156 | One Rule that Makes Decluttering Easier….

There is a simple rule that helps you make decisions when you’re trying to declutter, but you feel like there is guilt around getting rid of certain items. You can use it to purge a lot of unwanted things both for summer is here.

The school year is almost over. And that means you are at the point. Or you’re getting to the point where you’re trying to get as much done as possible that like ind of your scramble to get everything done in a short amount of time, you’re probably feeling the pressure to switch out seasonal clothing and toys. If you haven’t done that already, get the winter stuff put away and actually feel better for summer.

Believe it or not, it’s going to be here in just a few weeks. That seems crazy to me. I’m not sure where February and March wins. But the fact that we’re talking end of school year stuff. It just came up [00:02:00] so quickly. If you have kids in school, school aged kids that go to a school outside of the home. So they’re not homeschooled and they’re on that traditional school year calendar, you might be excited about summer and you might be dreading it. Are you excited or does the overwhelm.

Kind of feelings that like really overwhelm you, do those sink in, when you think about the change of schedule and the potential mess, the lack of structure that will happen during those two months of summer. I would love to hear what you are thinking and how you are feeling about this topic. Tell me, do you get overwhelmed thinking about summer G dread summer, or do you get excited and you love your kids being at home?

You can tell me this and share this with us in the intentional edit Facebook group. Just go to Facebook and join the group. The link for that is in the podcast description. You can click on it easily. Join the group and tell me what you are feeling about summer. How are you feeling in terms of summer approaching?

And do you love summer or is it overwhelming to you? Does it stress you out the change of schedule? The juggling of all the different things? Or do you love the flexibility? Let me know over in the Facebook group and to join, just click on the link in the podcast description and we will get you approved so that you can be part of the group and we can start talking back and forth over there.

Now let’s get in to this. Topic. Of de-cluttering and getting thing is done before the school year. I know you’re trying to accomplish a lot before the kids are home. And one thing is getting the clutter out of there, removing the stuff, get some of the stuff organized before all the chaos happens in a few weeks. Okay. Just getting, not the chaos, but I’m kind of not kidding because a lot of people do feel like summer is chaotic and stressful.

I personally love summer. and I love of the lack of schedule and [00:04:00] routine for a short amount of time. And then I also love when school starts and you get back into that. So let me know your thoughts again, in the Facebook group, when decluttering is one of your tasks that you think needs to happen,

Make sure you listen to episode 59 so you can understand the necessary questions to ask yourself when you are stuck in the decision paralysis. That will be answered for you at episode 59, it takes you through exactly what you need to do. It gives you a ton of information on successfully decluttering in general.

I also have an easy hack for you that I’m going to share today that will make decluttering easier. It’s a rule that you should use when you have trouble figuring out if something should stay or if you should donate it. If you’re struggling with, do I keep this? Might I use it sometime. If it’s something that gets you thinking the words, I should probably keep this just in case or what if I need this one day?

You could probably call this the, just in case rule, but people commonly refer to it as the 2020 rule. Yes. You heard that correctly. It is called the 2020 rule. It’s a bonus technique and I recommend it in the 10 day challenge. The practical. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Okay. I have not told you. I don’t think I’ve talked about this on the podcast yet. I created a 10 day practical purgent project. It’s a 10 day challenge and I came up with the 10 day purging challenge. It’s completely free. It’s a download that you can get. I’ll put the link in this podcast description so that you can easily access it.

Basically what you do for 10 days is you have a different spot in your home that you perch. So each day there’s a different spot in your home to purge. And those projects are designed to take about 15 to 20 minutes. Every single day. So after 10 days you will have 10 spots in your home.

Declutter do we’ll have clean out [00:06:00] some of the excess in there there’s instructions and recommendations so that you can be successful with the projects as you go. And they’re super easy because I really want you to have success in one day projects where it only takes 15 to 20 minutes at a time. And this is for the decluttering to help you remove the stuff that you no longer need.

Get it out of your house and don’t let it burden you any longer. This would. Be a great thing to do now, since there is time still left in the school year. Get this done and now, and try to clear some of that clutter out before school is out for summer break. I will make sure I put that link in the podcast description. So you couldn’t click on that. It’s a free download that you can get. It’s called practical purging projects, and it is a 10 day challenge and it is completely free to you.

if you want to do that, click on that link that I will add. that would be something that is great. I do reference the 2020 rule in that. Project and you will see how It’s easily used in there when you start that challenge. You’ll see where I talk about that. And it’s a bonus in with those purging projects, it’s basically when you are stuck and you can’t make a decision because you feel guilty about letting go.

Ask yourself. If you can replace it with 20 minutes or. Ask yourself. If you can replace that item in 20 minutes or less. For $20 or less, that’s why it’s called the 2020 rule. Because if you can replace it in 20 minutes or less for $20 or less. Then you don’t need to keep it. If the answer is yes, then it becomes a donation.

When something is easy and it’s inexpensive, it’s easy to get to. It’s. Easy to find, and it’s very inexpensive to replace. Then you already. And you already know. That you haven’t been using it and you’re most likely not going to use it in the future. [00:08:00] It’s something that’s not going to be used, but it’s taking up space in your home. You have to give your time to maintain it.

Your space to store it, then you need to give yourself permission to let it go. And that should be guilt free. You want to let it go without guilt, because it is something that is so inexpensive and so easily accessible that you can get it within those parameters of the 2020 rule. These are typically items that you’re holding onto for that just in case scenario.

And that just in case scenario is most likely not going to happen. It’s perfect for a ton of random things that you find around your house or that you’ve been keeping around your house. With the, just in case scenario in mind. Those things that are taking up valuable space. Or items that you thought you would use them, but you actually don’t use them. They are contributing to your clutter. When you find yourself in this predicament of, I should keep this just in case or what if I need this one day that’s when you want to use the 2020 rule. if you can get this item for less than $20 and it will only take you 20 minutes or less to get it.

Then put it in the donation bag. Go ahead and get rid of it. That’s it. That’s the 2020 rule. The 2020 rule is so simple, but it is oh, so helpful. You should use this. It’s a little trick. It’s time for you to declutter and get the excess out of the house before summer break begins in just a few weeks and everyone is at home with plenty of time.

To get things out and use things and make a mess. Start decluttering. Now I want you to do two thing is when this episode ends first go sign up for the Facebook group with the link in the description. If you are not already a member. Go sign up. If you are already a member or once you get approved to join the group, let me know if you are looking forward to the flexibility that commas.

With the lack of structure. [00:10:00] And you feel good about this summer approaching us so quickly, or if the idea of it stresses you out? That’s the first thing Facebook group. The second thing is to click on the link for the practical perjury and guide that is in the podcast description. It is a 10 day challenge, practical purging projects.

It is completely free. It is a digital download that will give you all sorts of information on clutter and how to get rid of it. And the 10 days of projects that you can complete. Get that clutter out of there in 15 to 20 minutes a day. Click on that and sign up for that so that you can complete those 10 projects.

In the next 10 days be sure you use the 2020 rule for all of your future decluttering projects when you need it. It’s a great one to go to. It’s easy to remember, and it will help you make decisions on what you should keep and what you should donate. I mean, you back here for the next episode and a few days, the eggs for listening, I will be looking for your answers in the Facebook group to see how you feel about summer coming up. And let’s see what we can and declutter for you with the practical purging projects in the next 10 days