If you are feeling overwhelmed with the amount of stuff in your home and in each room of your home, try writing about it!
Write a letter to yourself!
If you feel like 2024 is the year to finally get rid of all the extra stuff that you just don’t use or even look at or if this is the year to really live with less, just pause. Pause and take a good look around. Write about it all to yourself. Write about how it makes you feel. Write about how you sleep at night and if the stuff around you keeps you from getting a good night’s sleep. Write about how much work it is. Write about any stress or anxiety it causes. Write about how many times you move the same thing out of your way then back in your way. Write about the items you love or the items you hate. Write about the stuff you are excited to say goodbye to! Write out as much detail as you can. Even write about smells! Dig into as many senses as possible as you write. You can even spend a few minutes in each cluttered space to be able to write about it in more detail and to really capture your emotions.
Read the letter to yourself every day as you embark on your decluttering mission. Use it to fuel your fire so that you can focus on getting rid of stuff! Use it as motivation when you are tired from the day, to push, just a little more, and get something gone!
As you get further into your decluttering process, and you start to see and feel real success, write yourself another letter!
This time, write about your feelings around your house. See how the words and feelings in your letter differ from your first letter. Write about the difficulty in going through your stuff or even the difficulty of actually choosing to get rid of certain items. Write about moments of feeling overwhelmed or feelings of not making any progress. Write about the hard times where you really struggled with your decisions. Write about moments where you broke down and had a big cry over it all. Write about seeing the floor! Write about how the family is doing with the progress and their attitudes around helping. Add things that you are proud of yourself for. Write about the hidden secrets that you rediscovered in the deeply buried bins! Again, try to include senses and big feelings! The more detail, the better!!
You will likely note that this second letter is so much more encouraging and excited about the progress despite the hard work. Reading this second letter every morning can be enough to keep you motivated even as you start to lose your steam. It’s exhausting to go through everything! Use your own words to keep you going! You are your biggest ally and cheerleader in this effort! It is your home, after all, time to make it feel like yours!
As you get closer and closer to your decluttering goal, and especially if you conquered it and have the house set the way you want it, write a third letter to yourself.
For this letter, include details about how the house feels when you come home after being out. Write about how you feel going to bed at night or waking up in the morning. Write about what you are doing with your time and include comparisons to how you spent your time before decluttering. Write about what you love in each room. Write about any items that you got rid of that you really miss or still think about. What made those items stick out in your mind? Write about things you are so glad you kept! Write to yourself about why you love the house the way it is now rather than the way it was. Write about what you miss about the house the way it was (if anything!). Tap into those senses and feelings. Write so that you can picture it all in your mind!
Read this third letter every Monday morning. You could even read all three letters in a row! Use it as a reminder to stay on top of things. To do a bit of tidying every day or every week. Use it to remind yourself to be thankful for where you are now.
You can reach your decluttering goals! It will take time. These letters can be the game changer you need to stay motivated to keep working hard. You will get there!
Use 2024 to declutter more!
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