Sign up for the Free Get Organized HQ Conference here: cli.re/free-event Related: My organized House Tour Video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qP7R_cvgwYs.html Watch he playlist for the other organizing videos here: cli.re/Get-Organized -- and THANK YOU for your support! It means more than you know!!!!!! - Dawn
I’m the opposite of minimal, I’ve inherited lots of good stuff, and what to do with. Worse I have another house to be cleaned out sadly my mother in law passed way. I’ve learn and learning from you. I’m keeping the clean out simple not to be overwhelmed like you’ve said. Trying to dispose of a large trash bag everyday and close the door after 15~60 minutes. You have helped me be happier and not as stressful.
I’m excited for your keynote session ❤️❤️❤️ and signed up for the all-access. Much less expensive today than when I added it last year. Helpful then so I figured grab it now. Speakers were very good last year so I’m sure you’re in great company this year! (btw - I have no stake in the Get Organized HQ world so this is just as a fan of the event.)
Our house was trashed in a flood about 25 years ago and everything had mud on it. So that gave me a life motto for decluttering. Would I clean mud off this?
We live in our starter home and we don't plan on moving for several years, but when I'm decluttering I like to ask myself "is this something I want to go through the hassle of moving," because I hate moving! This mindset helps me let go of a lot more.
Great point! I'm using the same idea in my basement. We are working on remodeling, which means cleaning out the basement. If it's not something I would put in the new space, there's no point in keeping it at all. Our next move will be in about 9 years when we retire and downsize. The more I can eliminate now, the easier that will be too.
We moved to Tennessee from Michigan a few years ago. We took a leap of faith and didn’t have a house lined up yet. All our stuff went into a storage unit. I asked myself a similar question. “Do I want to pay to keep this in storage”? We really got rid of a lot before moving. And I STILL had several boxes worth of stuff that I donated once we found our house!
And I intend to downsize in a few years, so already letting go of extra furniture (and sometimes what it stored) and other things because I know the smaller home won’t have room for it. In some ways that’s very helpful.
One unexpected thing happened while decluttering and organizing... I repurposed a curio cabinet. I love the cabinet itself but it had become a dusty housing for unnecessary items. So while giving it a very thorough cleaning, it reminded me of an apothecary style cabinet. Now I have my essential oil books in it (just a couple) my back-up supply of oils, my Bible and business books (again, just a couple) It actually serves a great purpose now and is very pleasing to the eye. I feel like I have a new piece of furniture as well as an organized area for important items.
My kids are 40, 33, and 27 years old. I kept a memory box for each of them from day one. The bins were larger than yours, Dawn, but what a treasure to pass those on to my adult children. My grandkids have now worn some of their parents’ special outfits for photos. What a treasure it is to them and to me to see a photo of my child alongside my grandchild wearing the same baby booties, or ball cap, or Sunday dress. ❤️ They love looking at special school projects. The belly laughs when they read what the wrote back then are so worth the effort I took to compile them. 💙❤️❤️
"Do I want to manage this" really reminds me to not hang on to excessive things. Thank you so much for all the life changing advice you share in your videos! One of your littles was peeking through the window at the end of this video 🤗 hi!
You have saved my sanity!! Bless you and yours for being the person who puts it in ways that finally clicked with me to the whole concept! You have a gift of being persistently, consistently able to explain and utilize the resources and tapped into the Human Psyche that answers the whys behind most of the current struggles. I feel so fortunate to have found you and through you , the network of others. God bless you and your beautiful family. You and your husband are truly a godsend and an inspiration in healthy relationships and living a sane, healthy, modern life.
Helpful way to tell how precious something is to you - put it on the floor, in the way. If after 1 or 2 days (or hopefully hours) you are still willing to skirt around it, it may be a keeper. If being careful of it is a pain for you then let it go. It sounds odd but I've done it many times and it quickly tells me if I love it enough to be inconvenienced for it.
I do like how you speak about our possessions as “inventory” because it really helps me understand how much I shuffle things around the house instead of getting rid of things I don’t use! Touch it once , decide where it goes and that’s it!
Thinking of things as inventory and managing things have really helped me reduce the clutter in my home. I love organizing but I’m not great at it. I just do what works for me 😅
I love this. I was always labeled the messy one in my family...in the past 20 years I have slowly become a tidy organized person. You have helped me so much to finish systems I have started and changing my mindset to realize that simplified living makes it so much easier to be tidy and organized. And thank you for the free ticket link. So excited.
Having a specific memory bin for each one in our family was a huge “Aha!” moment for me! I literally stopped decluttering, found an accessible, yet poorly utilized closet in our house, installed wire shelving, purchased and labeled covered bins for each shelf and voila!! Decluttering is SO much easier now! 💕
I think memory bins are so helpful. I have three kiddos (they are in their twenties now), my daughter recently came across an old choir shirt she wanted to keep and asked can I put this in my memory box so it's not in her closet anymore. Took five minutes to move it and it is safe.
I like to declutter after my kids birthdays. I tell them if they want to have room for the new things they received we need to get rid of things they don't use or don't like anymore. We just did this yesterday and we got rid of so much stuff! It makes me so proud to see my kids using their decluttering muscles.
Hey Dawn… I’ve recently discovered your channel and LOVE it… you are so encouraging and helpful!!! I’m almost 70 and have felt overwhelmed for 20 years! BUT, since watching a few of your videos, I’ve began to tackle my ‘problem!’ THANK YOU seems so small for the help you’ve been to me… all I can say is may God richly bless you as you have blessed others❣️💕🙏🏻 God is good and you’re truly a gift from God!
Another Great video. I loved some of those ideas. I just unburied my label maker after like 10 years and it still works. Its also been super interesting to see how responsive the people in my house have been to labels.
Thank you for all you do for us. Really. If it weren’t for you and Steph at Sec slob, I would’ve thrown in the towel a long time ago. I guess I really want to thank you for being real “I’m not an organized person” “I always thought I was lazy” - all the statements I’ve made to myself over the years. You make a difference in the world, Dawn!🥰
Ive found some of the Sec Slob content helpful too. I noticed your channel includes animals so I just wanted to pre warn you (in case you haven’t watched it) that one of Steph’s videos from 6 months ago (organising storage in her basement) shows a bear she’d forgotten about in a bin bag. I wish I hadn’t seen that video so I thought I would give you a heads up in case it’s not your cup of tea either 💐
Oh man! Between Dawn, Cass from Clutterbug, Joshua Becker, Dana K. White, Rachel from Nourishing Minimalism, Natalie Bennett and so many more--I feel like we have access to soooo many different personalities and approaches on how we can can succeed! And success in "taking back our home" is really all we want, right?! ❤😊
Just because you’re not naturally tidy or organized doesn’t mean you can’t learn the skills and find systems that work. I think you’re the perfect person to teach others about this topic, Dawn, because it was something you’ve had to learn and because you can speak to people who are not crickets.
Thanks. I needed this! I just moved and I’m mentally and physically just exhausted when it comes to the task of unpacking and reorganizing in the new place. I worked so hard in my old place decluttering, organizing and making it functional for my family and beautiful for selling, and we had an offer on the first day of showings! I used a lot of your advice, and it really helped. But now I feel like I’m starting over because the exact organizing systems I’d figured out won’t necessarily work in the new place. I’m having a hard time even thinking about unpacking now. So this video helped give me a spark of motivation, which I’ve been needing!!! Thanks!
i listen to you while I declutter - your videos motivate me so much. I’m so blessed to have found you. I finally understand that my mess wasn’t due to me being lazy but just having too much inventory that wasn’t serving me and than I could handle . Finally everything else is also falling into place ..Thank you so much!
You are my favorite on this topic!! 🙂 I have been thinking along the lines of "simplifying my life" lately since you mentioned it. 🙂 That helps me in decluttering, organizing and simplifying and such. With a toddler and multiple pets (and a husband 😊), I definitely don't want to be managing stuff constantly. I want it to look nice, be manageable, be simple, and allow space for enjoying life with all of my family!! Plus it makes cleanup easier. :) Thank you for your videos and encouragement!!!
Because I found your channel and practiced so many good tips,.I've decluttered over 50% off our home. Still a work in progress.... I was wearing a shirt I did not enjoy this morning. When I realized how much I didn't enjoy it I went to the bedroom to change. But I asked myself , "what other shirts do I not enjoy"? I've made my wardrobe so much smaller in the past year it was simple to go through quickly and find those items. I found 5 shirts that are now in a bag waiting for donation. I also took a close look and saw that I had enough. No need to shop to replace those items. So simple, no agonizing over the decision to declutter them. Thanks for all the encouragement Dawn!
I had heard Dawn speak many times before about a memory box, but never thought about it in relationship to me (I'm 72 now). Then as I started another round of decluttering, I was looking at my curio cabinet. Not getting rid of it, still want items in there that remind me of special times and places, but it was too full to really appreciate what was in there. I scaled it down, put the items I removed into a "memory box". It also gave me room to put my mom's china coffeepot, sugar bowl, and creamer in there. I had just put it out on the kitchen counter, but that can be an iffy place for a breakage situation. Now it is where I see it every day (directly in my line of sight when I sit in my recliner in the living room) yet easy to get out and use as needed. So, apparently a "memory box" is good at any age since the curio cabinet items are things my daughter has told me never to get rid of as she wants those for her home. I can't give them to her now as she lives many states away and only flies in to visit me and I don't want them to break in process to her place. But when I pass she will need to get a U-haul to take things home with her and the memory box can be one of those things then.
I am finally reaching that sweet spot in my apartment, it seems! After a number of years of reading or listening to different approaches to clutter, first Karen Kingston and then KonMari and over the past years of variety of people here on RU-vid… Learning things from all of them and radically sorting out clothes and books and kitchen things, several moves… Just recently, actually when I got a new piece of furniture for my kitchen which does not have a lot of furnishings and nothing built in, I did some shifting around and Finally had the feeling, yeah! It’s happening, I’m getting there! And it feels really good. ❤️ i’ve gotten a bunch of the D cluttered things that have been waiting to go somewhere out of the house, there are just a few things (like some nice bags) that maybe I can sell if I get around to taking pictures and selling them, or take them to a secondhand shop instead of just tossing them into a clothes collection bin somewhere. I also went to my desk last weekend and have found a kind of little accordion file thing that I had, and implemented the three categories that Dawn uses in her paper video that also Dana from the slob comes clean talked about in her paper video recently. I added two more categories, one for upcoming events and one for miscellaneous shopping things, whether flyers or passwords for online access that were on little slips of paper,… And I tossed a bunch of paper that I’ve been moving around and debating on for a long time, and that feels really good! There’s still room for growth and that’s happening, but a word of encouragement, just go step-by-step and things shift! 💕
I started out my decluttering journey with the “spark joy” and then after a little time went by went through everything again and figured out if I’d still use it or hold onto it for “one day” or my “fantasy self” then I came across your “do I want to manage this item”or this amount of clothes and what do I actually need. Wow what a difference it made!! I got ride of a suitcase and 2 trash bags worth of clothes plus a bunch of kitchen items that I don’t use but kept because I spent money on it. Your guilt free timer is brilliant!! Thank you Dawn!! 🙏🏻❤️
I am in awe! Thank you so very much for sharing your tips. I randomly came across one of your videos 2 days ago and I am hooked. I am on one heck of a journey and you have inspired me. Thank you so so very much
Your videos have really helped me with decluttering, reducing the amount of stuff I'm willing to manage and has really given me some peace in my brain when a room is at bare minimum and feels serene!! Thank you so much for sharing these videos. And I too, am a ladybug! 🐞looking forward to this organization conference!!
Temporary containers work so well for me! I use one brand a set that stacks and has several sizes. It’s perfect I have and pull out as needed. If I don’t upgrade they all match. If I do upgrade I know exactly what I need and the extras of my temporary bins all nest in my garage ready for the next project. Saved me so much money and space over the years.
Decluttering is the key. I was always an organized person but the amount of inventory I had to maintain was ridiculous. Pairing down is the most important part of organization.
Thank you for all of your work and content here. The sheer amount of stuff I got rid of the past months... Even just when taking care of the first obvious layer of clutter, the amount is mind-blowing and liberating at the same time. So proud of myself. So thankful for your messages, mantras, tipps etc. Not just in this specific video.
I love the question, "Do I want to manage this?" I am on my way to 70 at my next birthday, and I think perhaps I should try Swedish Death Cleaning. I have been decluttering at a slow pace, but it needs to be speeded up.
I did "memory bins" for all my children and grandchildren. We have 9 children and soon to be 25 grandbabies. Purging gets more difficult for those of us who have been married for years and have large families. I have resorted to going to thrift stores for seasonal decorations or for old beautiful dishes. I then donate them back after their use. It gives me variety without hoarding. Works for me!
I’m moving to Colorado in 3 weeks so I’m using this time to finish what I started when I started decluttering and now I’m finding it easy as I pack to get rid of things. Your advice has helped me and I watch your videos over again sometimes.
I LOVE that you are a keynote speaker!!!! That’s awesome!!! It cracks me up that you don’t view yourself as organized but that does give me hope that one day I’ll het there too. You're the best Dawn!
I love my label maker, and it has its own little bin marked with Labels/Supplies. I put the label maker, label tapes, labels, plant stakes, peel & stick tags, and anything related in that bin. One other thing, the homeless items that I need to keep but don't know where to put them, now get put into a container that's marked 'Random Necessities. ~Margie
Thank you dawn for making this information so available. I have been watching your videos and they both give me motivation but also hope that things can get easier. For a while I haven't been implementing any of it because of various reasons: 1. I still didn't know where to start 2. A part of me wondered if it wasn't a cop out for just not putting regular systems in place 3. Would this really work for me or was I kidding myself? 4. Time, did I have the time to do it? Well I've learned that a lot of my struggle has been because I have ADHD and I have a lot of anxiety around cleaning and organizing. But based off of what I know about it so far I know for a fact that many if these things would work for me and my family, and probably is very much needed to help manage my life better in general. So thank you. Now I just need to figure out how to decide which thing to start on when my brain makes everything equally important but also equally easy to forget. Also equally intimidating. And tend to avoid anything that gives me anxiety unless someone else gives me a deadline for it. I can't give the deadline myself, it won't get done unless some reason my brain randomly decides doing it is fun for some reason. Also Butterfly
I was getting overwhelmed because I wanted to organize some spaces in my home but I haven’t had time to get to the store and get storage bins (hubby works lots of overtime this month.) So, I started using diaper boxes, I had a bunch from my twins and I figured some contact paper would make it nice until I am able to get to Walmart. In the meantime I can see if my system will work.
My back room off the kitchen, which is also the laundry room, has become a catch all. I finally decluttered my commercial art supplies that haven't seen the light of day for 20 years. Now I can get to my art books and everything else. Still a few layers to peel back, but I can see more of the floor.
You have helped me so much! I moved in May and had help packing. I had 3 storage sheds! I have been able to get rid of so much stuff! I have had so much peace to get rid of things.
I am a ladybug or a hidden organizer. I want visual simplicity but my husband is a visual person who wants to leave everything out. The solution is what I call "a crap basket". It is basically any container that you devote to containing any homeless clutter. I will not be a nag and force him to make places for his stuff, but I don't want his "crap" on the counters. The crap basket can be shared but I recommend having one for each person in the home. Now him and I each have a crap basket. I only need one but my husband has 4 baskets in each room. The "crap basket" really helps us keep our homeless clutter at bay because when the basket gets full, it is time to put it away or make a home for the random clutter. Now he knows where his stuff is, and I am so much happier with clutterless counters.
I have a junk drawer in my kitchen that contains things for, mostly, the grands. I started it for homeless items, but as I found homes for them or tossed them, it became a storage spot for things like kids' glue, tape, stick pins and things like that for them. It still contains a few things I rarely use, but the kids tend to like those things, too.
The first thing my family noticed when I cut back on a lot of my personal items (like my clothes, my paperwork). I actually seemed happier and more at peace. I didn't stress so much about stuff once I was organized and decluttered regularly. Hope that my family will learn from this example! I'm the only minimalist in the family.
Hi, I've been holding on to two very heavy quilts that my aunt made. I've carried them from 2 different homes and a cottage they are so big and heavy. I can't wash them, too expensive to send to cleaners. My kids didn't want them, my aunt probably doesn't even remember she made them. Why did I keep them for this long. Well, today I was organizing and again I had to make room for them. I asked myself that question, do I want to continue to manage these so very heavy bulky quilts that I never ever used? The answer rang loud and clear....NO! so I donated them. Yeah!!! Thanks so much for all the tips and videos. I'm so glad I found you, I really needed someone like you in my life! God bless and keep it up
I’m also a label convert - so much so that I labelled the door shelves of my fridge, which is how I learned an important lesson- it’s not just about labelling the place where something goes , but in claiming that space even when it’s empty! So I thought I was doing well to add ‘tartare sauce’ to my online shopping, but even better not to have something else migrate into the space in the meantime.
Organizing style is great, I thought I for sure was a cricket, but took the quiz and no I'm a bee and so is my husband. I didn't believe it but then the example photos was exactly like our closet and I'm like okay I really am. This has been HUGE, now I know what kind of organizing stuff to buy and why all these big opaque bins never worked for us.
I’ve got an inbox in my office that is generally paperwork but sometimes slightly random things get put in to it. Once I clean it out (once a month) the goal is to not put anything back in to it so everything finds home or leave the home
I love the memory bin. I have 7 bins of random photos and school papers. I have done 7 creative memories books. A few shutterfly books. Kids school papers are draining.
Something that resonates with me is you saying if you're not sure, its a no. Christmas Eve day I donated hundreds of pounds of "stuff". I felt hundreds of pounds lighter as I drove away.
I love organizing but as a pan with adhd, I struggle with keeping it organized. But there are some areas that always stay organized….they are the areas where I have made decisions. I heard something once that resonated with me. Clutter or mess, is the inability to make a decision. It continues to mound up because you can’t decide where to home it. In those areas of my home where I have made decisions about where things need to go, those areas are either organized or if they get messy, they are quickly made neat because the decision of where something goes was made in advance….for adhd….that is HUGE. It takes one more step out of the process.
The idea of inventory has shifted my take on organization. I now get anxiety about bringing too much new inventory into our home. :) also all of my cabinets are now half empty 🤗
I have a memory box for each child, when the were in elementary school I would have a folder for each child each school year ( whatever fit in that folder could stay and I filtered out some stuff I didn’t want to keep).
I’ve realized that we put things away we don’t use and then we don’t have room to put things away that we do use . Or we leave the stuff we use daily for easy access but unused stuff hardly/never gets used .
Dawn, I’ve used many of your wonderful tips! Thank You! Unfortunately I hit a “brick wall”. I have dozens and dozens of holiday boxes. Years of collecting treasures to the point they take a big part of our basement storage. I’ve made unsuccessful attempts to cut back and I think it’s because everything was selected with love to celebrate Christmas! Having said that, it’s a burden to keep it all. Please help!
Oh my gosh…I jumped when I saw someone peek in your window as you were finishing up your video 🤣. Today I finished my 3rd trip to the donation center! GO ME!!
Yeah.... the whole "sparking joy" thing is just weird! I'm more of a "do I ever wear this" "do I ever use this" type person! If the answer is No, then it goes. Thanks for your inspiring videos Dawn! I feel like I can finally breathe in my home because there's so much less clutter!
My sons are adults in their 30’s . Years ago I had memory bins set up for them and when they had their own of home I insisted they take their memory bins out of my house. They then could decide what they wanted to keep and they no longer took up space in my house. I have no idea what they kept from those bins but it was no longer my stuff.👍
I absolutely love your videos. We are getting ready to move after 40 years in one home!!! Oh the CLUTTER! LOL Please in future videos comment on ways/how some of your tips can help the "collectors" in our lives. We love them. They love us. But heaven help me. I thought hubbie would have a heart attack when he saw me watching your channel LOL It's all good. :) I think he just feared the dump truck that I've ordered (shhhhhhhh)
ok but the bin for everything for like paper stuff sounds a lot like a doom box to me lol! But yes I do this i have a basket on my island for random crap lol! Once we can't fit anymore I dump it and put it all away!
