Boxes. Boxes. Boxes.
Full of random stuff.
Forgotten stuff.
Stuff we don't know what to do with.
Boxes in the garage and the shed and the basement.
In the attic and under the beds.
In the wardobe and the closet.
Packed to the rafters in the spare room.
And squeezed under the stairs.
Clogging up the kitchen cupboards.
And inch by inch taking over the bedroom floors.
Until they have invaded every last space in our homes.
Sound familiar?
Boxes of clutter are overwhelming aren't they?
AND the thought of tackling them.
Of trying to fight back.
Even more so? Huh?
There's just SO many of them.
It feels like an unwinnable battle.
That we're defeated before we even start.
BUT ... don't give up! Please!
BECAUSE I have an unbelievably simple trick for you.
That WILL easily banish your boxes.
Just as it has mine.
And ... BIG and ... it will only take 5 minutes a day.
Hurrah!
So, are you ready for this?
OK. Well first things first.
And the very first thing you need to do is put the kettle on!
Put The Kettle On
I'm serious.
You need to put the kettle on.
For a nice cup of tea. Or coffee.
Because our first weapon for fighting our overwhelming boxes, is to relax.
As I've shared before, clutter feeds off our anxiety.
So we're going to stay calm.
If it would help, you could even pour yourself a nice little glass of red 😉
Once you're armed with your drink.
You need to take up your next weapon.
Which is two empty boxes ... and just a little bit of space.
Just A Little Bit Of Space
Now I know when we're overwhelmed with boxes, finding a little bit of space can feel hard.
But you just need somewhere you can store three boxes -
I'll explain the third in a moment -
AND sit down next to them with your drink.
My little bit of space is tucked under my bed.
It doesn't look pretty.
BUT this little bit of space gives us phenomenal power in our battle to banish boxes.
Once you've found your space, take just one box of stuff.
Just One Box Of Stuff
It absolutely doesn't matter which box of stuff your pick.
Just take whatever is easiest to reach.
Without bringing all the others toppling down!
Now take that box of stuff to your special space.
And fit it in next to the two empty ones.
Now you are already to let stuff go.
Let Stuff Go
What you're going to do, is sit down every day.
With your drink.
For at least 5 minutes BUT no more than 15.
And work your way through the box.
Item by item.
If you're ready to let something go, brilliant.
Put it in one of the empty boxes.
If you're not, DO NOT worry.
Just put it in the other empty box.
The important thing is to work steadily through the box.
Whilst you drink your drink.
Putting each item in one box or the other.
But NOT on the floor.
When your five minutes or your fifteen minutes are up.
Just leave the three boxes, neatly.
All ready for you to pick up where you left off tomorrow.
And the next day.
Until you empty the box.
When You Empty The Box
Right, you've emptied your first box.
With almost no effort at all.
Hurrah! Well done you!
Now get all the stuff you want to let go, out of the house.
In the bin. Or recycling. Or to a charity shop.
As quickly as you can.
So you actually get the pleasure of it being truly gone.
But what about the stuff you couldn't let go?
The Stuff You Couldn't Let Go
Well, the most important thing is NOT to worry.
As you get into the habit of decluttering a few things daily, it will become easier to let stuff go.
And easier. And easier.
Every little thing you let go, builds your strength to fight those boxes.
And you can boost your strength even more with these lovely simple:
- Declutter questions
- And declutter mantras - (trust me, they do work!)
Just be gentle with yourself. You will win through.
If you're keeping quite a bit from this first box.
Transfer the things back to the original box.
And tape on it a sheet of paper with a rough list of contents.
Then put your box back where it came from.
If you can keep it to one side, wonderful.
But it's not a problem, if not possible.
If you've only kept a little, you can ditch the original box.
And leave your keeps in your working box, to be joined by anything you keep from your next box.
BECAUSE you are now ready for your next box.
Your Next Box
You're going to follow exactly the same process for your next box.
Bring it to your special space.
And in 5 to 15 minutes every day.
Over a cup of tea ...
... or glass of wine,
Work through each item, steadily.
Putting it in the let go or keep box.
Once you've emptied the box, get everything you're letting go out of your home fast.
Be gentle with yourself about stuff you're keeping.
For the moment.
And mark up your keep box with a quick contents list.
Put it back where it came from.
Take the next box. And repeat.
It IS as simple as that.
But it ALL adds up, and truly will banish your boxes.
It All Adds Up
If you sit down for 5 minutes or so every day, with your drink, and calmly work through your box, you will easily process one if not two boxes a week.
If you do one box a week.
And keep half the stuff from each.
You'll still have over 25 less boxes by the end of the year.
If you do two a week.
And keep half, you'll be 50 boxes lighter.
AND you will have done it ALL over a nice cup of tea. OR a glass of wine!
With no stress. No running around. Getting exhausted.
Just calmly.
And that IS why this declutter trick works.
Why This Trick Works
We all have clutter in the first place, because we are overwhelmed.
In our busy lives we've lost the time and space to truly process things, and to move on and let go.
But then the clutter itself becomes overwhelming.
And with all that stuff whirring around our homes AND our minds we can't let go of anything.
AND if we try yanking loads of stuff out on the floor.
Or purging the garage all in one go.
For hours on end.
We just make it worse.
Our brains literally shut down as they are bombarded with all those boxes of clutter.
By creating a little bit of space.
And a little bit of time.
Every day.
To be calm.
Focus on one box.
And let things go.
Gently.
We can make steady progress.
Until, like Aesop's litte tortoise - remember him? - we triumph.
And banish our boxes.
For good.
I truly hope this declutter trick helps. It made a massive difference to me.
For more help sign check out my step-by-step declutter guide and follow me on Pinterest ...
Original image sources : woman with box by rawpixel.com
Angela says
What a beautifully written post. No stress, no dictatorial approach, just a gentle way of sorting out those boxes and a great way of unpacking if you have just moved house and managed to move a lot of clutter with you and don't know where to start. I'm going to use it as a way to sort out the last of my sewing and craft materials as it means I don't have to really sort those I want to keep immediately until I know what I'm keeping and then I can decide where is the best place place to keep those. A very soft stress-free approach for me. Thank you
Hayley says
This makes so much sense, I will start tomorrow, I think this will be the method that works for me. I've been trying to clear my spare room for months and it's just been so overwhelming and I've felt like such a failure. So glad I found this post. Thank you!
heidi trigg says
thank you for taking the time and energy to share your methods. i'm crying with relief that there may be hope/help for my difficulty with letting things go...after years of having my life-long issues brutishly stomped on by people insisting that i have too much stuff, that i have to get rid of stuff (as if i hadn't noticed!) but never following with any kind of REAL ways to help me do it...
you nailed it by identifying that some of us are beaten before we start because we're overwhelmed.
i've no idea how i found your site, but am so grateful the universe nudged me your direction! i feel like i finally have a chance of success, since i have solid, practical, manageable steps to follow.
Alice says
I truly hope it helps Heidi. We can't clear all that clutter overnight but I have found just doing that little bit every day I can has been life changing - little by little it has cleared the clutter and really importantly lifted my spirits every day xx
Toni H says
Wow, this couldn't have come at a better time. We just moved into our forever retirement home after moving quickly from one house to another TWICE with no time for sorting. Now I have a garage FULL of STUFF! It's been SIX MONTHS since we moved here and I tangent sorted through ONE BOX of stuff. The only stuff I moved were the necessities for every day life. So THANK YOU for giving me a calm way to deal with a very stressful situation. Every other time I've read about decluttering, I've been left with a racing heart and panic attacks! You've saved me!
Toni H says
The typo tangent should've said haven't!
Alice says
So glad it hit the mark - "keep calm" is definitely the big secret to successful decluttering x
Mindy says
Thanks so much! I have several autoimmune diseases and chronic pain/fatigue. I have read and tried so many approaches to decluttering and organizing my life and failed, leaving me feel ashamed and depressed. And I LOVE your honesty about the anxiety and anger that follows! I feel so bad about myself when I have panic attacks or yell for no good reason, because all of this ways on my shoulders. I am writing ideas and mantras into my planner as we speak. I CAN do 5-15 a day! Thank you again.
Alice says
Thank you so much for getting in touch Mindy, I really hope this approach helps. It can seem like such a small amount of clutter to clear but sticking to it most days - when you can - really can clear loads of stuff over the year.
Natalie says
Thank you for sharing, I often pull everything out of my spare room, get really stressed and totally overwhelmed to the point of tears sat in the middle of bags and boxes of stuff, then end up putting it back, exhausted with not much progress. I'm definitely trying your tips thank you!
Kiki says
Thank you so much for the very sweet and calm, & relaxing approach to starting and tackling boxes. Ironically I discovered a version of what your article describes myself and you are absolutely correct that the more one does of this one box and 2 empty box sorting, the easier and even light hearted it can become… although sentimental things do get me lagging…
I am 62 and my son passed away from a genetic disease 11 years ago at age 26 and I had ALL of his childhood and adult things stored for 11 years and my fathers things and all of my grandparents things… and mine… mostly very nice things and of decent value!
I began sorting through my storage facility boxes and realized that I don’t have the same tastes that I had for years or the use or needs of the things I owned and I am not obligated to keep things my family had just because they liked them… the more I sorted the more I saw what I liked and when it came to my sons things I realized how others could enjoy his things and how nice that would be instead of things being in a box.
I found that it was therapeutic to touch his things and remember the sweet and fun stories attached to them and I was able to let most of his things go to others who would super enjoy them. I kept the most sentimental things, like his first sweet hair cut curl and gifts he have to me..
I know that I cannot keep all of his things and Lord knows if I died I would bore and burden others with my boxes… my husband would be so sad to have to go through those things.
My passed away family has moved to heaven and those things are nice things and if I can’t use them then it’s really awesome to give them to nice folks or donate them to charity.
It’s very overwhelming to try to take it all in and I also took the approach of taking a holiday and staying in a sweet bed n breakfast and having my nice coffee and actually enjoying the journey of my family things and even taking some pictures and letting actually most of the things go.
After hours of sorting I spoiled myself and had a lovely dinner and nice hot bath and enjoyed fun movies… I let myself enjoy the journey.
Your article is the only one I’ve ever seen that seems to be very real as far as letting someone know they can enjoy a small bit of sorting and it will add up and they will be happy after weeks go by and surprised at their work.
Thank you again and Bless You. 😁😁😁😁😁
Alice says
Thank you so much for sharing this Kiki, it really means a great deal to me. Best wishes Alice x
JANICE YOUNG says
A lovely letter about the burdens and joys of letting go. I am approaching the 80 year mark and have been the family "keeper of memories ". Blessings to all of you!
Helga says
It works!
I was waiting 70 years for this solution.
Thank you❣️
Alice says
That's great news Helga - I am so glad it helped!
Sherri Barrett says
Finally a great system for a disabled mother. I'm a creature of habit, extremely good at doing an exercise program started with baby steps. I am physically unable to do huge clean outs due to severe arthritis and can become so fatigued. But this, I can do. I'm starting today. We will have more space next year.
Alice says
I am so happy to hear that it will Sherri - we honestly can clear so much clutter with this slowly, slowly approach. Let me know how it goes.