The Organised Co.

How can decluttering and organising change your life? Or is it just a cliche?

It is just tidying up, what difference can it possibly make?

You think of the standard benefits:

Saving time looking for things and tidying up
Saving money buying duplicates or items going to waste because you forgot to they were there.
Giving more space (literally) by getting rid of some stuff
Giving more calm by being in a space that you are happy in. We have all heard the saying calm the chaos.

You don’t usually think that decluttering and organising your space can give you the confidence to go for a new job or the motivation to start that new fitness challenge you usually put off. The mental freedom to take on that side hustle or removing the block to socialise with friends because you felt judged and embarrassed. All helping your mental health along the way too.

6 ways to make this school year a little less chaotic

We don’t have long to go now! Are you already washed, labelled and organised, counting down the minutes until those little whirlwinds go back to school. Or maybe you are always a deadline dancer and still have uniform to buy and homework projects to start and honestly, you could do with another week (although let’s be really honest now, you wouldn’t then be any more organised, it just means you would leave it another week).

No matter which one you are, those school routines can be tough to get back into the swing of. Chaotic, messy and all of a sudden much shorter on time. Even tough most of us are looking forward to a bit of routine back in our life (it is a safe place to admit it here) it doesn’t mean it doesn’t come easy.

As a mum to two myself and my youngest about to start school, I come from a place knowing exactly what it is like. I do have the benefit of being an organiser on my side to help me along the way but don’t think it is all smooth sailing. Far from it.

5 top tips to start decluttering when you don’t know where to begin

I hear you. You are fed up of your home being cluttered, chaotic and stressful. You want to sort it out once and for all but you are screaming at me right now saying “Emma, where do I start!”

The short answer is to just start. But that isn’t very helpful is it. You know that much.

It is the trick though, we get into our heads whenever we find something hard, we over plan, over think and then decide it is too hard and what is the point of trying. It won’t work.

So, I am going to list my 5 top tips to start decluttering when you don’t know where to begin. To help you get over your blocks and go back to basics. No 4 step methods, no plans, no storage hacks, no organising for your personality or all the other things you can do once you have the confidence that you CAN do it. We need to stop overcomplicating things.

How can you stop your decluttered things ending up in landfill?

So you have decluttered, you are ready to let go but you don’t just want to dump it in the bin. You want to discard responsibly but don’t know where to start.

I want to preface this with a note to remind you that we can’t all be perfect with this. We can all do with doing a little more, we can all pick our battles but sometimes there will be instances where the bin is the place it has to go. When this happens, replace the bad thoughts with the commitment that you will be more mindful with what you buy in the future. If this is important to you then make sure in the future what you do purchase can be recycled, restored etc. A lot of what we can do to help save things from ending up in landfill starts with supply and demand. If we stop purchasing it, they will stop making it.

Saving the planet is one big topic though and not something I profess to be an expert in. My opinions are just that, opinion and what I believe is the best place to start may not be to someone else. There are so many options these days, we have to go with what is best for us.

What is Swedish Death Cleaning?

Don’t worry, it isn’t cleaning. You know by now that I am not the go to person for cleaning tips. I wouldn’t be asking me how to get stains out of a carpet any time soon.

So what is it then?

This latest wave of interest in Swedish Death Cleaning has come from the release of a book by Margareta Magnusson – The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning (aff link). It gained a lot of interest from the title alone. Put death in the title and people are going to be curious right?

Is your house just a mess because you are lazy?

No.

We could end this blog here couldn’t we, but I know you want more than that. You are like me. You are here because you want to know the why behind it too.

If I am ever going to get a negative comment on social media, it is this one. Stop creating a job out of something no one needs. This is what is wrong with society. People need to stop being so lazy, get off their bum and tidy up. Having a clutter issue is not a real thing.

To start, I am really lazy. I could happily sit down all day if given half the opportunity. I am super organised. Being organised gives me more time to be lazy. So immediately that argument does not stack up. I know that isn’t what they are thinking though.

Storage solutions that are worth the investment when decluttering and organising your home

I said it before and I will say it again.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO SPEND A FORTUNE ON STORAGE SOLUTIONS TO DECLUTTER AND ORGANISE YOUR HOME!!!

That being said, there are some items that I believe are totally worth the investment. I recommend them time and time again to clients and will suit nearly anyone’s space in one way or another.

I will add now that this blog does contain affiliate links. This is the first time I have even recommended a product on this blog so know that I will only ever recommend what I believe to be useful, have used myself and I believe is completely worth the investment.

So here we go. Here are the storage solutions that are worth the investment when decluttering and organising your home.

Clutter and Procrastination

This week I created a post about this exact topic. I always try and post the different benefits of decluttering and organising on social media as not many people realise all the different ways it can benefit your life.

Of course, you can’t write a lot though on a social media post, not only is there not enough space but no one has the time for it when casually scrolling through. It is all quick information, hints, tips and hacks over there rather than being able to get into the nitty gritty of it and understand the sentiment behind the statement.

I have always been someone who needs to know the answer to the “why” question for anything. I can’t just take a fact, even like the one I am about to share below without understanding why first. Otherwise, I will just presume it is completely made up.

That is why I love sharing the unknown benefits of decluttering. Being able to explain it to people and all of a sudden it makes sense.

Upcycling the things you can’t declutter

As much as I am here to ask you to learn to let go, to build confidence in only keeping what you love and what is useful, there is the in-between.

The part where you know you don’t need that much of any one thing but you can’t yet bring yourself to remove it from the house. It is important to recognise that to a limit, this is ok. If you let go too early, you can end up regretting it and then no one wins as you lost the confidence to let go of anything and the problem gets worse.

That being said, you do not have to keep things unused if you plan on keeping them around. There are plenty of other uses for our keepsake items. You just need to think outside the box.

Below I have put together some of the common things that people struggle to let go of and listed some ideas for things you can use them for instead. Check them out, you could just be inspired to make your keepsakes useful again.

Is decluttering and organising a form of self-care?

It is really interesting. When I first entered the organising world, the world put us in the cleaning category, the home improvement category and even the hobby category. Never though, in the wellness, self-care and health category.

Things are starting to change though and as decluttering and organising homes as a concept becomes more well known, so do the benefits.

The clarity

The freedom

The motivation

The calm

The confidence

These are all words you would associate with a wellness journey of some kind.