Q&A: What Are the Steps to Becoming Minimized?

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Question — What are the steps to becoming minimized?

I’m being overrun by objects I’ve accrued over the years and whenever I get highly motivated to thin things out, I start and three hours later, I’m overwhelmed (an ongoing problem usually inhibiting my motivations) and exhausted, I’ve usually got a big mess on my hands, and I find myself saying the words “well I MIGHT need it in the future, so I better hold onto it.” Sometimes I just wish I could blindly chuck the stuff and forget about its very existence. I get caught up in the drudgery of the object by object process. I have too many clothes. I don’t even CARE about clothes that much, I just have never gotten rid of any.

I thought you might have some minimalist pointers to help me. I’d love love LOVE to have a cleaner, simpler living space. Please suggest some modes of thought!!!

Answer — The first step to paring down is to make a plan.

Take an hour or so with a notebook (digital or paper) and walk through your home. For each space, define your vision. For instance, “I want my bedroom to be a sanctuary where I can rest easy at night and find my perfect outfit in the morning.” Defining a vision gives you something meaningful to go back to when those out-of-steam moments come AND serves as a reminder that organizing is only a means to an end.

Use your vision for each space to define the zones (i.e. activities). For instance, in the bedroom — sleeping, dressing, reading. Next define clutter, which is anything that doesn't fit the vision/zoning of the space. In a bedroom, paperwork might be an example. Clutter will ultimately need to be relocated to a different area of your home or be purged.

The final step of creating the plan is to prioritize. Which projects come first, and when (if any) is the deadline? Schedule time with yourself for each project and be realistic. A bedroom project with a client typically takes eight hours depending on the quantity of stuff and the speed at which the client is able to make decisions. If long spans of time are hard to come by, you can break projects into mini-projects based on the zones you’ve defined for each space. For instance — rather than trying to tackle the entire bedroom in one day, schedule two hours to work on your current wardrobe.

When you’re tackling the project, use Julie Morgenstern’s SPACE acronym - Sort, Purge, Assign a home, Containerize, Equalize (in that order).

Put on comfortable clothes, perhaps play your favorite music and commit to the project at hand. Avoid the urge to bounce from room to room. When removing items determined as clutter, relocate to their new home and continue with the current project. In our bedroom example, paperwork might go to the home office. This means placing it just inside the door or on the desk of the home office — not spending 30 minutes or more filing it.

First, sort items into similar categories. For example, if you’re working on clothing, make up the bed so you have a flat surface, pull all clothing out of your closet/dresser and sort into categories: t-shirts, jeans, dresses, blouses, skirts, etc. Now that everything is in front of you and categorized, purge. It’s easier to make educated keep/toss decisions when you have your full collection together. Try to avoid the “I might need it” mentality and ask yourself instead, “in what scenario will I need/want this item in the future.”

Once you have sorted and purged, assign a home. For instance, t-shirts might make sense folded in a drawer, dresses probably work best hanging in the closet. It depends on the space you have available and what will be the best fit. Whenever possible, store items for each zone within arm’s reach. For example, the dresser and closet (part of the “dressing” zone) should be close together so that you aren’t running back and forth to get ready in the morning. If you need storage containers, now is the time to measure and buy. Many people make the mistake of purchasing containers before sorting, purging and assigning a home. The result is that the containers may not be the best fit or end up being unnecessary all together.

Equalizing means getting into the routine of maintaining your new system. Just like staying in shape, staying organized requires upkeep and commitment.