At the end of last year, I felt like I had too much stuff – stuff that needed to go out, stuff that needed to be used up and stuff that should be gifted to others.
Why?
I am generally an underbuyer but during the pandemic, I got into the habit of “treating myself” for staying home and even when things returned to normal, I was still in the bad habit of buying myself treats for no good reason. We did this with takeaways and fun food at the grocery store too, but have reigned a lot of that back, due to pure necessity (the exhorbitant price of food).
I am not the type of person who says “I work hard; I deserve it” because I believe that 95% of the population works hard and that is just not a good justification.
The point is I had lots of things I wasn’t using and they all need to go.
Disclaimer – since I first Konmari’d my house in 2014 (ten years ago!), most of the time my house just needs a quick analysis of one in, one out before it feels right again. Except for the water bottles. I give them away as fast as they land and it always still feels like there are too many.
My three categories
Beauty/ body/ bath – both personal items and household items like soaps and toilet sprays #useup24in2024
Stationery – books, pens and pencils
General decluttering – anything else goes here. The idea was as many batches of 24 as I could do in 2024. #declutter24in2024
What I’m learning
That I had no idea what I have in my house in the way of toiletries. I mean, I had 5 speedsticks. This is the beauty of the Konmari method and bringing everything together into the same space.
It’s making me chomp at the bit to buy things that truly spark joy. When I had the urge for a new nail polish colour, I went looking in a box of spares and lo, I found some bottles to scratch the itch.
It honestly helps to ask, “who can use this today?” if I’m not wild about something (hand creams, t-shirts, bags).
So how are things going?
Beauty/ body/ bath – I’ve used up 13 items from speedstick to conditioner and two (!) lipsticks.
Stationery – I’ve used up or donated 8 items – used up 3 pens and donated 5 new pencil bags.
General decluttering – I’m on batch 5 of the year. I will push to finish that batch so that the quarter ends nicely with 5 complete batches or 120 items.
Tell me, how are your decluttering/ organising efforts going?
Decide what’s right for you – whether it’s one drawer every week or one room a month. At the very least, try one in, one out or, as I heard Lisa Whittle say on a podcast years ago, one in, three out. It makes you more aware of what you bring into your space.
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