which Ingrid can't see because you can only see my top. But I was like, I've got, so I've not got loads that. I do wear a lot of dresses, but I've not got loads of skirts, but I've probably got seven or eight skirts. And so I'm like, I'm like, let me go through those skirts, because I always have a favorite one that I choose all the time, and which, incidentally, is the one that I'm actually wearing. But I did try on three other skirts that I've not tried on for ages, because they are a little bit on the tight side for me, I could have got away with them, but actually I put them on, and even though we're still a little bit tight, I was like, I don't really like them, you know, like they've gone past where I really like them. So even if, you know, because I am, I'm keeping those things because I'm losing weight at the moment. And so there is method behind my keeping things that are slightly too tight for me, you know. Have got a plan in place? She says, it's going fairly well, but I just thought, even if I lose it, don't really love that. So two things went into the donation station just this morning, and it took me 60 to 90 seconds to come up with that spontaneous decluttering. So I think the way to do that is, again, it's about changing your mindset away from the 2080 rule, and maybe trying to be spontaneous in the clothing that you choose. We do something in the membership on a on a sort of every year or a couple of years. It's called The where your wardrobe challenge, where we encourage people to wear something that you've not worn for a while every day. And what that does is a it makes you wear things you've not worn for a while, but it also allows you the opportunity to evaluate what you've got and whether or not it's still fit for purpose. Because, you know, in the podcast a couple of weeks ago with Jennifer, which was a fantastic podcast, by the way, so do go back and listen to that if you've not listened to it already. She's a big advocate of trying everything on when you're decluttering. And we, you know, it's kind of quite difficult to do that sometimes, because it would take days for a lot of our members, um, but, you know, so but definitely go and try it on. And sometimes you can force yourself into the to do that by doing a little wear your wardrobe challenge for a month or something. You know, obviously have to do it seasonally. You might do it two or three times a year to try and force yourself out of your comfort zone, which will then allow you to spontaneously declutter something that you didn't think you were going to declutter. Yes, we have a long winded way of saying that, but you know what I mean? Right? Yeah.

12:58
Well, it's funny that, you know you had that this morning, because I had the same thing with this top this morning. I thought, Oh, I haven't worn this top, like, in ages, like, because I've got, like, summery tops and more long sleeve tops and stuff, but I'm more hot these days, so I wear short sleeves, a lot longer. And actually was kind of flicking through that. I've worn that. And more than that, Oh, I haven't worn this. And actually, now wearing it. I'm like, it's actually quite nice. I don't know why I don't wear it that often, but I like it, and it made me realize I actually like it. So hopefully that will also then make me wear it a little bit more often, instead of being one of those 80% of the clothes that you never wear. Because, yeah, it's good, yeah, it's

13:38
definitely about, you know, decluttering is so much to do with reconnection with stuff, as much as it is about letting things go. So reconnection with things is a vital part of the decluttering process, and sometimes you need to force yourself into that reconnection by doing something different to the way that you've done it before. Number four leads on very carefully, really, from number three, doesn't it? Ingrid, yes,

14:02
it's what declutter when you're doing laundry. So if a laundry comes out and it's dry and you are either, you know, folding it, ironing it, just putting it back on hangers, put whatever you do before you do that next action, between an action and it's dry. See if there's you come across things that need to be decluttered. I do that a lot, actually. Oh, this is one of the things I do do Lesley. So

14:30
he did number three as well. Yeah, that's Yeah, yeah, yeah.

14:33
But I didn't let anything go this morning, but I found something that I hadn't ordered for a while. So I did really declutter, but I did introduce something back. But this one I do when I do laundry, and I do especially when I do my folding and my ironing, I see stuff. I'm like, oh, that T shirt has a hole. Or, oh, that needs to have a repair, because otherwise, you know, we can't wear it. Or, Oh, those books are shorts, the elastic is gone, or what. And I immediately filter. It out. I don't even think about it, but I because I don't just fold it and put it back in the cupboard, and then when you pull it out, go, oh yeah, that has a hole, and I can't and it or, Oh, that needs a button sewn on. Or, Oh, that's really worn. And the pattern is a bit, you know, take it out when you do that step, because when you're looking at the clothes anyway. I mean, it's close related this one as well. But I think you can do a lot of decluttering with your standard chores that you do every week.

15:29
Yeah, definitely. And I think, you know, I think again, it's about switching into that mindset of going, this is a possibility. I mean, socks is a big one, right? When you're doing laundry, you know, things that have gone a little bit gray. I mean, I do all the time where a pair of white knickers ends up in a black wash inadvertently, and then they become gray. And then you just kind of deal with it and carry on washing and drying them and still wearing the gray stuff. And then all of a sudden, you're like, why am I doing that? I deserve more than gray knickers, right? Yeah, so, but you've got it. It's all about that mindset. Don't just keep on doing the same thing over and not evaluating as you as the opportunity presents itself. You know, it's interesting with what you said. I want to, I want to delve into that. You know, you talked about because I said, Oh, you do do number three, because you looked at a top this morning and you goes, Oh, no, I didn't, because I didn't declutter something. But I, you know, we are big advocates that decluttering is not just about getting rid of stuff, right? Yeah, decluttering is about, you know, reconnecting with stuff, finding stuff, you know, keep it, deciding what to keep things like that. And so I would, I would, even though it's a competition, and I'm absolutely going to win it, I will give you a point for number three, because I still think even though you didn't declutter, it was part of the decluttering process of evaluating what you have in your wardrobe? So

16:47
let's quickly move on to number five before she before she suddenly realized, she said, Oh, actually, no, I'm not going to give you the point. So number five, this is what you do. I think a lot. I don't think I really do this, but it's decluttering when you're getting ready for holidays. Oh,

17:03
all the time, but there is a big difference in volume of clothing between your household and mine. That's the truth. Like our house is everybody's house is, like, packed to the brim with clothes. To be fair, I'm the only one who kind of declutters. Have to force the kids into decluttering, and so I think it's kind of not so much now with the kids, but I do every time we're packing for holidays, I will say to them, go through the store, because I, you know, I'm I'm still ironing things and, you know, preparing clothes for them rightly or wrongly, and that I'm still getting the clothes to the point that they're in their wardrobes ready for choosing, Right? So I will say, when you're packing for your holidays, I want you to absolutely because all of a sudden, a lot of that stuff has come out of that wardrobe, right? So it's a little bit easier to see what's left. Why did you not choose that T shirt that would have been perfectly good for a two week holiday, you know? Why are you coming and saying, I need two new T shirts, Mum, or I need a pair of shorts? I haven't got them when you've got shorts hanging up in your wardrobe. So what's the problem with the shorts that you've got hanging up in your wardrobe? So it gives you the opportunity to to look at something that is designed for a specific purpose, ie, that climate that you're going on holiday to and go I actively made a choice not to put that into my case this time. What's the reason behind that? And is that something that I will indeed ever choose. So I think decluttering while you are packing for your holidays turns what's kind of a nice task, and it adds something into it which is a bit of a chore, and you kind of put it all in together, and it's a great outcome. Yeah, I love doing that. And I do it every single time I pack for any trip.

18:43
Amazing. You know, fantastic. I mean, I want

18:46
you to do that.

18:50
Well I did when Max, a couple of months ago, moved to his student room, I did go through all of his clothes. And I went because he wanted to take a lot of his clothes, because they go to uni, like 42 weeks of the year. So he's like, I need to bring everything, and I'm in another country, so I can't just nip back home and get some stuff. So we actually went through his clothes and actually filtered out some stuff that he said, I'm not going to wear that anymore. So same

19:14
principle, right? Yeah, I know it's not a trip, but it's kind of a big trip, kind of a house, yeah, a transition. So same principle, you know, we do it quite often, but we would see it. I think the difference with that is we would see that as part of the transitional process. If you were moving house, if you were downsizing, if you were, you know, but in packing, we kind of focus on the packing. But I'm saying just open up the opportunity in your mind to not just packing them, to do some decluttering along the way

19:39
as well. I love it. So before we go to a breakdown. Lesley, so how many have you got from the five?

19:49
Well, you know, number two, I don't necessarily get inspired from socials because, because I we talk about it all the time ourselves, don't we, but I used to get inspired a lot when I. Do it with a client. So if I would declutter, like jewelry or something with a client, I would get inspired and do my own when I came home quite often. So it's kind of similar, kind of similar. So I'm going to go I've got number two, when you're inspired from other people, when you get dressed, because I did that this morning, when I do laundry, definitely do and decluttering. When I do packing holidays. I don't do decluttering when gas to come in because I don't really need to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you

20:27
got four out of five. So I got two out of five. Then I got number three, because you kindly gave me that point. Oh, and the laundry, one, so two. Okay, so that's the telly. Four for you. Two for me, let's go for a break. I will chat about five more ways to spontaneously declutter after the break. Hello everyone. Welcome back to your 10 ways to spontaneous DD clutter. We've done five. We're going to do another five. So let's talk about number six. And I think I actually do this one when many

20:58
of you know spontaneously gave you credit. I know

21:02
when you're cooking in your kitchen, you're making a meal and you're you know, you can do a little bit of decluttering. For example, you open the cupboard to get some herbs out, and you think, Oh, there's another herb there that I haven't seen in ages from the back of the cupboard. Let me check the date. Wow, that's two years out of date. I need to declutter that you can immediately do that there. And then

21:26
I think, you know herbs, I kind of, you know, I keep those quite well, and I'm happy to keep herbs beyond their sell by a day as well. If it's something that I use infrequently. But sometimes, do you know the big one that I declutter all the time, which I find a real pain. If you know those kind of sources that only last six weeks, yeah, you know those, there's loads, isn't it? It's like, refrigerate after opening last six weeks, or whatever they say on them, and they because you do buy things for, like, one recipe. And there's something about, I think I have a bit of a barrier once it's been opened. You kind of do put it back in the fridge. Yeah? Often go back to it, do I mean, yeah. Do you see what I mean? Have you got that? Yes, I'm trying to think of examples of it, you know, like, yeah.

22:10
Like, pesto. Pesto, perfect one, yeah. Well, like, when you're eating Doritos and dip, which is my guilty pleasure, and you've got some salsa left in the pond, be like, Oh, I don't want to throw it away, because it's really nice. Doritos. I'm telling you all my secrets now.

22:26
This is why, Oh, my God, it's okay. I have Doritos and salsa. Doritos. I

22:30
love Doritos. They're so Oh, so good, but so bad. M

22:33
and S, M S tortillas. They're a nice, delightly Salted M and S tortillas. Tell us, anybody who lives in the UK, are you a Doritos or an MS lightly salted? That's me.

22:45
I also did the lightly salted. That's from Doritos. Yeah, they're the I think they're the best. But anyway, so, yeah, so things like that, you kind of, you don't want to throw it away, but then it kind of ends up in the fridge. And then you might, I mean, some people might go, Well, what do you mean, salsa in the fridge for six weeks. I have Doritos four times for a week, but I try not to. But

23:06
even, you know, the salsa, because, I mean, salsa is definitely not six weeks. That's few days, that's a three day one, isn't it? But even the second day, I'd be a bit like, dunno, it's just there's something about it not being fresh, and having heard that lid pop open, that somehow tarnishes a little bit in your mind, yeah? And you think it's not going to be as nice. How did

23:24
we end up talking about food? Yeah? Because we're talking about cooking. Yeah, that's true. But I was also, you know what? I was also thinking when you're like, wait, if you've got like, loads of wooden spoons, and you suddenly realize when you're cooking, you're like, that one is, like, completely, like disintegrated black I accidentally, you know what I mean, or you can declutter it. If you've got 12 wooden spoons, you don't need 12 wooden spoons. A couple is plenty.

23:51
I have a lot of wooden spoons. I have a lot of wooden spoons. I

23:54
have about four, I think, yeah, six, I'd

23:57
say six. And I know. And you'll be very disappointed with me with this, but I do put them in the dishwasher. Oh,

24:03
me too.

24:03
I'll do it. Oh, it's just, I'll just be there. Yeah, I know you shouldn't. And they probably, like, you've probably got like, splinters of wood, like in your whatever, but like, I just feel like it kind of sterilizes them, doesn't it? I do have a lot of wooden spoons, because I use them a lot. Yeah, you know? And you use two. I use two together if it's like a walk or, do you know what I mean, like, that kind of thing. So, yeah, yeah. When you're cooking, when you see things in your fridge, don't just leave them there until they go out a day if you know that you're never going to use them. If you are that kind of person who's, like, not really a salsa person, after three days let it go, you know, and do regularly as you're getting something out you might see, you know, like chili sauces. It's those kind of, those, like, they're not table sources, because, like, smart ketchup and mayonnaise and stuff last much longer. It's kind of those six week sources that sit in. Yeah, shelf in your fridge that, yeah, if I do a fridge decluttering, there's probably six or seven. Go ahead. Well,

25:07
that goes nicely. Then into number seven, do a bit of decluttering of your fridge before you do like a bigger shop. Because what I see a lot is that, you know, people have, you know, some leftover tomatoes and some salad and some things they have half eaten and a little bit of left, little bits left over and stuff. And not necessarily talking about jars, but just food. And then the new food gets put in front of the old food, and then it completely is like gone. So do tidy up your fridge. So when you know, for example, on a Saturday or once or twice a week, I do a bigger shop before you go, just look in your fridge for five minutes and go, Okay, what's here that actually needs to go? Because you make your future self much happier. Because when you then come back with that bigger shop, you can actually put the stuff away, instead of having to rummage around and go, Oh, I'm gonna and then it doesn't fit, and then, like I said, the old stuff gets put to the back, and that's when it all gets a little bit ill, because you just haven't done that. So it's just a great way as well, to spontaneous declutter a little bit.

26:19
Yeah, definitely, it's kind of all about creating that rotation, really, in your fridges. I mean, I do it every single week, so yeah, thankfully, does a shopping every week, and I know yon does your shopping. So I hate shopping so much. Food shopping, I just, I don't think it's because I used to work in the I used to work in a supermarket, right in my 20s. I think that's what it is. Think it finished me off the live. I hate food shopping. Hate it with a passion. So Steve does it every week, and so while he's there, then I sort of prepare the fridge, wipe it out, get everything ready, because otherwise, if he put it away, he just put it on top of everything else. And the herbs that I bought last week that are still good enough do not mean will be at the bottom, and then they'll definitely be gone by the end of next week, won't they, kind of, you know, preparing for what's coming. So it's not necessarily about decluttering, but there will be some things that you would prefer. There are undoubtedly things that you don't finish off, sadly, you need to get thrown away every week. So yeah, spontaneously decluttering of your fridge with the weekly shop. Yes,

27:16
now we're going to number eight unless it was like, Well, you could also set yourself a little challenge. I'm just gonna walk around the house and fight find five things that I no longer want just go actually, you know, instead of because sometimes, if you said, you know, I'm gonna declutter and organize, it becomes a big deal that you can just kind of then start to procrastinate about, because you think, well, but I've got so much to do, I don't know which room to start. I don't know what where in the corner of a room, and everything is messy and not and then it becomes a big deal. But if you just go, actually, just going to go around and find five things that I can declutter today, that can work really, really well as well, and then it becomes a bit of a game, doesn't it? Yeah.

27:59
So if you're definitely, if you're a gamification type person, this is going to work really well. I think you've got to be careful with with this kind of stuff. So do I think it's a good add on to a more targeted, structured decluttering journey? Yes, it can work, for sure. It can work to keep things ticking over. If you've got a bit of you know, if you're on a mission to declutter your whole house, and you know that you're going to have to devote sort of longer spells of time to get that done, and you're on a little bit of a fallow period for whatever reason life's got in the way, we all know what that and you just want to keep things ticking over because that Mo, that's what keeps your motivation high. This can be something that works really well. I mean, our we regularly do things like this in our membership, in our member challenges, we've got constantly got a one thing a day thread going which some of our members get involved in. Some don't, because some prefer the structure of doing it very systematically. And other people, you know, enjoy that process of one thing a day, but it's definitely on top of other things that you're doing. I think that's what you so do we advocate five things a day as a decluttering methodology? No, I think we would wholeheartedly not sit behind that, yeah, because you need to go through things ideally, understanding the emotions related to that particular room, that particular area, and really delve in deep, you know, looking at things alongside each other, seeing what volumes you've got. And so there's more to it, but can it work as a little spontaneous thing to keep you ticking over? Definitely?

29:31
Yeah, absolutely. And that's why we put it in our in our list, haven't we? Lesley, we have number nine people are going to sigh when they hear this one. Lesley, have a spontaneous digital Declutter. Yeah, open your phone

29:52
Ingrid's getting the two points that she got in the first half deducted because of how bad she is. And. And start taking the points away. I'm not talking about things like, you know, you can spontaneously declutter whatever you like, but things like, you know, playlists on skyboxes, on what you call it, on Netflix, you know, you've got your playlist. You know, are they still relevant? Are they things that you want to watch? All those things? It's all noise, digital noise around us and some and you know, you're already sitting on the server. It might be like, You know what? I'm going to sort my playlist out today, so I've got exactly what I want to do. Or it might be a photo. A photo project is a brilliant one to do as a digital Declutter. I use an app that I can't remember what it's called. What's that app called that I use, we'll put it in the show notes, because I can't remember what it's called. But I use an app and it it, it's all designed for you to do 50 items a day. And so it's not spontaneous, but it is kind of it breaks it right down. And so you could do a photo declutter and say, you know, I'm going to delete a few photos when I'm on the bus or when I'm on the train, or whether I'm a passenger in a long car journey or whatever that might be, or whether when I'm in the bath or when I'm in bed in the morning, or whatever that might be. You know, use your time productively to just do these small little bursts of digital decluttering which take away that noise around us. Because even though it's not like items in a house, digital stuff is noisy and takes our attention, our time and our energy away, yeah, and what have you got to say about that?

31:33
Well, I actually I am trying to be much better Lesley, and I actually did recently go through all my playlist on on my Skybox, and of course, then you look at your safe wish list in Netflix, you're like, Oh, I actually don't want to see that anymore. So we, we did a bit of a tidy up around it. I while back did. I went through lots of my apps on my phone, and I uninstalled some stuff that I thought, you know one never going to use that same with, you know, we, we both love listening to different podcasts. But, you know, sometimes shows, if you've watched all the listen to all the episodes, and then they stop, you know, delete it so it doesn't become I did a massive group, Facebook group. I was part of lots of different groups, and I thought I just like our own group. I just want to watch our own group, our own Facebook group. I don't want to be in all these other groups. So I did some digital decluttering in my Facebook groups. But it's, it's indeed, it's here, there and everywhere. It's something when I think, Oh, why am I in this group? And then I go, spontaneously, I go, what other groups I'm in, and then you kind of can just clear it out a little bit. Yeah, and

32:45
when, when the and then you get, but you got, this is where you gotta be, quite and digital decluttering is not really a problem. But, you know, we said right at the beginning, it's really important for you to keep a handle on it, so you can't let this spontaneous decluttering, which was going to take you five minutes all of a sudden, become a mammoth eight hour session that's going to let you burn out. So you need to know when to stop as well. But yeah, digital decluttering, you know, it's typically when we're doing something else, you know. And you know, it's kind of multitasking, so definitely do some digital decluttering. I think that's a great example of spontaneous decluttering. Well, that's good. You got another point?

33:23
Yes,

33:26
spontaneous, I will. I'll leave you. I'll let you have the two. It's tough.

33:30
Last one, then one in, one out, and, yeah, of course, you know, you might thought, Well, yeah, but you have to do it. You know. Don't think I'll wait for the weekend and then do well. I got five things and I'll take five No. Something comes in. Something needs to go. If you've got a lot a lot of stuff, you know that can help you as well. This one in, one out rule with your spontaneous decluttering,

33:56
yeah. And so is it spontaneous, there?

34:02
Well, I think for people who are not used to decluttering and organizing, the thought that the option is there, that you actually think to yourself, actually, I'm going to put something in my wardrobe now, I need to actually find another thing to leave, or maybe even one in two out if you've got, like, loads and loads and loads of stuff, I think that can and that doesn't take very long,

34:21
yeah, I think it's spontaneous, because it's like it fulfills the criteria, spontaneous because it's one thing really, or two, yeah? So it's a small amount of things that can go into the donation station. So it's prompted by something else, which is the purchase of something you want to keep on the straight and narrow, so you don't want to start introducing additional things into your house, or if you do buy new things and something needs to go because you want to kind of keep the status quo almost, yeah, I think that's a great example of spontaneous decluttering. And I think it just shows you that if your mind is open to having less, and your whole mindset is changing towards having a clutter free home. Opportunities will arise that didn't before. So you will see the opportunity to declutter in places that you never, ever saw it before. And that's what this podcast is all about.

35:09
I love it. So how many Lesley, come on. Let's do the telly after the break. Let me think I definitely do declutter the fridge, digital, yeah, and the cook and the cooking? Yeah, so I got three out of five. And

35:23
I do the cooking. I definitely do the fridge. I don't do a five items situation ever and but I do do digital decluttering. I don't do one in, one out. So I'm gonna three, three. And how many did I have before the break four? So I got eight. I am seven. You got seven. Masters never been my strong friends

35:45
and I had three after the break, two before the break, so I got five. Well done. Spontaneous here,

35:52
I know, I know. Could you want to introduce that into other areas of your life? Anyway,

35:59
I like my plans. I like the plan because for me also, I think when I plan things, I can have the enjoyment before that it's going to happen as well. So I think that's why

36:07
she's getting better. She's getting better. The bottom line is, when you're working with me, you can't avoid spontaneity, because literally, what you thought you were doing at nine o'clock might have changed by 907.

36:17
I know that is this is so true. You don't know how true this is, but I will leave my woes for another time. I've enjoyed it. Lesley, there's 10 ways to spontaneously declutter so listeners, have we inspired you? You know, if you're a bit of stuck in a rod? Eli, but oh, I'm looking at a mount. Everest of stuff I need to declutter, I've been inspired just to kind of spontaneous, be spontaneous, and just, do you know, yes, and you need to have a plan for longer term decluttering and organized. Yes, you need to schedule time your diary. But again, start small, and maybe to get you re energized, you can use some of our 10 ways to help you, kind of get back on the decluttering train, which we love. So let us know, send us a message and tell us

37:07
yes, I've enjoyed it too, yeah. Well,

37:10
thank you everybody for being here, and we'll see you next week. See you soon. Bye, everyone.

37:20
Thanks so much for listening to the declutter hub podcast. Don't forget to subscribe to us in your podcast player so you don't miss an episode and we'll see you next week.
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Veronika_wherethehillsarealive says:

13 October 2024 at 1:12 PM

Hi,
I really loved this podcast. I like so much how versatile your thinking is. The topic 'decluttering spontaneously' kind of allows us 'flitters' to sometimes follow our spontaneous nature – as long as it happens within a sensible frame and does not morph into something overwhelming.
I really needed to hear this. The golden middle path. Not too spontaneous, not to rigid.
THANK YOU, ladies of wisdom. 😉

Reply
1. Ingrid Jansen says:
  
  14 October 2024 at 9:37 AM
  
  Hi Veronika, thank you for letting us know you really enjoyed the podcast and it is helping you to make steps forwards. Onwards!
  
  Reply
Episode 315 – 10 ways to declutter spontaneously

Episode 372 – The Opposite of Swedish Death Cleaning with Guest Alison Binney

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

Episode 370 – Grief and Clutter with Emma Gray

Episode 369 – 10 items to declutter from your home office

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