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Episode 269 – 10 ways to keep momentum when decluttering

One of the hardest things when you’re decluttering is keeping your momentum strong. In this podcast we’re going to talk about the 10 things you can do to keep your momentum going.
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Transcript of this podcast episode
00:00
One of the hardest things when you're decluttering is keeping your momentum strong. Today we're going to talk about the 10 things you can do to keep your momentum going.

00:19
You're listening to the declutter Apple podcast, bringing you tried and tested no nonsense tips and advice from the leading experts decluttering and organizing your home. Now here are your hosts, Ingrid Jansen, and Lesley Spellman.

00:42
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. If you'd like to get involved in conversations related 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 declutter hub.com. Forward slash group to find out more, or you can search for the declutter hub community on Facebook. Well, Lesley, here we are with our next brand new podcast. And we're going to talk about keeping momentum. And it's one that we get asked about a lot, isn't it? But before we do, I think we need to talk about a review that has come in. Yes, talk about review, go read it out. I know how much you love to read these things out, Ingrid, I know steal your thunder.

01:45
It says Hello, ladies. I'm in the US and I have a great roster of about five, home and organization, bolt casters. And now you guys are great. My approach as a personal trainer is so similar in stressing the emotional component that holds us back from lifelong changes, and that everything must stand up to real life. I'm also amused at how sometimes it takes me a few minutes to understand the words through your accents. It's good, it makes me Listen harder. Your personality and rapport is also engaging. In my own decluttering journey, there has been so much process and learning in the past four or five years, but much more to go. Info and knowledge is not the problem. It's more deep seated issues where emotions live. Now that I'm 50, and my son is 16. I'm feeling more pressure to want my space as I envision it, or simultaneously feeling so emotional to perimenopause, adult ADHD and life. I know we can talk for days about these kinds of topics. And I enjoy going back to all of your older podcasts. Wow, that's so nice. That was my email. So now an email explaining who you are, and what you're feeling and what you're going through in your own journey and explaining a little bit about that. And we're delighted to be part of that decluttering journey. So we completely fail you. And thank you so much for sharing. You know, it's funny, you talk about our accents. Because when we first started podcasting, we were like, no one's going to even understand the kind of Dutch person and a person person from the north of England who talks at a rate of knots. To be fair, at least the English slows down, I can get a little bit kind of fast, as you all know, because we didn't think that anybody would be able to understand this really did work. But clearly they do because we never get anybody who says slow down. Do we Ingrid? I know. I know. I think that's was I think one of the things we were worried about the most 269 episodes ago, like, wow, actually, when you say this number Now listen, it's kind of mind boggling, isn't it? Really? But yeah, we were like, oh my god, can somebody actually understand what we're saying? You're apart from the fact that we both speak quite fast. We both have accents. And we use all these English terminology that people all over the world my thing I didn't know what they're talking about. But we got there, didn't we? And we have such a lovely, lovely following all over the world. And we appreciate each and every one of you so much for listening in week in week out, sending us comments sending us reviews. It's absolutely fab. So thank you so much for your email. Yes. So today we're talking about momentum. It's quite interesting. So a few podcasts ago, we did one on time. And this is kind of the next natural progression, isn't it? Really, which is why we wanted to do one on momentum when we thought that we'd make it a 10 things. I know. You don't sound as excited today about the 10 thing not like it's a different type of 10 things right? Yeah, it's very different. And when you suggested I was like, that's actually a really good idea. You came up with a tremendous list. So I'm all in level

05:00
Let's see, girls. But Shall we get started with item number one on our 10 Things to keep your momentum going? Yes. And that is planning before you kind of dive into those cupboards and those drawers and those rooms have to make plan. That's number one on the list. So important. The thing is if you don't make a plan, so part of the planning is kind of getting all your stuff together and getting your bin base together, getting your cleaning stuff together, getting you who've making sure that you've got all of the things that you need to execute on this decluttering project that you're doing. And if you don't have those things, it sort of gets annoying straightaway. As soon as you get there, you got to go downstairs and grab the bags and go grab the cleaning stuff. And they're all things that give you slightly negative emotions, and make you feel that it's a bit of a pain to do. And so it's so important to have all that thing done before you even get started. So nothing can stop you in your tracks, which is basically what momentum is all about. Right? Exactly, exactly. Because we don't want you to get cracking, and then every five minutes abandon what you're doing to get something else that you forgot. Because the thing is, when you go out of the area or room that you're working, something else might catch your eye, and you're gonna get sidetracked. And that is like not good for what you're doing. Because then you end up doing 45 minutes to Rails, you're like, Oh, I was actually doing this. I completely forgot about it. So when you plan, you've got less opportunities to get sidetracked and which I think is a good thing. Yeah, you have a plan, don't you? I do. I do. Yeah, I'm more of a jumping in person. Not on decluttering, obviously, because that's not allowed, because we're experts in this matter. But generally I do like to jump in without to jump in without a plan. Is that a fair offer than you? Right? Yeah. Yeah. If you compare between the two of us, yeah, I would have kind of have thought ahead and kind of, you know, do pros and cons. And you're like what sounds like a good idea. Let's do it.

06:59
And to be fair, Lesley, nine out of 10 times, it is really good. At the end, you have to convince me to come on board, I got you to do all the planning. So I need to do that myself. That's basically the way that it works. I'm allowed to be like that, and not have to do the boring stuff, because you do all that. So let's go to number two on our list of things that you need to do to keep momentum going. And this is all about goals. Now you know how much we love a goal in the declutter hub. And before we start on any decluttering project, we absolutely need to think about what our big picture goal is. And so if it's your bathroom is your bedroom, if it's your kitchen, why do you want to declutter this room? What is your why? What is your big picture goal, and it can be things like, I want to feel calmer, I want to be less stressed in the morning, I want the cleaning to be easier. That would be your big picture goal and individual rooms. So you can have a big picture goal for your entire house for your whole decluttering journey. But then you can also have a big picture goal room by room as well, can't you Ingrid? Yeah, I think so. And I think it's really important to have that firmly in mind. Because that will keep you motivated to do the next step. And we're not saying that because you set the big picture goal is really big, it's unachievable, we're gonna have to break down this goal into small manageable chunks. But you have to know what am I working towards? What's my light at the end of the tunnel, the big why I'm doing this, I want to have people over and I want to enjoy a meal at the table. I want my grandchild to stay in my spare bedroom. I want I love crafting, but my craft room is really full, and I can't do it. And I would love to go back to enjoying my crafting again. Number three is you need to figure out what your small, manageable goals are. How are you going to get to the end of that big picture goal? You can only do that by breaking it down into small manageable chunks. Yes, small, small, manageable chunks. Why is it such a mouthful? That's definitely number three. So when you're when you're thinking about your goals, and do do do spend some time thinking about what that is, because it's all part of the momentum, because you have to keep reminding yourself of your progress. And that's what sort of drives the momentum. So they're all they work kind of cohesively together. big picture goal is the thing that you're constantly when it's hard when the going gets tough. You're going to focus on your big picture goal all the time. And accountability and progress is going to be managed by your small manageable chunk goals. So it's so important to understand the difference between those two. Number four on our list, Ingrid? Yes, you need to understand your own energy levels. Everybody's got different pulse on their time pulse in their lives thinks they need to do but also everybody's got different energy levels. Some people are better in the morning, some people in the afternoon so people in the evening it depends on when you work when you sleep, you know on your own life. Are you

10:00
person that needs to take medication in the morning. So that first hour of the day, you're just kind of starting up and warming up. And you know, you can't do a decluttering thing. But maybe like, you know what, actually after I've had a cup of tea, and I mean, I'm useless before breakfast, don't really ask me to do anything before breakfast. Any useful, I think in the AMA always quite all right. At the end of the morning, literally joke, I'm

10:28
not supposed to reply. When I say what do you not useless?

10:35
To justify, it was a joke, you're very useful all the time. But I don't like to see before nine o'clock in the morning, I know, agreed between either.

10:47
Exactly. So ya know, you I'm sorry, I rudely interrupted you, Ingrid, it's so important to understand your own energy level, because a lot of people, by their own admission are very all or nothing when it comes to decluttering. And that's a very dangerous place to be, because that will zap your energy, it will make you start earlier than you wanted to. And it will make you not continue that cyclical process of going round and doing another decluttering project tomorrow or next week. And so it's so so important to recognize your own ability to do these things based on the things that we've spoken about that kind of pull from our energy and go, you know, what, half an hour, 45 minutes, an hour, two hours, five minutes, whatever that is, is a sensible amount of time for me has to be realistic, don't even good. And honestly, is one of the biggest things, don't get sort of pull into something and go, Oh, well, I'll just keep on going. Keep on going, you know, break it down to a manageable chunk. And then when you've got to the end of it, unless there's a very good reason, stop, have a break, and then see whether you want to continue. And if you do, and you've still got that energy, fantastic. But don't if you if you start out big, then you're going to feel like you've failed because you've not got all the way to the end of it right now. You know what, Lesley, I had a throwback in my memory to our challenge back in September, right? Because we had one of our challengers she she's like super enthusiastic, she's doing really well. And we said very clearly at the start of our challenge, we're going to give you a small piece of homework every day, that may be 1520 minutes, hopefully, maybe sometimes a little bit longer, sometimes a little bit shorter. Do that. And don't overdo it. And she absolutely loves like, I'm loving this, I'm so excited. And she went when she did everything in her kitchen on day one and everything in her bathroom, they do, and then kind of posted to the Pope of Facebook group. Like I think I've now exactly fallen in the trap that Lesley and Ingrid warned me against the thing I shouldn't do, because I indeed couldn't finish it. I've now to have two rooms with chaos. And she said, I think I need to listen to what you're saying. So for her, it was a lesson that she needed to learn what's thought though, it is hard when you're enthusiastic, and you want to get the job done. So this is not easy, which is why we're doing a podcast on it to explain some of the things that you can do to keep that momentum going. This is nice. Nine, if you're if you're enthusiastic and you you want to go hell for leather, I'd fall into that trap and other things in my life as well. Do you not to me that like, just let's get the job done? And then the next day, you're completely exhausted? Yeah, you don't realize it until after you've finished? Do you? That's the problem. Yeah, you feel like you've still got that energy. And it's only when you've finished it you go, absolutely wiped out now, because the adrenaline keeps you going while you're doing it. And then all of a sudden, you're like, you know, like dead on the sofa.

13:35
You won't come back and like, Well, that was exhaust. So I'm not doing that again. And that's what we want to avoid isn't exactly, exactly, let's do number five, then over 10 ways to keep your momentum going. And then yeah, we can have a little break after that. But we wanted to do one more. And that is take a before picture. So when you're planning on doing something, a drawer, a cupboard, a box, a bag, whatever it is, snap a before picture, I think it's really important to think about these things that we've spoken about your big picture goal, your small manageable, chunk goal, write it down, if you're a list maker, write these things down, write down what you want to achieve. If you're a checklist person, write it down on a list. And definitely, definitely take a before picture because it's so so important and so inspiring and motivational to see how far you've come. Yeah. And I think the in the flurry of activity of getting started, we forget to do it, don't we? Yeah. And then another reason why we don't do it is we don't really feel like we want to be reminded of what it was like before, because sometimes you can feel a little bit ashamed or embarrassed about that. And we don't want to kind of capture that moment. But actually, when you get to the end of the decluttering project, it's fantastic to be able to look back on that, but it's hard. So if in doubt, take a picture. You can always delete it. You

14:56
can always delete it. It's just the picture and it just needs to be preserved.

15:00
So if you're the kind of person that is motivated by other people, then it's brilliant to share it, share with your family, share it in the Facebook group, share it wherever you want to share it, if that's if that's something that motivates you that sense of community. But you can also keep it private, just the same. You don't have to share if that's not your one. Yeah, we just know from experience in our membership that the members who take before, middle during after pictures, they get such a sense of accomplishment. And it's so good for other people as well to see your progress so they can cheer you on and maybe drop an idea here or there. And those before pictures, really, you know, it's so good to see what happened before and where am I now and that's a great motivator. But it's hard. It's not easy, especially in the beginning, because you don't want to be confronted properly with with the mess and declutter But trust us, it's really, really helpful to keep your own momentum going, you know, one of the things that I've never done, it's kind of a similar thing, but for us, because we're not we're not kind of doing much decluttering Well, we are but we don't, that's not what we need to map progress against is it would be great to go back to episode two of the podcast, and then compare it to Episode 269. And see how far we've come with that and how different it is. When I'm gonna break it on my list. Lesley, I'm gonna do it. Yeah, I'm gonna write it down a bit scared because I just felt it might be a bit cringe. You know, thing, I think it'd be crazy. We had no idea what we're doing. Actually, we kind of just randomly started the podcast and thought, well, we love chatting. Let's just do it. You know, shall we? We're probably very sort of prim and proper. Maybe not. I don't know. We do. We should listen to it together. That'd be fun. Yeah, that we should definitely not like a watch party like and listen.

16:51
Okay, well, we're gonna go, we're gonna go delirious here. Let's go for a break, because we've got spike or other things to go to Lesley. Hi, everyone, welcome back to your 10 ways to keep momentum when decluttering we've done five before the break. We're back with number six. And that is a very important one, because you need to recognize in yourself when you have decision fatigue. Lesley, can you expand on that a little bit more? Yeah, decision fatigue is when you start, when you're so overwhelmed with making decisions, which is what decluttering is all about every item that comes into your path, you have to make a decision whether or not you're going to keep that or you're going to let it go. And if that's not something that you're used to doing, or that you find very difficult or very emotional, then you can very quickly get decision fatigue. And what then happens is you start to get fed up of the process, and start to make decisions that you're not in control of. And so often we say if we're at the end of a session with a client, quite often, we'll see people start going, Oh, just just throw it away, just throw it away, just throw it away. And we're like, that's strange, because that's it'll kind of shift in the pattern of behavior that we've seen for a few hours today. So that's when we'll wrap up a session because that's where decision fatigue is kicking in. And so it's easy for us to see it because we're professionals, and we can see that pattern of decision making. But you need to recognize that pattern in yourself. If you look at something and you're unsure about a decision or you're starting to feel that it's the decisions are getting more difficult to make, leave it down and start again another day. Yeah, important writing grid. Yeah. And I think that's also why we keep saying over and over and over again, break up that decluttering project, keep it small, just really just do one cupboard, one drawer, because then the decisions still feel like manageable. But if you then go to another drawer and another drawer, no, no, you tie yourself out and your energy is low, or you forget to drink some water or have a little snack or whatever. And then it becomes overwhelming. And then you either hold on to things you shouldn't hold on to or you don't want to hold on to. Or you just go oh, just throw I'm gonna throw it all out. And then you might regret that decision later. So it's really important to knowing when to stop, when is it enough and maybe for some people, one tiny plastic container or one tiny little stack of paper, that is enough for that day, and but we want you to do that. Be happy with what you've achieved. And do it again tomorrow, and not wear yourself out completely by just doing too much for too long. Being completely overwhelmed and having then decision fatigue and then go I'm not going to come back to this for another month. Because that is what we want to avoid. I think essentially because I'm interested in because it almost seems like it's counterintuitive to what we're trying to talk about because talking about keeping momentum going, which you would think about continuing on with your decluttering and we're saying stop at the right time. And so the momentum is more about several decluttering projects or the continuation of your decluttering project or process than as we like to call it

20:00
So the momentum is not just about keeping going on one day, it's about keeping going and making a sustainable decluttering journey for yourself. Yes, Lesley?

20:10
Yeah, very much. Yeah. This guy's running with lice and things so

20:17
that it carries on, we were just talking. Number seven, of course, go into number seven of our lives, we were talking about making the wrong decisions. And it's so important that if you are unsure of a decision, whether it's decision fatigue or not, if in doubt, keep it ignore that, if in doubt, throw it out scenario that gets bandied around in our world. And what we have seen and what we've seen happen in terms of people feeling in control of decisions about the stuff that they're keeping, is, if in doubt, keep it, you can always do it again on your next pass. Okay, so you're gonna go on decluttering, again, you're going to do another pass and you got to look at it, you might feel stronger about it, you might have built up your decluttering muscle and feel fine about getting rid of it in a few months, time, few weeks time, next week, whatever that might be. But never make a decision. Never feel pressured into a decision. Never make a decision that feels uncomfortable to you. Now you are gonna have to move out of your comfort zone a little bit. So you've got to exercise a little bit of realism in here. So you've got to find that sweet spot between pushing yourself out of your comfort zone slightly, but still still feeling in control of decisions that you're making. And if that decision feels really, really uncomfortable, keep it I show agree. I so agree. There is some weird stuff out there that's being thrown about and really like no. And this is I think one of the one of the ones that we stand behind the most you know, if in doubt, keep it. It doesn't rhyme though. Does I know, I know.

21:43
I think what would be around? I don't know, we need a ride. If in doubt, give it another shout. Yes, if in doubt,

21:52
Donovan grid. If in doubt, give it another shout. I like it, there might be something that rolls off the tongue a little bit better. I feel like for our listeners might come up with something Yeah, for us. If you can think of a rhyme for if in doubt, give it another shout out.

22:08
She's a little bit long winded. Ella is in the comments. I know. Anyway, we need to go on to number eight, Alicia Bill's dish, these 10 things are 10 ways podcasts always like, go on forever. And we need to make sure that we have things 10 ways. 10 hours. Yes.

22:28
This is also a number eight, I think is one that a lot of people miss out on. And I think we know how important that is. Right? Yeah, definitely. So if you we've talked about on things like decision fatigue, we've talked about small manageable chunks, we've talked about stopping when you feel like you've had enough so that you can then continue on the next day. And it's so important to kind of almost prepare for the worst. So in your head, you might think that you're going to come back and carry on tomorrow. But we know that life kind of throws all kinds of things to us, we might be exhausted, someone might call and something might happen. We've got to go to a doctor's appointment, who knows what's around the corner, what we need to do, we need to make sure that we can carry on where we left off easily. Because if we've got to go all the way back and start to work out which bag was decluttering and which is for charity in which was keeping and which was for the bathroom and which was for the kitchen. It sends you into a bit of a headspin tailspin. Yeah, yeah. And have both spent both. I think both spin. And so I think it's really important that you sort of put labels on you have put a system together kind of think of what the work would be. For me that would be stacking boxes. And on each of those boxes, I would have a label that says this is what it is this is decluttered already sorted through, not sorted through needs to go to charity. Go into my sister, whatever that might be needs to be repurposed going in the bathroom needs to be mended needs to be fixed. have boxes or bags of these things and make sure it's very, very clear what they are and where you were up to within that process. It's so important, isn't it Ingrid, we do it all the time a workers professionals because we might not come back to that client for another four weeks. And we can't go back to square one again, we have to carry on where we left off. And if you have to go over things again, that's when you lose momentum. Yeah, and I think but even also on a smaller level, Lesley if you do a drawer of something, make sure that you finish it you know, if there are a few bits that you want that you want to throw away, put them in the bin, if there's a couple of bits for recycling, put them in your recycling bin, don't go I've done the drawer and the leave all the little remnants of stuff that you didn't want to have in that drawer. Just then out you have to kind of go okay, I need to spend some time at the end of my little decluttering 15 minutes let's just call it to make sure this was in another drawer now oh that needs washing up but that needs to go here. I'm going to put that on only on half a little OLIO basket freecycle basket or

25:00
charity books or whatever it is, you need to do all those little bits. So you can really feel like ah, I am now finished this and not have I've done the drawer, but still not all my counters, there's loads of stuff that I still have to do something like you have to do a bit of tidying up exactly. You do have to tidy up after yourself and you have to execute on your exit plan. Yes, that's really good for that momentum as well. Because you know, that drawer is done. It's finished. And now tomorrow, or later this evening, or whenever I can do the next thing. But I don't have to come back to a whole pile of stuff that I didn't, didn't know what to do with or I didn't finish up. Now, Ingrid, you kind of amalgamated eight and nine. Didn't you? did? You did that? Yes, I know.

25:51
Exactly what's waiting with bated breath for number nine. But we already did number nine, just slotted it in there. So now we're gonna go swiftly on to number 10. Yes, number 10 is take an after picture of your hard work, take a picture of the drawer or that cupboard or that box or that pile of stuff that you're now going to give to the Goodwill or the charity or whatever it is. Or pick a picture of that lovely little section in your wardrobe that all the stuff that are now on nice hangers or something that you fold it really nicely you need. You took that before picture. Now it's time to take that after picture. And it's great for momentum, because then you can look back and go, What, oh, I can see the difference. Now I know why I'm doing this now. And this feels good. Yes, you have to get to that finish stage so that you can enjoy it. So you're going to carry on tomorrow. That's the important thing. Yeah. So momentum really is about a combination of all those things that goes all the way through the cycle really. So starting with planning and thinking about goals. And making sure the middle bit is alright with the decision fatigue and making sure manager energy levels are right, making sure you've tidied up and you know where you're up to making sure that you've sent everything off to where it needs to be. And then you can enjoy it. And the enjoyment stage of it is the very, very thing that keeps that momentum going to the next stage of your decluttering journey. So that's why we wanted to talk about momentum. It's one of the trickiest things to have on a decluttering journey. It's one of the things that people complain about all the time, like, started and then just got a bit fed up. And how do I keep on going? How do I keep this journey going? And honestly, the most important thing that we've spoken about in this whole podcast is break it down. Break it down small. If you break it down small, you'll keep on going and keep on going and keep on going. Won't you Ingrid? Yeah, absolutely. So you need to tell us lovely listeners. What is the thing you think is your hurdle to keep up momentum? One of the 10 things that we've mentioned, are you like, yes, that is me, that resonates with me, tell us please in the comments, or send us an email, like a lovely listener did at the beginning of our session for the comments on our YouTube channel. We honestly read everything that you send us. We try to read everything, comments and everything or give a thumbs up, we see it all and we just really appreciate that. And we know that you take time out of your day to to let us know as well. So and maybe Lesley maybe our listeners are thinking I would love for them to do a podcast about so and so. Let us know as well to citizen email on support@declutter.com. I mean, for 269 episodes sent but maybe you're like well, I've been waiting already 270 episodes for this topic, and I would love for them to tackle it. So yeah, send it in to us. We always appreciate ideas. Tell me Lesley, but that will send Ingrid into a head or Tailspin because she has everything already pre planned.

28:57
She's asking but she below people are asking for these things. And I've already got this stuff.

29:03
You can be flexible. Yeah, yeah, that's I would be really interested to hear what people would like us to do a podcast on because we've covered you know, a lot of different topics. They've given them a different spin on things. And yeah, we're happy we still love it. You know, we love recording these podcasts. So we appreciate all of you listening week in week out to our ramblings. And yeah, that was it for today. So thank you so much, and we'll see you soon.

29:32
Thanks so much for listening to the declutter hop 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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