Let's Ace Your Space

I have this friend – let’s call her ‘L.’ – her ‘wheels are always turning’, and she’s often coming up with crazy AND interesting ideas (that often sound like they’ll cost me time and money – like the time she decided that we should do a joint Christmas party – her White Elephant Christmas parties are legendary and very well attended – and hold it at MY house . . . ummm no thanks, L.; and there was that time . . .but no, I digress).

L. called me yesterday with another interesting, good (and expensive) idea, and while she was talking about it, she told me about a book she’d been reading – ‘The Slight Edge’ by Jeff Olson. The basic idea (and I’m paraphrasing HER paraphrasing now) is that baby steps really do get you somewhere in the long run. She gave the example of her backyard – her initial inclination was to dive into the project of fixing it up and not ‘come up for air’ until it was done – but she decided to act differently this spring – she took on little portions of the yard at a time, on a consistent basis. Now the result is that the yard looks amazing, and she didn’t wear herself out getting it done.

Another idea that L. gleaned from this book was to end whatever you’re doing on a high note – L. works in an industry where she has to occasionally do some prospecting calls, following up on leads. Sometimes the callers are receptive and sometimes . . . not so much! She’s started making it a point to end up her calling sessions when she’s had a good call with someone (and not ending the calling sessions with challenging calls).

L. mentioned to me that these things reminded her of what I tell folks with decluttering – to take it in ‘baby steps’ – clutter a portion of your space that you can do in a defined period of time (1-2 hours), AND end on a high note – when that portion of your space is decluttered and everything is put back where it belongs (vs having a ‘half-baked’ decluttering project strewn about your space – definitely NOT a high note).

So, friends – let’s all listen to L. and get that SLIGHT EDGE in your decluttering, by taking it in baby steps – a portion at a time, and end on a high note!

We’ve spent several of our Facebook Lives talking about Ethical / Responsible Decluttering and I wanted to spend time on a wrap-up in this blog post.

As I researched the topic of ethical decluttering and looked at what you were saying about it, I found a lot of references to guilt, and people holding onto things because they felt guilty about the environmental impact of getting rid of the item. 

I have a few thoughts on that:

• First, remember the item is already out in the world – it’s already been produced and much of the damage is done
• Second, when we experience guilt, were focusing on something in the PAST. The fact is – we can’t change our pasts, but we can use our past as a TEACHING MOMENT
• Third, we can dispose of items as responsibly as possible, and modify our behavior going forward so that we mitigate this issue in the future

Our ethical decluttering discussions started with clothes and continued with accessories and undergarments. We finished up talking about ethical decluttering for other home items. I mentioned some specific tips and tricks, but basically everything fell into three categories:

Donating / Gifting /Selling

• Be specific about where you donate items – smaller charities are often better because you know more about how the item will be used 
• Consider specifically giving to different charities, where particular items will be better used (for example, I give furniture items to a local charity in Raleigh that helps people recovering after homelessness, crisis or disaster; I give my clothes to my local rescue mission; you could give dressier or specialty clothes to a local school or theater for their costume department)
• Consider giving items directly to people that need it
• An item is more likely to continue to be used if someone pays money for it, so for more ethical decluttering, selling is a consideration 

Disposing of Items that are no longer useful

• Repurpose parts of the item when you can (cut up fabric for cleaning cloths, to use as pillows/trim, garden ties, masks, etc.)
• Recycle responsibly (vs. simply trashing the item). Check out the EARTH 911 website for ideas of where to recycle various things in your area

Start with the end in mind

• Before you buy something, consider the environmental impact and the lifecycle of the item
• Buy the best quality that you can, and keep it for a long time (or consider buying vintage or secondhand and give a well-made item a second life)
• Choose sustainably made items when you can (they use less resources and chemicals in their production)
• Keep your items in good repair so they’ll last longer

There was a REASON that we kicked off this ethical decluttering discussion with clothes and spent two Facebook lives on items we WEAR and one on all the other items in our home.

Clothes and accessories are EASY to load up on and buy indiscriminately (think about it – we don’t buy a new SOFA each season . . .), and the PRODUCTION of these items really does add up to quite an environmental burden:

• 25% of the world’s chemicals are used to produce textiles
• A simple T-shirt takes seven bathtubs of water (~300 gallons) to produce from a cotton plant to finished product (a pair of jeans takes typically 2000 gallons of water to produce)
• Over 8000 chemicals (several are potentially toxic) are used in making that simple t-shirt
• That t-shirt travels an average of 37,000 km (~23,000 miles – or roughly 10 trips from NY to LA) before you get to wear it
• It’s carbon foot print is ~20x it’s weight

I’m NOT saying any of this to make you feel guilty or make you think that you have to hold onto items that no longer serve you. Just consider these numbers when you buy clothes and make better decisions – start with the end in mind!

I always ask people what ‘Ace Your Space’ means to them, and this time around more than one of them brought up the idea that our space can either support and nurture us . . . or it can be an energy drain on us – and guess what one of the MAJOR determining factors of that is . . . that’s right, CLUTTER!

It’s always been that way, but we may not have noticed. Before our covid pandemic hit, if our home was just too much for us, we had the option of leaving and going somewhere else (the office, the movies, to our friend’s house who has less clutter than we do) – but now, we can’t easily escape this environment we’ve made for ourselves, and we’re much more acutely aware of how the clutter makes us feel.

If your home is currently NOT supporting you and instead draining your energy and motivation, here are a few quick and easy steps you can take to ‘turn the tide’ a bit:

Play the ‘garbage bag’ game – get a garbage bag, set a timer for 15 minutes and see just how much stuff you can throw out before the timer rings. You’ll be surprised how much you get done, and your home will feel ‘lighter’ once you’re through

Start a 10-day ‘Declutterathon’ – Grab a box and label it ‘Donations’. On Day 1 of your declutterathon, pick ONE thing to declutter, and drop it in the box – on day 2, pick 2 things to declutter, day 3 – 3 things . . . and so on, until you get to Day 10, when you’ll seal the box and drop it off at your favorite donation center (try Good Will, or a thrift shop that supports a local charity – I love donating to our Raleigh Rescue Mission thrift shop). At the end of the Declutterathon, you’ll have decluttered 55 items, and gained some space in your home. If you’re ‘rolling’ after the 10 days, don’t stop . . . keep going!

Start a gratitude practice – every morning, think of 3 things you appreciate about yourself, then follow up with 3 things you’re grateful for – this will focus your thoughts away from the clutter and it’s negative impacts in your space, and will help you get to a place where you want to start decluttering these things that aren’t working for you in your space

When I was a little girl, every single year my family would take a vacation in Daytona Beach, Florida. We would go down there at the same time every year, and we always stayed at the same little motel – the Shoreline Inn. We became great friends with the owners and their family.

The summer that I was 6, I was pretty good at dog-paddling around the pool, but I’d never jumped off of the diving board. This was something that I really wanted to remedy. So – Mom and Dad attached my little floating swimmer bubble tight around my waist and shoulders, walked me up and onto the diving board, then Dad and Jody (the son of the motel owners) got in the pool to catch me when I jumped. I tell ya – I was SO EXCITED to jump, but also really, REALLY scared! I’d walk to the edge of the diving board (it looked about 100 feet high from where I was standing 😳) bounce a bit . . . get ready to jump . . . .then get scared and scamper back toward the ladder. That went on for a time until my dad figured I just wasn’t going to jump so he got out of the water, supervised my climb down the diving board ladder and headed back to the room. After he left, I stood there, looked at that board, looked at the water and figured – I HAD to jump, or maybe I never would. So, I marched back over to the ladder, climbed resolutely up to the top . . . and JUMPED!!!! Fortunately, I still had my little bubble on, and Jody was still close by – he high-tailed it into the pool and made sure I was OK. I was SO GLAD I’d done it – yes, it was really really scary – I truly wasn’t sure it was something I could do- but when I finally jumped, it was SO EXHILARATING and REWARDING!!

I’m wondering how many of you are thinking about ‘jumping in’ . . . are going up to the ‘edge of the diving board’, but just not taking the leap. Maybe you’ve been considering decluttering your space for a while – you thought about doing it before – you ‘got to the edge of the board’ but you walked back. Or maybe this is the first time you’ve thought about it, and you’re scared – you’re not sure it’s something you can do.

I’m here to tell you JUMP!! You CAN do it . . . and it will be EXHILARATING and REWARDING (just like my 6 year old leap off the diving board)!!!