The Path to True Clutter Freedom: Decluttering vs. Organizing
In this episode of The Simple Joy Show, I dive into the age-old debate of decluttering versus organizing.
While many of us rush to storage boxes to tame our clutter, I want to challenge you to reconsider you approach.
Discover why decluttering might just be the secret weapon you need to achieve a long-lasting, clutter-free environment.
Tune in to explore the transformative power of intentionality in your space and how it can pave the way to genuine simplicity and joy!
USEFUL LINKS:
How to Get Started Decluttering When Overwhelmed PDF: https://hub.simplejoy.co.uk/overwhelmed
30 Day Decluttering Challenge: https://hub.simplejoy.co.uk/challenge
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Transcript
Speaker A [00:00:00]:
Today, I’m gonna touch on the debate between decluttering and organizing. It’s easy to think that organizing is the way to take your home from feeling really cluttered and chaotic to being really functional and clutter free. But actually organizing alone is never gonna solve your clutter problem. So today, I’m gonna share why decluttering, not organizing is the best way to solve your clutter problem for good and help you learn how focusing on decluttering first can make it really simple to get organised and stay organised. When you walk through your home and you see clutter.
Speaker A [00:01:23]:
I bet you any money, your first instinct is to want to go out and buy new storage Tina. And I’ve got to admit, I’ve done this plenty of times. I love a nice pretty storage box. And that’s because we often and think that organizing is the ticket to having a clutter free home. But what if I told you that organizing just by itself is not gonna really help you out at all. Yes. Both organizing and decluttering both serve a purpose, but the key is in the order that you do them in. So if you organize without decluttering first, you’re just moving the clutter around.
Speaker A [00:02:02]:
You’re wasting your time. You’re wasting your space. And actually, you’re probably wasting money buying those storage boxes when you don’t actually need them. The 1st step should always be decluttering, not organizing because you wanna actually get rid of the stuff that you don’t use or you don’t love. And then after you’ve thoroughly decluttered, you can start to organize and that then further simplifies things. Because if we’re looking to achieve a long lasting clutter free home and life, which is what we’re all wanting, we need to step back and we need ask ourselves, why do I have so much in my home to organize in the 1st place? And that’s because organizing can sometimes act as a plaster or a bandage that temporarily covers the clutter, but you’re not actually addressing the root issue. So by decluttering first you’re really evaluating what items in your life serve a purpose and what items are ready to go.
Speaker A [00:03:07]:
I got rid of probably about 70% of my possessions when I first decluttered. You’re reducing the amount that needs to be organized in the 1st place. And when we declutter, we’re making intentional decisions about what to keep and what to let go. And the magic behind that is that once we’ve decluttered, your organizing becomes so much simpler. Suddenly everything has its place. It’s got a home, and it’s not because you’ve created a massive system of boxes, with labels and compartments, in cupboards and drawers. It’s because you only possess the items that truly add value you to your life. And when you think about it, most often, the real reason behind clutter at home is not the lack of organization. The real reason is that there’s just too much stuff in your home to begin with and there’s too much clutter.
Speaker A [00:04:02]:
And if your home is cluttered and you’re spending way too much time managing all the stuff in your home, at the end of the day, no organizational system is gonna solve that problem. I’ve coached a lot of people around this topic where they will come to me and say “I’ve done it, I’ve sorted out my house. I’ve organized it all. My house looked really good for a short period of time.” But actually what ended up happening is that all of this stuff ended up making its way out of all of those organized systems that they put into place and the clutter came back. And ultimately, that’s because they organized before they decluttered, and the clutter is still there. It’s still taking up space in your home and in your mind. It’s still weighing on you. It’s still adding that stress to your life.
Speaker A [00:04:47]:
And because they’ve got too much stuff, the organization just won’t last. It’s a temporary fix. It’s not a long term solution. At the end of the day, organizing without decluttering is gonna waste your time, your space, your energy, and money as well. Your time and energy from getting it all organized initially, and then more time and energy when you’ve got to reorganize it when it inevitably falls out of that organized system. So you’re constantly organizing and reorganizing things that you don’t even need or you don’t and even use in the 1st place. And I don’t know about you, but my time and my energy are far too precious to waste organizing the clutter. And also how many times have you wished that you had more storage space, more cupboards, more drawers? Think of it this way, maybe you don’t need more space at all?
Speaker A [00:05:39]:
Maybe you just need less stuff and trying to fit too much stuff in either space that you have is really frustrating, but when you let go of the things that you don’t use or you need, you realize you don’t actually need more storage space or more organizing solutions. And it can also end up with you spending more money, this happened to me loads. I’m looking around the house because I needed something. I couldn’t find it because it was lost somewhere within all of the stuff that I had. So I ended up buying another one. And the big one for me, it’s only small, but it all mounts up at the end of the day, doesn’t it? I’ve had so many different rolls of sellotape.
Speaker A [00:06:19]:
Because anytime I was coming to wrap presents, couldn’t find my sellotape, couldn’t find my scissors, and then I end up with 10 rolls of sellotape, 15 pairs of scissors, and it’s just ridiculous. So when you own less, it’s easier to keep track of your stuff because there aren’t piles of clutter that are hiding it. You know what you have and you know where to find it. Also, if you’re buying storage bins, storage containers, organizational systems, which I am a big fan of, but you’re buying them in the hope to solve your clutter problem. Again, you’re spending money that you don’t need to because all those organizing products, they just add more stuff in your home, and they’re even enabling you to allow the clutter to stay in your home. When you’ve got less stuff, you won’t need as many organizational products and systems anyway. So after you’ve thoroughly decluttered, organizing can come into play. It’s gonna further help you to simplify your home.
Speaker A [00:07:17]:
It’s gonna make it look prettier. It’s gonna be much more aesthetically pleasing, and it’s gonna make your life easier. It’s gonna allow you to to find things and keep track of what you own. It’s gonna help you maintain a tidy home with a lot less time and effort, which is one of my favorite things. It’s gonna create a home that looks good and functions well. It’s also gonna help you keep the amount of stuff that you bring into your home in check. Because if you don’t have a home for an item, maybe that’s an indication of you need to do a little bit more decluttering or perhaps you don’t need that item to begin with. But once you’ve created space in your home, finding spots for things that you actually use, you love and add value to your life,
Speaker A [00:08:05]:
is pretty easy. And that’s one of the biggest things that you’ve got to do. Because one of the easiest ways to organize and keep your home clutter free moving forward is to have a home for everything that you own. And the key is to make each item’s home quickly and easily accessible so things actually get put away when they’re not in use. And that’s really easy to do when you don’t have much stuff to begin with. And it’s really good for other people in the home as well. When you’ve got young children, if they know that everything has a home and when they’re finished with it, they’ve got to put it back, it’s so much easier to maintain a tidier environment.
Speaker A [00:08:41]:
And that’s gonna help your home stay organized and decluttered in the long run. What I would say though is keep it simple. Don’t add more clutter into your home in the name of organization. You don’t really need anything at all to get organized. Organizing can be something as simple as neatly lining things up in your cupboard or ordering your books and your magazines in a certain order. It doesn’t mean you need lots of storage bins and drawer organizers. So just be careful to avoid buying a bunch of those pretty boxes, bins and baskets in the name of organization.
Speaker A [00:09:20]:
Just keep it simple and make sure anything that you bring into your home is just gonna add value and not more clutter. And also be careful of adding any storage solutions that just end up hiding your clutter. As I mentioned earlier, organized clutter is still clutter, so just get rid of it. I just want you to visualize something for a moment. You’ve got 2 rooms. You’ve got room A, that’s overflowing with items. Some of them you use, some of them you haven’t even seen in years, but you buy organizers, shelves, boxes, and then you manage to get a home for everything and everything is in its place. But it might still feel a little bit heavy. But then you’ve got room B.
Speaker A [00:10:04]:
You start by letting go, by decluttering the items that you don’t use, you don’t need, you don’t love. And then the items that are left, they naturally find a home, and it feels so much more spacious. They breathe. You breathe. Now which room would you prefer? If you picked room B, I can imagine a lot of you would have done. You’re not alone. And that’s because in room B, what you’ve achieved in that space it’s more than just superficial order. What you’ve done is you’ve created a space that radiates simplicity, intention, and calm, which ultimately is what we’re all striving for.
Speaker A [00:10:48]:
Organization is not about trying to fit more stuff in your home or hide the clutter. It’s about helping you go that extra step to make a space look good on top of being functional and clutter free. And on top of that, it also gives you the added incentive to keep your spaces clutter free and organized moving forward. But keeping your home clutter free, functional, and easy to find what you need, however that looks for you is ultimately what we’re trying to get to. So the next time you’re faced with a cluttered room, before diving into organization mode, I just want you to pause and ask yourself, what can I declutter? What can I get out of this room? And believe me when I say that the path to a clutter free environment is through decluttering and not just your organization tools. So thank you for joining me on today’s episode of the Simple Joy Show. Remember in the journey to a clutter free life, it’s not just about arranging the pieces, it’s about choosing which pieces will stay.
Speaker A [00:11:55]:
So until next time. Take care.