Learning how to set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-Orientated goals and having a CLEAR well defined vision of your decluttered home can help you overcome many of the common obstacles and be successful in clearing the clutter from your home for good! I know it sounds technical or business-like, but it's not - honestly.
I know you are probably sick of the sight of your clutter and want to jump head-first into the sorting process because you are feeling very motivated to tackle your clutter. Which is a positive sign.
If you take a step back for a moment and do a little preparation
work first, the entire process of decluttering is much more likely to be successful. I think that one of the most important steps
to take before starting to declutter is to sit down and set yourself specific
goals and clearly visualise what you want to accomplish.
But why is Goal Setting so important?
Do any of these situations sound familiar?
- You want to start decluttering your home, but you just can’t figure out where to start.
- Once you start decluttering, you lose your mojo, the motivation you started with dwindles and you give up on it - thinking decluttering is hard work, and you are not cut out for it!
- When you’re decluttering, you have a really hard time making decisions about what to keep and what to discard
- You dread facing criticism from friends or family who doesn’t understand why you’d want to get rid of “perfectly good” stuff. (I know this one first-hand from my husband)
- You’ve decluttered successfully before…but the clutter always comes back.
If you have answered, yes to any of these - then having clear decluttering goals in mind — and written
down - will help!
1. Having a Clear Destination Helps You Plan Your Journey
Once you know exactly what you want to accomplish from your
decluttering session, you can begin to break the process down into reasonable
and achievable steps. This prevents you from setting yourself unrealistic goals, and feeling
discouraged because you couldn’t reach them! (Even Marie Kondo couldn't declutter the whole house in half an hour)
You’ll also be able to choose a decluttering method that
really works for you, whether it’s minimalism or the KonMari method, the minimalist game or some other method.
What is it you want to achieve at the end of the decluttering process - is it the "Room of Doom"? or do you want to tackle your whole house? Maybe just the garage, or all of the above.
You can’t figure out how to get where you going
unless you first know where you want to end up. Let's use an example.
You book a holiday in a country that you have never been to and know nothing about. True, you've been away a few times, so you know what it's like - but in this new holiday destination, you are going to have to eat, find a place to stay, and see the sights. What is the first thing you do when you get there? You would buy a map, so you know where your going - and decluttering is no exception. The goals are your map - they are going to take you to the place where you want to be.
According to Mindtools "Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into reality."
2. Having Clear Decluttering Goals Keeps You Focused
Staying focused on what you want to achieve when decluttering can help you keep going until you accomplish what you set out to do. Simple, I know, but it is certainly true. Let’s face facts, decluttering can be time-consuming, tedious, overwhelming, emotionally draining, and frustrating. It’s hard work.
It may even take you weeks or months, maybe even years, to complete your initial
purge of excess stuff. I get really
cross when I read “declutter your whole house in a weekend” It's unrealistic,
and even if you have an army of friends there to help you throw out your stuff,
it won't last, you will be drowning in clutter before the year is out. The only way to be successful is to keep going - face all of those challenges by staying focused on the benefits of what you’re
doing.
Knowing exactly what you want to accomplish and why will help you face and overcome whatever decluttering obstacles come your way.
3. Knowing What You Want to Accomplish Makes It Easier to Make Keep/Discard Decisions
Do you know every item that you are going to keep or discard off the top of your head? I bet the answer to that question is NO!. Who knows what you've managed to stash away in the back of the draw, which you can't get into because there is a box in the way... Is it just me? Go on, admit it - you don't have a complete inventory of your belonging etched into your brain - and that's OK. No one can remember everything they own (unless they are UBER minimalist - nothing wrong with that either)
All joking aside, do you struggle when it comes to keeping and discarding items? One way to make those decisions easier for yourself is to know exactly what you hope to achieve by decluttering. I have created a Declutter Decision Maker which you can download for free, it's like a one-stop shop to know what to keep and what to discard.
Once you have a vision of what you want to have achieved when you’re finished decluttering? you can simply use the Declutter Decision Maker as a reminder, to keep on you track of - if you're undecided about an item, you can simply ask yourself if each item you sort fits into the vision you’ve pictured (then keep it) or does not (then discard it.)
4. Helps You Overcome Criticism
Hopefully, you have some supportive people in your life to
cheer you on as you declutter. The chances
are you will also have at least one family member or friend who just won’t
understand why you’re getting rid of stuff that’s “perfectly good.” In my case this was my husband, he just didn’t
get why we needed to declutter. He said
he did not mind all our stuff, although he did use to huff and puff when he opened
a cupboard and things fell out on him.
It’s easy to let others wear us down and talk us out of our
decluttering journey — unless we know exactly why we’re doing what we’re
doing. Feeling confident about our
decluttering goals makes it a lot easier to calmly explain our actions and keep
going even in the face of criticism.
5. Knowing Your Why Helps You Maintain Your Clutter-Free Home in the Long-Term
Think back, in the past you’ve decluttered certain areas of
your home successfully…only to find they’re filled back up with clutter within
a few months. Having a clear vision for your decluttered home helps you not only to get the initial purge done but also
to maintain a clutter-free home in the long term. The thing is that decluttering is not a
one-time-only project. I wish I could
say it was but think about it this way.
When you bring things in, and nothing goes out, what happens? Clutter!
The goal isn’t to declutter our home and then magically
never have clutter again. It’s to make
clear decisions about how we want our homes to feel and then develop the skills
necessary to achieve and maintain that.
By creating a vision of what you want your home to be like (even if you have to modify the vision several times), you’ll be able to conquer clutter in the long term.
How to Create a Clear Vision for Your Decluttered Home
Having a clear vision and concise decluttering goals is hard to do. It’s a simple step that sets you up for decluttering success. If you are unsure how to start setting goals. I have created a FREE Decluttering Goals Workbook for you - because I know first-hand how important this step is to achieve the life you want. My family and I are living proof that this works.
The first few pages of the workbook will give you a handy place to write out your decluttering
goals and vision, and it includes lots of other handy decluttering printables.
I’d love to hear from you in the comments about what your big decluttering goals are! What change do you most hope that decluttering will bring about in your life?
I appreciate you stopping by, and thank you - without you I wouldn't be here.
Believe in yourself, because you got this, Now GO Declutter!!