Where to Begin

Several friends have become motivated or inspired to lessen their amount of stuff.  These people all ask the same question.  Where do I begin?  I have so much stuff.  I don't even know where to start.  I have three recommendations about where to begin.  And one recommendation about where not to begin.  Begin somewhere that will keep you motivated.

1.  You could begin in the place that drives you the most crazy.  Do you have a closet full of clothes?  So many, that it is hard to squeeze them in?  So many that you can't look between them to see what you are looking at?  So many that when you pull something off the hanger, other things come also?  Or maybe a kitchen/ junk drawer.  You toss everything in there that you don't know where else to put it.  When you open it to retrieve something, do you have to dig around to look for it?  Then do you have to mash everything back down to get the drawer to close?  Begin there.  Then every time you get something out of that area, and see that your life has been made simpler, it will motivate you to continue uncluttering.

2. You could begin in an area that would be easy to accomplish.  Do you have 50 t-shirts and only have 10 that fit?  Do you have 50 mugs, but don't drink coffee?  I had over 30 spiral notebooks.  I don't know why.  When you have an over abundance or excess of something, it doesn't feel as sacrificial to donate it. You know you have a back up so to speak.  Starting in an easy area like this will give you that satisfied feeling that will motivate you to continue uncluttering.

3.  You could begin in the first area that you see when you walk into your home.  Is it the mudroom?  The kitchen?  The family room?  If #1 and #2 don't appeal to you, begin here.  Every time you walk into your home you will notice the change.  It will motivate you to continue uncluttering. 

Really you just need to start somewhere.  Anywhere.  After you have been doing it for about a month, you should see and feel a change.  Things will be easier to tidy up.  Things won't be as hard to find.  Once you start to see and feel some of the benefits, you will be motivated to continue.  Also once you see that you don't actually miss anything you got rid of, it will be easier to part with more and more  things.

Let me tell you where not to start.  Strangely when people start the process, they go right to the thing that will be hardest to purge.  They come to me and say, "I love my deceased grandma's pitcher.  I don't think I could get rid of it."  Uh, I don't think you should get rid of it.  Start with the easy stuff, t-shirts, notebooks, mugs.  There are probably hundreds if not thousands of things in your home that I would get rid of first.  We will get to the "hard" stuff later, much later.  I love my husband's grandmother's pitcher.  It reminds me of her.  And it actually fits into my style.  I won't be purging it.  If you start with the hard stuff, you will never really get going.

Find motivation.  Then get started and the motivation will continue to come.  As you reap benefits of your work, you will see how much simpler and more peaceful your home can be.  Then we will talk about that pitcher.