Decluttering For Dummies®
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2020 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2019952817
ISBN 978-1-119-61704-4 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-61708-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-61707-5 (ebk)
I am passionate about helping people reach their goals and create the lives they dream of. From experience, I know that decluttering your entire life will help you achieve what you desire. I also know that decluttering is more than simply clearing your physical clutter, although this will definitely help you feel less stressed and more productive. Decluttering requires a complete shift in mindset to ensure that your entire life is in alignment with your goals. This means clearing not only physical “stuff” but also your mental and digital spaces.
Clutter comes in many forms, physical items being the most obvious, but mental and digital clutter also takes up valuable real estate in our brains and online life. This is why I focus on the entire decluttering approach and relate it to your goals. I get deep into the reasons why physical, mental, and digital decluttering is crucial to your success, especially in our increasingly distracted world.
My goal is to get you excited to start decluttering and continue decluttering. Your decluttering strategies will change as your life changes, and they are meant to be adapted. I want to motivate you by explaining the benefits of decluttering followed by practical tips on how to get started and stay decluttered. Often the hardest part is getting motivated to actually begin. I hope this book is the exact motivation you need to get started right now and change your life for the better.
Using my passion to motivate you to start and stay decluttered, I have organized this book so that you can quickly reference the areas where you need decluttering help immediately. You can also read the entire book cover to cover to get decluttering motivation, discover more about the benefits of living clutter-free, or figure out where to start.
This book is organized into four main parts:
I tried to be as comprehensive as possible, and the final part of the book includes anything that I may have missed. It also gives practical quick tips for places to bring your decluttered items, how to label your items, and how to organize what is left.
I encourage everyone to read Part 1, which is dedicated to decluttering your mind. I’m a firm believer that this is one of the most important aspects of decluttering, but is often overlooked. If your mind is cluttered, it will affect your entire life — including your health. This is why I put a big emphasis on it, making mental decluttering the first chapter. I put so much time and research into detailing the benefits of decluttering and the negative implications if you don’t make this part of your routine.
Part 2 focuses on physical spaces in your home, from closets to kitchens to garages. For these chapters, you can use the sections that pertain to you. Read the entire chapters, or use them as a reference. Sometimes I also discuss categories that could be in a different spot in your home. For example, when decluttering the bedroom you may also need to refer to the closet chapter and storage for books if you have lots of these items in your bedroom.
Part 3 is focused on your workspace, which includes the very important digital decluttering, which today has become one of the biggest decluttering challenges. Because our digital items have storage limits, it’s important to get clear on what you need and what you don’t. If you make digital decluttering a habit, you won’t have to deal with limited storage space on your phone or laptop. This section also includes photo decluttering, which has become one of the hottest decluttering topics due to the prevalence of photo-sharing apps, like Instagram and Facebook.
The final part, Part 4, gives you inspiration to keep up the good work of decluttering, practical ideas on where to actually take clutter, how to organize your remaining items, and of course, how to label items to prevent clutter buildup in the first place.
As I was writing this book, I made some assumptions about who would be reading it. This book is for you, if
Throughout the book, I use a handful of icons to point out various types of information and highlight certain points. Here’s what they are and what they mean:
The Author Says icon is where perhaps I present lots of information beforehand, but I want to put my own spin on it. This is also where I bring up anything that is relevant to my technique or what I consider my signature advice.
The Remember icon is like a little Post-it note, labeling anything in the book that’s key to remember. After reading a chapter, I recommend that you go through it again and test yourself to see how well you remember this information.
The Tip icon indicates a quick way to remember important material or perform a task. Use these tips to help you save time and frustration.
The Warning icon helps you steer around common mistakes. It also gives you a heads-up when a task may be extra challenging or there may be some sensitivity around it.
After reading this book cover to cover or taking excerpts of what you need, I recommend that you continue to use the strategies and tips to update and adapt your decluttering habits as your life changes.
Decluttering is not a one-time event; it must be a regular part of your life. I provide a useful Cheat Sheet online that can be your quick resource when you need decluttering motivation or are about to embark on a decluttering mission. This Cheat Sheet provides a few sections around what to ask yourself when decluttering, keeping it realistic, and condensing the most practical tips from the book into a few short bullet points to be your constant declutter reminder. To access this Cheat Sheet, go to www.dummies.com and search for “Decluttering For Dummies Cheat Sheet.”
This book is designed to start with Part 1, as I know that decluttering your mind is one of the most important aspects of decluttering, but often is often overlooked or even forgotten. If you’re like me, you may want to start with “stuff” rather than your mind because it’s easier to see a tangible result. In this case, you are free to jump to any chapter you want depending on your needs. I know that wherever you start in this book, you will find motivation and practical advice to start decluttering right away.
If you’re not quite sure about decluttering yet, Chapter 1 gives a brief overview of the concepts and topics covered in the book. Plus, it will likely get you the most excited to start and give you ideas regarding which of the following chapters you want to read next.
On the other hand, if you feel like you are already living a minimalist life and declutter daily, you may want to review the sections about mental and digital decluttering first.
You may be ready to tackle a specific area of your home, and Part 2 includes most areas in most homes. If you can’t find a specific area or category, don’t worry, as many of the tips and processes for decluttering can actually be adapted easily from a garage to a linen closet to the bathroom. You will find that there is repetitive advice as the same strategies do apply, and if it gets too repetitive and you’re well versed in the processes, you can skip to another section. After you implement a few decluttering strategies, you will notice that you now have more time and are automatically using these techniques.
This last piece of advice should be easy to follow: Don’t read what you don’t need. If you don’t have a garage, then you likely won’t need to read about garage decluttering. However, since the strategies and principles apply to many spaces, I would read the most relevant chapter for your current needs. Maybe one day you will have a garage, and then you can read that chapter!
When you make it to Part 4, you’re ready to employ the techniques discovered and also deal with any remaining clutter tips, such as how to store what you have left. My goal is that you will have reduced stress and increased happiness.
Happy decluttering!
Part 1
IN THIS PART …
Grasp the basics of decluttering, including a complete overview of the process, clutter styles, and the psychology behind decluttering.
Find out about relating decluttering to your goals and shifting your mindset.
Form a decluttering plan once and for all, including getting clutter under control and holding yourself and family accountable.