Decluttering with Training Wheels

Do you remember what it felt like as a child to sit on your tricycle and watch the older kids fly by on their two wheelers?  Were you like me and sat there yearning to taste that freedom but with no idea how to get it?

And then came the miracle answer - training wheels. That wonderful thing that bridged the seemingly insurmountable gap between three wheels and two. 

Well for many of us, decluttering is like learning to ride a bike. Going from cluttered to organized is too big of a jump. We need training wheels. Don't be ashamed. Raise your hands up and say I use training wheels and I am proud of it!

And now let me introduce you to the declutterer's version of training wheels:  small sorting bins. 

Go out and get yourself two SMALL bins to use for sorting.  Don't let this photo fool you. This is not a laundry basket. It is small. The dimension are about 10" x 13" x 5". It needs to be small so you do not get overwhelmed. 

So how do you use these baskets?  Easy. Pick an area, any area. I do not reccommend starting with the area that completely overwhelms you to even think about. Instead chose a random area of clutter. We chose our kitchen table. 

Now fill up one of the bin with clutter that needs to be sorted or anything that does not have a home. Once the bin is full, stop!  Resist the urge to cram the bin untill it is over full.  It does not matter if there is still clutter in the area you picked. Ignore it. All you care about is what is in the bin. 

Now it is time to sort. 

Quickly go through the bin using the following steps:

1. Throw out anything that is obvious trash

2. If you know at first sight it is a donation, put it in a bag for donations

3.  If you want to keep it put it in the second bin. 

These should be quick instinctive decisions, don't labor over them. Your first instinct is usually correct. 

Once you do the initial sort, it is time to deal with what you decided to keep. These items will fall into just a few categories. 

1. Items that have a home but were left out - put them away - now. 

2.  Items you like but that you have no real use for - consider letting them go and put them in the donate bag - now. 

3. Sentimental stuff - put it aside to be sorted later after you get the rest of the clutter under control. 

4.  Items you want to keep but that do not have a "home". 

This is where decluttering usually gets derailed. "I want this but I don't know where to put it."  This leads to people putting the stuff right back where it was and giving up. 

But with training wheels you are not going to allow yourself to get sidetrack by these items.  Instead place them in a box which will now be known as the " needs a home" box.  All you are doing right now is deciding what is staying or leaving your home. 

Why does this step trip so many people up?  Because deciding what to keep is decluttering. Figuring out where something should live is organizing. They are not the same thing. And if you try to organize an area before you completely declutter it, you will fail. Trust me, I know. 

So use your training wheels. Keep the bins small to avoid getting overwhelmed and stick to decluttering. Organizing will come later. 

I am proud of using the training wheels my sister gave us to declutter our entire kitchen table over the course of a week. Won't you try it out?

If you do, post a photo of your progress. I would love to see them.