Stifled by perfectionism.....
One of the biggest stumbling blocks to decluttering is perfectionism. I call it one of the biggest because it is sneaky. It looks far, far from perfectionism; the clutter that is.
But would you believe, perfectionism stunts and stifles people out of action more than most would think.
Perfectionists who hoard items go through near mental hell when decluttering. And one of the reasons for this is they want things to be perfectly organised before they move to the next object/area. The problem with this is that it ends up taking too long to declutter and organise and momentum is lost quickly.
The biggest and most important challenge is to resist the temptation to have things perfectly:
-stored
-organised
-cleaned
-sorted
-worked through
If perfectionists have a lot of items to deal with they may not get off the starting blocks due to the arduous mental hoops to jump through. I have seen this many times and it is very disheartening.
One gentleman I worked with, let's call him Harry, is a closet perfectionist. I say closet, because to this day I do not think he understands how his habit of perfectionism has robbed him of the life he used to dream of. Used to, because, for the most part, he has given up on dreaming and expecting any good. He has allowed perfectionism to rob him.
Harry would start on an area and organise well beyond what was necessary to have his spaces ordered. And because of this, once he had finished a certain area, he would need to go back to the start to re-do what was done because he had taken months to organise the area and the area he started on was now a mess!
How can I tame my perfectionist streak when decluttering?
Firstly, knowing that you have the tendency to want a perfect decision is the starting point. Nothing needs to be perfect on the first go-round. That's right- nothing. Give yourself intentional permission to wing it, to not get bogged down and to do a half-arsed job. The reality is, you probably won't be doing a half-arsed job, compared to some others, but to the perfectionist with high standards, it may feel like it.
You see, decluttering can be seen in a spiralling sense. During the first cut or first round of going through your items, don't get bogged down with the perfect whatever. Say to yourself, it's ok, I will look over these again in the next round. This intentional mentality will help stop what I call perfectionist paralysis.
The good thing about this is that once you have decluttered an area, the sense of satisfaction and motivation is immense. This will then lead to a greater sense of feeling in control and greater motivation and satisfaction to do and achieve more.
Secondly, make it a high priority to keep the areas you have decluttered and organised, exactly that- decluttered and organised. If you make a mess, clean it straight away. Don't wait. If you allow your space to become dishevelled again, it can potentially set up a chain reaction of defeatist thinking.
Getting started
Choose 1 area to start with.
Do not, first and foremost, choose a theme, or certain items in the house in general to declutter etc. Choose a room. Start there. Visible progress is one of the greatest motivators for continued and sustained decluttering and organisation.
If you choose one theme, e.g. books, you will still be surrounded by clutter in the remaining space and will likely feel overwhelmed at the lack of order. If you are starting in a room that has books, sure you can start there, but don't stop there. It is critical the goal is for the entire room to be decluttered.
As amazing as certain decluttering methodologies are, they do not work for all people in all situations. People are unique and as such, the decluttering and organising experience must work for the person.
Choose a room that does not have a significant amount of sentimental items. Sentimental items are harder to declutter from your heart, and therefore from your life. Do these rooms/items last, after you have had more experience decluttering other rooms and have built momentum and motivation.
Get a declutter buddy
A declutter buddy will help you stay on track. Show them the list of Declutter Boundaries (see blog 'Declutter Boundaries') which will help them stay in sync with your objectives.
A buddy is a second pair of eyes and will bring a perspective that will help you to think about your objects in a more impartial and rational way.
A professional organiser is a great buddy choice. :-)
Preparation
Have boxes or bags (depending on items) ready. I colour code my bags according to where the item will go. Yellow -recycling, red - garbage, green op shop (I use the really tough structured garbage bags for items to charity as they tend to hold a lot and are strong).
While you are decluttering your nominated room, when you come across items that belong in another space, you can put them in the correct box/ bag. Running to put items in another room is time-consuming and if the other rooms are disorganised, shoving another item in the room, will likely become visually lost and just add to the clutter.
You will likely also need boxes for-giveaway to friends/family, returning items to people who own certain items and broken items.
Broken items that are junk, throw out. If you are not an electrician and an electrical item is broken, challenge your reasoning for keeping these items. Maybe I'll use the parts? Well, have you? How long have you been storing the item? How long has the item been wasting your space?
Broken items that must be fixed, and you are able to fix, put in a box, These items can be fixed at a nominated time.
Once you have worked through a room, depending on how long it has taken, you have a choice to go over the room at a more micro level, or move on to another room. At least the momentum has built and motivation high after seeing progress.
Taming perfectionism in decluttering is absolutely possible but you need to be very intentional with your approach and what you say to yourself. It matters a lot. It will impact whether you start, and whether you finish. And both starting and finishing are just as important as the other when it comes to decluttering and organising your space.
Declutter and Design
Live Organised
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