I have found it helpful to watch your videos before I start decluttering. When I am ready, I give myself a pep talk (out loud) - you can do this. You know what's in that room. You know what you don't want. You know what is trash. Got your trash bag? Got your donate bag? Got your all-purpose cleaning spray? Got your cleaning rags? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. OK! You can do this!
Right when the video started I thought, “Dana looks great! Her skin is glowing & her teeth are so white! That natural light in your new office is lovely!! I think you look wonderful 💕
So glad to hear that you donated those cheerleading items. When I was much younger I found someone's old school majorette uniform at our goodwill store and Mom bought it for me.I spent so much time in our backyard playing, marching, and throwing a long stick around as a twirling wand. Thanks for the memories!!!! LOL
What I did with my cookbooks was take pictures of the recipes I actually used out of the cookbook because typically I only use a few out of each cookbook. I then made an 8”x8” photo book; one for desserts and one for the rest. So now I only have 2 small cookbooks with my favorite recipes.
I have so many cookbooks but I keep going back to only 3, and the 3rd one only occasionally. I think I'm going to go through one book each day and find the recipes I like best, then toss 'em out.
That is a great idea. I remember sitting with my older sister (she was 17 years older than me) around the kitchen table copying recipes onto recipe cards from my mom’s cookbooks! I have SO many cookbooks! You are right about usually only using a couple of recipes out of each book.
Here's an idea...My partner wanted to sell his coronet for years because it was so 'valuable' he said, but he never got around to it. I finally asked him what he thought it was worth. I bought it from him and donated it to our school music program. He was happy, I was glad and the students benefit - win-win-win. I have done this with only a few other things of his. Now that I have decluttered and continued on to minimalism he is now bit by bit doing the same! Yay! Less is more! You inspire Dana!
Thank you for pointing out “things I missed my chance to use, that passed me by” as another category to give yourself permission to declutter- kind of like “your fantasy self items”!!!!!!!!
My husband had boxes that he moved twice but never went through them so I made him go through them before we moved again. One box was at least 10 years old and had mostly candy in it 😂 and a bottle of Sunny D.
Thanks Dana...you are the only one who has EVER got me into decluttering in 69yrs. (Thank you Lord for introducing me to Dana) You continue to encourage me without even knowing! I will keep going at my own speed 👍 Lvu mxxx
Me too Mary, I'm 65 and from a family of hoarders. I am seeing results already from listening to Dana. I shared her to my 72 year old sister and she's already applying the concepts. I love this girl.
Thank you Dana for being you! For being so REAL… you really do GET it! When you speak it’s like you know me & I know & trust you. Thank you for not being judgmental.thank you for giving us all Hope & encouragement… even though you donated your cheerleading outfit you are still cheering on so many!!!! Thank you!
I told my husband today I don’t understand why it took me so long to declutter. We both realized Dana’s method is the first that has worked for me. We’ve been married 50 years!!
This is helpful because instead of feeling bad about the things I have kept for no good reason- I can realize I am ALLOWED to change my mind and decide that $**t can go! Be kind to yourself people!
I just decluttered a chocolate shaver I purchased in 1994 and never used. Fantasy me has been making cakes with beautiful chocolate curls for the past 28 years. 🤣 Not anymore!
You without makeup shows me that you are beautiful and have an absolutely lovely, and I mean lovely, complexion. And I know you weren't fishing for a compliment. Thank you so much for your videos. They really do help me more than anything else.
Moving gives great clarity! Before I got married I bought Christmas stocking kits to needlepoint. After 25 years of marriage I decided I wasn’t going to make them and it was time for them to quit mocking me ! You did great in your sorting! Congratulations on your new home !
I've been helping my 20 year old daughter. We've been following your method. She keeps saying, "I'm so disappointed in old me." I am doing my best to help her just appreciate that she isn't that person anymore and she's doing better now.
Great move facing the window. Funny I still have maternity clothes....26 years old, menopause, and 100+ pounds. Will toss when I get a ladder back in my shed. Working on visual first - floors cleared and countertops decluttered first. Thanks for being real.
I found out last month that years ago, I actually decluttered/lost/threw away the paid off, mortgage-free DEED TO MY HOUSE. And you know what? I sold that house, final closing just last week, and no one needed to see that physical piece of paper. It seemed like the most important paper I could possibly own, and it wasn't that big a deal to not have it. Gave me some real perspective on paperwork.
I had my cheerleading uniform for years, my daughter used it once for Halloween. I finally just put my Letter in my scrapbook and donated the uniform - freedom!
I moved 5 times in 3 years with a young son and now, 10 years later, I’ve gotten rid of 70% of it. Such a waste of time and effort moving it all so many times. So glad I found you and won’t make that mistake again!
I went through my kitchen drawer because it was getting so messy and I found THREE melon ballers. I've had them for decades. I have never balled melons in my life. I think I tried and was not successful. It's funny how some things just become invisible despite numerous decluttering attempts.
Melon ballers are amazing for scooping out the innards from pumpkins- if you haven't decluttered them yet, donate them to families that like carving pumpkins!
"I'm glad NOW I'm at a place where I see that I don't need Shrinky-dinks." I just added that quote to my ORGANIZING FOR THE REST OF US flow-chart. Whenever I go thru things, I'll be sorting for those Shrinky-dink items. It will remind me not to be all judgey with myself. THANKS, Dana!!!
Over the years I've told my hubby that we didn't need to move to a bigger house. We just need to go thru things as though we were moving! It's still a work in progress, he loves his stuff.
I can relate, Christina. My hubby literally said, "But I like stuff," when he realized this decluttering thing wasn't just a phase I was going through. I told him he can keep all of his stuff if he wants to, but I NEED to have less to take care of, so I need to get rid of a lot of my own stuff. I've had to reassure him several times that I'm not touching his things. When I get done, he can have the whole basement for his random things, but I'm hoping he will get it off the floor and onto shelves. He doesn't see clutter at all. I'm gently planting the seeds now, so maybe he'll be ready to come up with the idea himself eventually. Meanwhile, I focus on my stuff and look around his.
Maybe if hubby doesnt want to come along for the ride, you can provide him with containers to put his stuff into. When he runs out of containers then he has to ask himself what must go!🤣😊❤
@@dianaweber4396 Thanks. Not sure if you're responding to Christina or me or both. I have done that. He puts stuff in the container, but when the container is full, he just puts more stuff on the surfaces. I think he must have a higher clutter threshold than I do. And we have opposite organization styles too. He doesn't see the overflowing baskets or the dusty piles or the stuff spread across the coffee table as a cluttery mess. It seems to be how his brain needs it to be. He eventually adapts to the areas I declutter and organize (pantry, fridge, freezer, drawers, etc), but this is his stuff so I don't touch it. The problem is, it's in the living room, which in our house is the entryway. I don't fuss about it. Baskets sort of backfired, so for now, I'm trying to better understand the differences in how we see and deal with clutter. Maybe as I continue decluttering my stuff, his clutter will start being noticeable to him. That's my hope. The container method is great, but it only works if the person is ready and willing to accept that they can only have a limited number of containers and what they keep has to be inside them. He's not there yet. Maybe someday. Thanks for responding, Diana. I appreciate you trying to help. 😄
One of the craziest items I can think of was a ziplock bag of Cheerios I kept with the art supplies thinking I was going to do a pinterest activity with my kids. I kept them for 8 years.
So great to see I’m not alone! I’ve been actively decluttering periodically since 2000, and every time I do it again I find things and think to myself “why did I keep this?” But this time, I discovered you/Cass/Dawn and your videos and have been watching them. While each decluttering sweep of my house makes me feel better, this time has been life changing. So thank you!
Love it! When I decluttered, I used the mindset I was moving into an apartment and can't take it with me. Especially my basement. Funniest items...my husband had two Daffy Ducks t-shirts still in their specialty packaging. One was folded , shrieked, wrapped like a brick, and the other was in a plastic dumbell. Lol! Plus, they were 20 plus years old and a size too small. So he opened them and gave them to our great nieces who wear as night gowns!
Last time I decluttered, I found a huge HUGE box of stationery. I probably haven’t written a letter since 1982, but it was in a nice, organized box so I moved it six times AND put it in long term storage when we lived overseas. 😳 I pulled out the one box of #10 envelopes, the only thing I ACTUALLY use, and donated the rest. It only took me 35 years. Btw, your skin is beautiful, Dana. You can pull off no makeup for sure.
Once again helpful and hopeful. And please always keep the comments at the end of the videos. It's time to let the choir sweater from the 1978 trip to Disneyland go. Let it goooooooo.....Let it goooooo.... I can sing that. We just got 10 more inches of snow and its 35 below so we are definitely ...frozen.
This perspective is amazing! "Would I take this thing with me if we were moving?" I have finally found a new question to ask myself to help me declutter. "Does this spark joy?" stopped being useful quite a while back. While our stuff now confortably fits in the spaces, I still feel that there's room for improvement.
I tried to make room for all of my old stuff in my new house. The square footage was the same, but it still did not fit. It took me getting MAD about it and finding you and Dana to let it go. Thousands of dollars worth of stuff has flown out my front door! It hurts a bit, but , BUT when I open ANY door in my home, NOTHING FALLS OUT!! Neat stacks of linens, towels, bins for over the counter meds, no expired ANYTHING!! My garage is still a train wreck, but I have only been serious about giving up and letting go for 30 days. So much better!!! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!
I keep thinking I’m all done decluttering. However, time has a way of changing priorities, lifestyles and what was so needed is now clutter. Thanks for reminding usual keep at it.
Two years ago, I brought home 6- 120" round white tablecloths and a super-long white rectangular tablecloth from an event so I could wash them. Then COVID hit, and those tablecloths stayed in their black trash bag for all this time, occasionally getting moved from place to place in my house. This year, we were finally able to hold this event again, so I finally had a deadline for washing them. It took me three loads in my washing machine and dryer because they are so big and heavy but they were done in an afternoon. They were taken to the venue for the event, and I have vowed that they will never come home with me again. ( I originally donated these and quite a few more tablecloths from my daughter's wedding to the nonprofit for which the fundraising event was held and so I often felt responsible for continuing to wash them.) This nonprofit is dear to me, but I can no longer be responsible for these cloths. Literally, this has lifted a weight from my mind, and opened a space in my home.
Since you asked I am nearly done making a list of 100 activities, responsibilities, worries that I am never doing or thinking about doing again. Needed because decluttering the stuff is well underway but for quality of life and clarity of mind, need to focus on fewer uses of my time and energy. Thanks for your help.
Two things come to mind after watching this video: -my mom still has mine and my sister’s prom dresses and we are both over 50!😁She still doesn’t want to part with them. -when my husband and I were waiting for the house we now live in to be built we had to box up a bunch of stuff and move into a rental place for several months. When we finally moved in I think I opened at least six of those boxes, closed them up again and donated them. After 3 months in storage I realized I didn’t need or want any of it.
When we moved 2 years ago it was one of the best decluttering I have ever done. We had to use a POD for a few weeks while the house sold so lots of boxes where in there. When we got into the new place I started to unpack the “de cluttered” boxes and I ended up getting rid of lots more. The items had been in the POD for a few weeks and I didn’t miss the majority of it.
We are moving 2000 miles away in four months. Your videos are very timely for me at this point in my life! I cannot justify paying the gasoline at these current prices to haul something across the country that never should have left the donation center. I am loving hearing about your move.
I appreciate your brain 🧠 soo much because I go through the same thought process!! I was decluttering yesterday and after about two weeks of sorting paper and going through different piles..I FINALLY feel like I've made progress. I'm getting better with asking myself the questions. Stuff that I put in the keep pile one day, I got rid of the next day because I said, I don't need to hold onto it for another 20 years 🙌🏽 breaking that threshold 🤗
Thank you, Dana!!! You have helped me a lot with my decluttering thought processes over the years. You're a genius!!! I find myself in yet another season of power decluttering!!! I want peace MORE than creativity expression! I go back and forth!
Great video, and Reid is so funny! My parents recently gave me my trombone that I played from ages 9-14. I’m 55. I automatically said thanks so much, and took it, but will be donating it. I had no idea they had it stowed away in their attic. I’m so afraid of what else is up there!
@Lori Taylor Smith and @Amy Crane contact local middle schools or high schools. They may be THRILLED to receive musical instruments!! AND it feels SO GOOD to give your unnecessary possessions new life and joy in the hands of children!!
Photos are my downfall! I inherited all of my mother’s photos and photo books, along with my own! I have been married for 49 years, so there are LOTS of photos! I started sorting through them before Christmas as I was making a book of their photos for each of my 3 children, all girls. While doing this, I came across an envelope of photos that I had intended to send to one of my cousins, even had the envelope already addressed! Sorry to say he passed away without ever receiving those. There were pictures in that envelope of him as a baby (he was 12 years older than me), him with his parents, his parents on their wedding day (they divorced when he was 3), and a few others I’m sure he would have liked to have. But my procrastination kept me from sending them. I am in the process, as I go through my mom’s, of sorting them into piles to send to different cousins I think might enjoy them. Some are also being thrown away. I have come to realize that pictures that meant something to someone else, or even to me at one time, doesn’t mean I need to keep them forever!
When I had to go through all of my parent's photos, I first went through and got rid of all the envelopes and negatives from the developer. That reduced it quite a bit. Then I went and got rid of all pictures that did didn't have people in them or houses/buildings that we were attached to in some way. Since my Dad loved taking pictures of plants, flowers and cool buildings that reduced the pics left by 75 percent!
Rather than throwing away negatives and unwanted photos--especially the ones of landscapes, buildings, and people--check with your local or state historical society or museum to see whether they would like them. Photos are the ONE thing I would go out of my way to deliver to the "best" place, because they are not replaceable.
@@queenofputrescence5167 -- I'm going through old photos doing the same thing right now. Tons of photo envelopes and negatives -- tossed. Only keeping the photos that mean something. I've purged a ton! Nobody will want these in the future -- I disagree that negatives are worth anything anymore. Felt great to get them out of the house.
I'm am in the middle of photo sorting. Been married for 26 years and have 7 kids. We inherited lots of photos from parents and grand parents and even great grandparents. So many that are unmarked. We kept the ones that have a historical value to give to the grand kids but the rest are being tossed. I realized that taking so many pictures is really overrated. Most of our pictures of the last three kids are digital. Thats my next project. There are so many who has time to even enjoy them.
I love your videos-always a great way to get me motivated. I found recently that I had kept a little folder from a mattress I bought 2 years ago-not a warranty just advertising-and I found streamers from my now 24 year old sons 5th bday party that partially disintegrated when I picked it up out of my decoration tub to throw it away…after a moment of “omg I can’t believe I had kept that” it pushed me to keep going to find more forgotten stuff to get rid of.
Oh my goodness. I am packing everything away to paint my house interiors. This is so cathartic to see the things I want to pass along!!! Thank you for the blueprint of how to sort and enjoy my things.
I paused after the cow spots and went and got my wolf costume together in a bag to donate. These videos help me declutter! Thank you for taking the time to share.
I'm currently going through old boxes from my garage. Yes, random things that you are referring to in this video. Thank you for your videos. I totally get you because I am the same! 🙋♀️🇦🇺
Yes it is amazing going through my storage area for the hundredth time, how many things I have stored for years and now with different eyes I now see that Yes I can declutter that, regardless how much it costs, some were expensive. But I now look at my storage space per how much each square foot cost,several hundred s of dollars, it let's me argue with the side of me that wants to sell it, but know I wont. Add that cost to the mental,emotional and physical costs that clutter is causing in my body, on top of that the family relationships and the fact I can't let good friends come over due to embarrassment,, Clutter is very costly! I have to Let it go!
Thank you for sharing this- it serves to make you more human- relatable etc. My decluttering has slowed considerably due to increased health needs of family members- but I continue to declutter at the speed of life! Thank you!
This was so helpful. I have several boxes that I've labelled as miscellaneous and go through them when I have capacity, but the truth is that I don't need or use that stuff. Some of it doesn't make sense to donate. So trash it is and I'll make sure that stuff doesn't come into my home again.
Loved this and easily could identify!! I found several old pairs of glasses (hello I can donate) and a remote from a tv gone long ago. Random earrings with no match. A sewing kit I didn’t remember I had. Leather cleaner never used. And on and on.
I relate to you better than other declutter coaches. Love your humor! Love your blue velvet couch❤️ I, too, am a fellow Texan trying to stay warm in this icy mess we got going on.
My husband and I are going to temporary accommodations this week so our home can have major water leak damage repaired by our insurance company. Today, knowing I have people coming Thursday to pack out our stuff, I was able to let go of almost all of my old spices. I had a bag full. I also accidentally ridded myself of a bag from the thrift store I planned to use when my grand daughter took it out as garbage. I also discarded a bag of old towels from my bathroom and my old mop this week. I have such a long way to go, but it's feeling lighter inside. We will survive this mess in our home and life will go on... Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I found 12 packs of red tacks...??? I don't know why I bought them in the first place. I think the receipt was from the 80s. I kept one pack, though I can't tell you the last time I needed even one tack, much less a whole pack of them. Definitely don't need 12 packs of tacks. I recently decluttered a gallon size bag full of bits of paper and cardboard. I think it was from when I did a couple of junk journals a few years ago. I guess I thought it was precious and couldn't be replace. I found a box of Crayons in a box that we moved with us 13 years ago. The Crayons were fine, but rest of the contents was basically trash. Dates showed it was from 1979. A bottle of perfume someone gave me. It smelled so bad, I put it in a bag in the garage so it wouldn't stink up my house. We moved it with us and it was in our garage at the new house for 13 years. That's when I started decluttering. It was at least 20 years old by the time I pitched it. I don't think my friend is going to ask about that bottle of perfume at this point, but even if she did, that perfume had to go. And the guilt along with it.
What a great video! I am staring at a toaster that definitely is a “why do I still have this?” It is electric and the sides flop down and the bread lays in the tray. It is old...really old. And it would NEVER occur to me that I have it let alone ever use it. Begone silly toaster. I want the white space where you were.
I wish you could see my after, I had over 100 cookbooks and donated all but 12. Going forward, I will mark pages with a post it when I use a recipe and in 3 months re evaluate. If I haven't used it, it will be donated. Once you tackle a decluttering category you wonder why you didn't do it sooner. Thank you Dana, for sharing your valuable decluttering tools🌷
Thanks for making this video. I enjoyed it. I honestly think we should all declutter with the mindset of "Would I pack this if I'm moving?" even if we aren't moving. I have a couple places in my house that I'm dying to get at to declutter because I know there are MANY things in there that I haven't looked at in YEARS and can "hopefully" easily declutter. I will remind myself that I haven't needed it and probably won't ever need it so they can go. It's time to clear out the clutter and free up our spaces and our minds!
We’ve moved over 10 times in 18 years and with every move, guaranteed, there’s always stuff to get rid of, tons of clutter, loads of donations, and all those extra bits that’s in with the photos, and we are moving again in a couple of months and I already know there’s tons more to declutter and get rid of! It’s never ending, but that’s ok. You look lovely Dana 😊💞
Emma - I just moved for the first time since I got married over 30 years ago. 30 years ago all my possessions fit in someone’s pickup truck. OMG I still cannot believe the stuff I had. Just cleaning supplies alone, you would think I was an OCD clean freak. Your comment helped me to realize that even if you move frequently there is always stuff to declutter and I shouldn’t beat myself up about it. I realize it’s hard for me to get rid of gifts given to me even if I don’t like them. They end up stuffed into a cabinet somewhere only to be forgotten. One thing I did which made me happy was donate dozens of vases to my favorite florist. He was glad to receive them as they were not your typical vases and I quit trying to fool myself that I was going to become an amateur florist.
@@littlemom2070 hi, well done with the vases, that’s brilliant and sounds like you made the florists day! Gifts are really hard, but I tell myself that they’ve stayed with me for a time and done their ‘job’ of being a gift, and it’s now time to move on and make someone else happy. Especially if it’s something you don’t like, the emotional hold I felt with these things in the house was almost toxic, and once I got rid of things like that a huge weight was lifted. Getting rid of gifts doesn’t mean you’re not grateful for them, or that you don’t appreciate the person. Recently I’ve said to a friend that I’m decluttering and that I hope she doesn’t mind but it’s time for xyz to go that she bought me, as there’s no room and that it doesn’t bring me as much joy any more, and, would she like it? If not it goes into charity. You’d be surprised how understanding people are, even if a bit put out at first. Glad my first comment could help 😊
One of the things I read about and have found that helps me is to take an HD or portrait mode photo of the hard copy photos I have. You can also zoom in on the photos that way. Then shred the photos. Not all but some of them. Or I took a photo of my cheerleading uniform front and back and a high school letter from a football jacket. similar to what you were having trouble with. So at least if I see the photos, the memories come back but I don’t have the stuff laying around.
A decluttering victory report. I moved in April 2020 to Alabama. I only spend part of the year in Alabama. I am still putting things together and into the place I would look first. Lately I added a container of crochet hooks and bits to my designated yarn storage area from where it had landed in the desk in my second bedroom. I had room in that designated yarn area for this smallish container and I like crocheting and I DO crochet! This morning my older cousin in Arizona was telling me about needing a crochet hook to pull out a sweater snag. She scrapbooks and doesn't crochet. I went to my designated yarn area, fetched the container and now 3 hooks are in an envelope, addressed, to her! Here's to the first decluttering question!! Where would I look for this first?? A sort of corollary story, a neighbor dropped by for a visit yesterday. I had not caught up with them in a while. He mentioned that a pseudo son who married a while ago had just had a new baby girl. I know exactly where my finished baby blankets are stored. I immediately pulled one out for him to give to the new baby! So here's to the second deuttering question, too!! I knew I had finished baby blankets and I know where to find them. Of course, that in turn gives me more motivation to keep crocheting baby blankets; which means I will use more yarn from that designated yarn area and so on and so on and doobie doobie doobie!; Thanks for all you share in such an affirming, caring and encouraging way.
@@deborahturner1853 thanks! I moved away from a Baby Pantry in Michigan and haven't hunted up anywhere here in Alabama at which to donate. I appreciate the reminder to look.
You are beautiful... even without makeup, your real!!! Thanks for sharing your move story. The things I am finding while rearranging to accommodate my crazy large family and extended family in my 120 year old home. It's a bungalow style built in 1902. What that means is there were no closets when we bought our major fixer upper 29 years ago. The container concept is real. I have an attachment to almost everything I have, and every milliliter of space is , well has, busted at the seams. I am an artist and love creating anything and everything. As I am going through things slowly, I am so overwhelmed. My home is a wreck, but my doors are always open. I used to make excuses when anyone stopped by. Now I say, "I would apologize, but this is how we live.". If there is anything out there craft and project worthy, I have it. Actually, I probably have it, and a backup for it, and a backup for my backup... and it goes on and on. I can't believe how many art and DYI things I have new in packages. My husband was in the military, so we were a military family... moved 7 times in one year... I had very little extras because we never knew when orders would come and the packing would start again. I was able to pack my entire home in 2 day. We were a family of 4. When he retired, and we bought our home I was no longer limited. It was freedom! The freedom now has me drowning. I am struggling with how do I let go. It literally scares me when I am trying to declutter because what if there is an apocalypse and I, or someone else, needs it. During the lock down of covid began, it honestly didn't affect us. I got calls, and family and friends came to me needing something... anything... and I had it. With the event real, I am now struggling even more. Dana... I have so much anxiety over my brain always going back to the "what ifs". I watch you and have gone through and watched you from the beginning of Nonny. I feel you... you are an inspiration, this unusual attachment is real. Yes it is. Thanks for sharing your story, I do pray and I pray one day my brain will not go into "what if" mode.
And, my doors are always open and someone is always stopping in, we just move piles. I have three adult children, a 35 yr old, (he just moved back out into the home behind me), a 30 yr old daughter, (we keep her 3 kids, 12, 10 (with asperger's) and a 4 yr old), a 28 yr old ( lives with us and asperger's) then we adopted our twin granddaughters, they are now 7... so when I say we have busted at the seams, that's an understatement.
@@janabuchheit3389 bless your heart for caring for so many so beautifully. On the apocolyptic thoughts I would just say the only real thing that will matter is food. Okay, not the only thing but the most urgent thing. At the end of the day Dana says "Does it fit in the container?" You know what to do. You are just afraid to do it. You really enjoyed helping out those who needed things when you had them. Imagine that someone out there right now is looking at the thrift store for the very thing you have in your stash. Perhaps you can thank the item for the joy of possibility it gave you when you bought it but now wish it well on its way out the door to bless someone else. Anywhooooo. sorry for going on, I can just hear you struggling under the weight of it all.
I understand the wonderful feeling of being able to help someone else with something they needed. It is a great gift to help others. The word that stood out in your comment though was you are "drowning". You are trading your peace and comfort with things that someone might need later. All of those things are keeping you from relaxing bc they are causing anxiety. You seem to be a beautiful soul. Creative minds usually are. 😁 Find places locally that you can bless with your extras. Try nursing homes, daycares, shelters. I know they enjoy crafting supplies.
@Nancy Schwartz I constantly donate, give, take to the homeless shelter... etc. I am just now going through, battling with the guilt of having so much when so many are in need. Before I became disabled (I didn't mention before.... actually my husband became disabled while in the military in 1992, and completely in 2007... myself in 2009). I worked with special needs children, volunteered at nursing homes, and our church. Then we had guardianship of or precious granddaughter, she left us and joined Heaven the night of her first birthday. She was with us for one year, I found her the morning after her first birthday. My world crashed. I became numb. I am just now able to start going through things. She went to Jesus in April of 2012. As I sort through things, I have anxiety, I always find something of hers. Counseling is something I went straight to. I only gave myself to start grieving a year ago. So now the loss is real. I go into her room and am making progress, real progress. Then I may be in the middle of making progress and... wham it becomes real and I lose it. I do know it's okay to breakdown, because I know my rope is a long rope and I still am hanging on. So in reality, I lost almost 10 years of being numb and only now see a light that's not a train headed right at me. I look at something and have to say outloud, this is not fulfilling the purpose it was intended for... thank you Dana... and am letting go of things, but not the wonderful memories of whatever it is. A blanket, shoes, toys... don't really mean anything. Thank you for the positive feedback. I really appreciate it.
@Carrie Bass I'm working on it. I posted on another comment more of what my heart, head and brain are going through. Change is difficult, but necessary for growth. I'm heading, slowly to the growth. Thanks for the encouragement!
Great video Dana! You are definitely not the only one with that kind of stuff in photos! I just decluttered a similar stash! I'm so happy for you to have a great place to do your magic! You've changed my life! Lots of love from PA!
This really helped today. I started watching your videos last July. Funny thing is my home got to the point where cleaning was tediously easy. I'm not complaining but I got lulled into a false sense, my fault totally, but in the past week I started realizing things weren't right and thus video was the kick in the pants to get going again. The miracle is there is no paralyzing guilt! You help us face what we need to do with bravery. Thank you for being there!
Great video! Thanks for sharing. I feel the same as you. We just had our water heater flood our basement. My basement has been an eye sore for over 20 years. This forced me to throw things out I would have never early on. It felt good. I still struggle getting rid of things but I think I’m getting better. Thank you for being here. ❤️
Having now helped my mother in law, my husband’s older brother, and recently, my Mom, as their health began to fail and they needed (and deserved) our help, my husband and I have vowed to not leave a huge mess for our children. In this vain, we’ve gone through so much stuff. Our youngest daughter’s room was like a small city unto itself! We still have more to do, but we continue to move forward! Getting started is the hard part. I’ve found that once I’ve started on an area, it all moves right along. I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought so much of this stuff, but it makes me happy to know that our Hospice Thrift Store is very pleased at the van loads of things I’ve donated.
When moving I found a beautiful handmade dress I’d forgotten to dress my daughter in. It was size 6 months, and she was 5 years old. It honestly broke my heart and I had some tears. Then I decided to keep it, in case she has a daughter. I donated it a month ago after she explained she’s probably not going to remember it and neither will I. She’s 14 and so awesome.
I love your Logic when you’re decluttering. You always give me a good laugh and I’m not laughing at you, but me. I can so relate to the silly things we keep and completely forget them. I’ve decluttered a lot and every once in awhile I find one of those boxes. It’s amazing how our minds work. Good thing I have a great sense of humor and I’m not beating myself over this stuff. Thanks for the chuckle. Can’t wait to see your new home.
I'm doing photos right now, the beginning of my attic project. Tons of non photo stuff you're not the only one. But 7 kids and 30 years of photos makes me wish I had spent less time taking pics of memories and spent more time being in the moment.
This was very comforting to see. I have listened to Decluttering at the Speed of Life three times. Now I listen whenever I am decluttering for more than 5 minutes. You have truly changed me and I will be forever grateful!
Thanks for helping me feel better about all of the things I knew I had ... somewhere... but couldn't find so the opportunity passed me by (a long time ago 💔). As I continue to declutter I KNOW I'll start to berate myself for not getting rid of this or that years ago. However, I'll remember your message and give myself some grace and work through my annoyance and regrets! You're the best Dana! 💕
I’m so glad you are reflecting on your move while still fresh. You have a lot to offer us from your perspective! I’m sure this type of video takes a lot more editing so Reid is really earning his 💰 now! 😁🎉 Please do share more videos like this. AND…you look beautiful, radiant, creamy skin, all good things and fun faces!
Your humor and facial expressions make it so wonderfully fantastic to watch your youtube station. Thank you so much for help me start to realize I can have a clutter "less" environment. Oh yes by the way, my husband thanks you too.
Great video, I started reading your new book, Wow, it is so ooo good, thank you for sharing your wisdom. Congrats on your new office space, I'm trying to make an office space for me, am so excited go see it coming real after that space being buried after so many years, over 20,,yes, gave myself grace, after 2 kids, several health problems, your advice has been life changing! May you continue to be Blessed!
My husband had stuff that he put up in the attic, when we moved here-IN 1987! Never even inquired about what it was. My daughter threw out a lot (because she would say “Da-ad, you don’t need to keep THIS do you?” That would not work for me. Now that our youngest is moving out, I’d like to be prepared if we do finally downsize into a smaller place. Following The Minimal Mom’s suggestion, I had put a bunch of kitchen stuff in “quarantine” and after 6 months (or more) I got rid of five good sized boxes. I never even missed any of it and now I can actually find cooking pans AND their matching lids.
Dana, I love listening to you while I clean and tidy. I wasn’t even mad when the auto play algorithm decided to play this video while my hands were wet with scrubbing dishes even though I already listened to it and it’s not even two weeks old. Needless to say, I was SO happy when I saw that your podcasts aren’t identical to your videos.
I nearly choked on my water over the Shrinky dinks!! Not gonna lie, I think I would've had to play with them just because I always wanted some as a kid. Dana you are a Godsend, I am so grateful to have found you and especially to now have the ears to hear. Finally, finally I am making real progress on my "office" read: room o' chaos. I cannot thank you enough.
It’s not the things I’ve kept. It’s the things that somehow I don’t have! Like the blueprints to the house we decided not to build 20 years ago. What did I do with them? And my running vest bladder. Where is it? Ughhhh. My container will be a 400 sf RV with strict weight limits as well as size. I’m getting stronger at this decluttering and letting go of crap thanks to your methods and help! Thanks Dana💞
Wait. What? You aren't wearing makeup?! Oh my gosh! Why waste your money on it?! Thank you for all your videos. My mind has completely shifted since I started watching your videos. Well done!
I love the idea of decluttering as if you are moving. I think, without realizing it, that’s what I’ve been doing for a while now. My husband doesn’t share this mindset unfortunately so the house (especially the basement storage area) is filled with delayed decisions. Things that we currently have room for so he sees no need to get rid of them even though he does use them at all. Decision fatigue is something we can avoid. Make decisions over time instead of having to deal with many things at once (as in moving/downsizing).
I truly believe the Lord introduced me to your videos and your book Organizing for the Rest of Us!! Your words “Less”. and “Better”. are so incredibly helpful to keep me from being overwhelmed and from feeling like a failure with my house. Every summer I’ve said I’m going to organize -so many years that it’s kind of a joke with friends and family. Well this summer I am decluttering and it’s already BETTER!!! And you make me laugh💗😀Thank you from the bottom of my heart💗🙏
FABULOUS video. I have been following you for a couple of months and love how you keep it REAL. And you are a beautiful person- with or without makeup!
Just love your videos! You were the first person I started watching on RUclips that got me motivated. You always make me laugh when the situation could be depressing for me. I have lots of sentimental stuff from family, so you always help me feel better about letting go. I especially liked this video with the little clips of examples. We bought our first house back in 1997 and when we moved in 2003, I found boxes in the attic that had not been opened since the previous move!! 20+ years in the attic. Thats crazy! Love you Dana!
I love it when you talk back and forth to yourself going through your thinking process, and when you laugh!
I have found it helpful to watch your videos before I start decluttering. When I am ready, I give myself a pep talk (out loud) - you can do this. You know what's in that room. You know what you don't want. You know what is trash. Got your trash bag? Got your donate bag? Got your all-purpose cleaning spray? Got your cleaning rags? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. OK! You can do this!
I have to clean as I go, or the dust overcomes my terrible allergies.
Right when the video started I thought, “Dana looks great! Her skin is glowing & her teeth are so white! That natural light in your new office is lovely!! I think you look wonderful 💕
I thought the same!
I was thinking that, too! Dana, you are a natural beauty!
Absolutely. Me too! Absolutely GORGEOUS and comfortable and real. She's a real person in a fake and plastic world. ♥️
Agreed!
She does glow, beauty from within shining outward.
So glad to hear that you donated those cheerleading items. When I
was much younger I found someone's old school majorette uniform at our goodwill store and Mom bought it for me.I spent so much time in our backyard playing, marching, and throwing a long stick around as a twirling wand. Thanks for the memories!!!! LOL
What I did with my cookbooks was take pictures of the recipes I actually used out of the cookbook because typically I only use a few out of each cookbook. I then made an 8”x8” photo book; one for desserts and one for the rest. So now I only have 2 small cookbooks with my favorite recipes.
I have so many cookbooks but I keep going back to only 3, and the 3rd one only occasionally. I think I'm going to go through one book each day and find the recipes I like best, then toss 'em out.
I can let go of my Joy of Cooking. It fits both the cookbook decluttering and the aspirations segments. My cookbook shelf thanks Dana.
That is a great idea. I remember sitting with my older sister (she was 17 years older than me) around the kitchen table copying recipes onto recipe cards from my mom’s cookbooks!
I have SO many cookbooks! You are right about usually only using a couple of recipes out of each book.
Wonderful idea.
Here's an idea...My partner wanted to sell his coronet for years because it was so 'valuable' he said, but he never got around to it. I finally asked him what he thought it was worth. I bought it from him and donated it to our school music program. He was happy, I was glad and the students benefit - win-win-win. I have done this with only a few other things of his. Now that I have decluttered and continued on to minimalism he is now bit by bit doing the same! Yay! Less is more! You inspire Dana!
Genius idea!
Great solution. Smart thinking.
Don't cry over spilt milk or cow utter cutouts 🤣🥛🐄 thank you for the motivation.
Thank you for pointing out “things I missed my chance to use, that passed me by” as another category to give yourself permission to declutter- kind of like “your fantasy self items”!!!!!!!!
My husband had boxes that he moved twice but never went through them so I made him go through them before we moved again. One box was at least 10 years old and had mostly candy in it 😂 and a bottle of Sunny D.
omg...lollll
😂
This made me laugh!!!
So funny 🤣
Oh my goodness I laughed so hard I choked on a corn chip 🤣🤣🤣
Thanks Dana...you are the only one who has EVER got me into decluttering in 69yrs. (Thank you Lord for introducing me to Dana)
You continue to encourage me without even knowing! I will keep going at my own speed 👍 Lvu mxxx
It's too bad we can't hit the Like button 10 times, because I'm with you!
Me too Mary, I'm 65 and from a family of hoarders. I am seeing results already from listening to Dana. I shared her to my 72 year old sister and she's already applying the concepts. I love this girl.
Thank you Dana for being you! For being so REAL… you really do GET it! When you speak it’s like you know me & I know & trust you. Thank you for not being judgmental.thank you for giving us all Hope & encouragement… even though you donated your cheerleading outfit you are still cheering on so many!!!! Thank you!
I told my husband today I don’t understand why it took me so long to declutter. We both realized Dana’s method is the first that has worked for me. We’ve been married 50 years!!
@@sandramickewicz4024 I feel the same way.
This is helpful because instead of feeling bad about the things I have kept for no good reason- I can realize I am ALLOWED to change my mind and decide that $**t can go! Be kind to yourself people!
Yes, Dana give yourself some grace. Beating ourselves up just uses up energy.
I just decluttered a chocolate shaver I purchased in 1994 and never used. Fantasy me has been making cakes with beautiful chocolate curls for the past 28 years. 🤣 Not anymore!
LMK if Fantasy You ends up making that cake haha
You without makeup shows me that you are beautiful and have an absolutely lovely, and I mean lovely, complexion. And I know you weren't fishing for a compliment. Thank you so much for your videos. They really do help me more than anything else.
Moving gives great clarity! Before I got married I bought Christmas stocking kits to needlepoint. After 25 years of marriage I decided I wasn’t going to make them and it was time for them to quit mocking me ! You did great in your sorting! Congratulations on your new home !
I've been helping my 20 year old daughter. We've been following your method. She keeps saying, "I'm so disappointed in old me." I am doing my best to help her just appreciate that she isn't that person anymore and she's doing better now.
You might not think so, but videos like this truly do help. Sometimes visuals go much further in triggering movement then just the words alone.
Agree. While I try to listen to your Q&A’s, I devour your videos like this
Great move facing the window. Funny I still have maternity clothes....26 years old, menopause, and 100+ pounds. Will toss when I get a ladder back in my shed. Working on visual first - floors cleared and countertops decluttered first. Thanks for being real.
Does anyone one else LOVE 💕 that Dana’s southern accent is STRONG in this video? No? Just me? Well someone needs to 😍😍
I found out last month that years ago, I actually decluttered/lost/threw away the paid off, mortgage-free DEED TO MY HOUSE. And you know what? I sold that house, final closing just last week, and no one needed to see that physical piece of paper. It seemed like the most important paper I could possibly own, and it wasn't that big a deal to not have it. Gave me some real perspective on paperwork.
I needed this!!! Paperwork hurts my head
It does my heart heavy to think that the 80s was 40 years ago lol
Look at it this way! I was a teenager in the 60s! I'm still hanging in there.
Omgosh just reading your comment killed me. I'm an 80s kid. Where did the time go.
I know right?? 😮
I had my cheerleading uniform for years, my daughter used it once for Halloween. I finally just put my Letter in my scrapbook and donated the uniform - freedom!
I moved 5 times in 3 years with a young son and now, 10 years later, I’ve gotten rid of 70% of it. Such a waste of time and effort moving it all so many times. So glad I found you and won’t make that mistake again!
I went through my kitchen drawer because it was getting so messy and I found THREE melon ballers. I've had them for decades. I have never balled melons in my life. I think I tried and was not successful. It's funny how some things just become invisible despite numerous decluttering attempts.
I used a melon ball once and it just took way too long. Whats wrong with cubes anyways😆
Melon ballers are amazing for scooping out the innards from pumpkins- if you haven't decluttered them yet, donate them to families that like carving pumpkins!
😁
😂
LOL I have never balled melons in my life . . . Thanks, I needed that. 🤣🤣🤣🤣
"I'm glad NOW I'm at a place where I see that I don't need Shrinky-dinks." I just added that quote to my ORGANIZING FOR THE REST OF US flow-chart. Whenever I go thru things, I'll be sorting for those Shrinky-dink items. It will remind me not to be all judgey with myself. THANKS, Dana!!!
Good idea :)
Over the years I've told my hubby that we didn't need to move to a bigger house. We just need to go thru things as though we were moving! It's still a work in progress, he loves his stuff.
I can relate, Christina. My hubby literally said, "But I like stuff," when he realized this decluttering thing wasn't just a phase I was going through. I told him he can keep all of his stuff if he wants to, but I NEED to have less to take care of, so I need to get rid of a lot of my own stuff. I've had to reassure him several times that I'm not touching his things. When I get done, he can have the whole basement for his random things, but I'm hoping he will get it off the floor and onto shelves. He doesn't see clutter at all. I'm gently planting the seeds now, so maybe he'll be ready to come up with the idea himself eventually. Meanwhile, I focus on my stuff and look around his.
Maybe if hubby doesnt want to come along for the ride, you can provide him with containers to put his stuff into. When he runs out of containers then he has to ask himself what must go!🤣😊❤
@@dianaweber4396 Thanks. Not sure if you're responding to Christina or me or both. I have done that. He puts stuff in the container, but when the container is full, he just puts more stuff on the surfaces. I think he must have a higher clutter threshold than I do. And we have opposite organization styles too. He doesn't see the overflowing baskets or the dusty piles or the stuff spread across the coffee table as a cluttery mess. It seems to be how his brain needs it to be. He eventually adapts to the areas I declutter and organize (pantry, fridge, freezer, drawers, etc), but this is his stuff so I don't touch it. The problem is, it's in the living room, which in our house is the entryway. I don't fuss about it. Baskets sort of backfired, so for now, I'm trying to better understand the differences in how we see and deal with clutter. Maybe as I continue decluttering my stuff, his clutter will start being noticeable to him. That's my hope.
The container method is great, but it only works if the person is ready and willing to accept that they can only have a limited number of containers and what they keep has to be inside them. He's not there yet. Maybe someday.
Thanks for responding, Diana. I appreciate you trying to help. 😄
I love the thing about 'aspirational items', such a light bulb moment for me! I need a tshirt that says someday is today.
One of the craziest items I can think of was a ziplock bag of Cheerios I kept with the art supplies thinking I was going to do a pinterest activity with my kids. I kept them for 8 years.
So great to see I’m not alone! I’ve been actively decluttering periodically since 2000, and every time I do it again I find things and think to myself “why did I keep this?” But this time, I discovered you/Cass/Dawn and your videos and have been watching them. While each decluttering sweep of my house makes me feel better, this time has been life changing. So thank you!
Love it! When I decluttered, I used the mindset I was moving into an apartment and can't take it with me. Especially my basement.
Funniest items...my husband had two Daffy Ducks t-shirts still in their specialty packaging. One was folded , shrieked, wrapped like a brick, and the other was in a plastic dumbell. Lol! Plus, they were 20 plus years old and a size too small. So he opened them and gave them to our great nieces who wear as night gowns!
Last time I decluttered, I found a huge HUGE box of stationery. I probably haven’t written a letter since 1982, but it was in a nice, organized box so I moved it six times AND put it in long term storage when we lived overseas. 😳 I pulled out the one box of #10 envelopes, the only thing I ACTUALLY use, and donated the rest. It only took me 35 years. Btw, your skin is beautiful, Dana. You can pull off no makeup for sure.
This was helpful as we pre-declutter for health related downsize in a few years. Even anticipation of a move seems to change my lens.
Once again helpful and hopeful. And please always keep the comments at the end of the videos. It's time to let the choir sweater from the 1978 trip to Disneyland go. Let it goooooooo.....Let it goooooo.... I can sing that. We just got 10 more inches of snow and its 35 below so we are definitely ...frozen.
😆 My favorite line from this video, “Cow udders, I don’t need them!”
This perspective is amazing! "Would I take this thing with me if we were moving?" I have finally found a new question to ask myself to help me declutter. "Does this spark joy?" stopped being useful quite a while back. While our stuff now confortably fits in the spaces, I still feel that there's room for improvement.
I tried to make room for all of my old stuff in my new house. The square footage was the same, but it still did not fit. It took me getting MAD about it and finding you and Dana to let it go. Thousands of dollars worth of stuff has flown out my front door! It hurts a bit, but , BUT when I open ANY door in my home, NOTHING FALLS OUT!! Neat stacks of linens, towels, bins for over the counter meds, no expired ANYTHING!!
My garage is still a train wreck, but I have only been serious about giving up and letting go for 30 days. So much better!!! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!
I keep thinking I’m all done decluttering. However, time has a way of changing priorities, lifestyles and what was so needed is now clutter. Thanks for reminding usual keep at it.
Two years ago, I brought home 6- 120" round white tablecloths and a super-long white rectangular tablecloth from an event so I could wash them. Then COVID hit, and those tablecloths stayed in their black trash bag for all this time, occasionally getting moved from place to place in my house. This year, we were finally able to hold this event again, so I finally had a deadline for washing them. It took me three loads in my washing machine and dryer because they are so big and heavy but they were done in an afternoon. They were taken to the venue for the event, and I have vowed that they will never come home with me again. ( I originally donated these and quite a few more tablecloths from my daughter's wedding to the nonprofit for which the fundraising event was held and so I often felt responsible for continuing to wash them.) This nonprofit is dear to me, but I can no longer be responsible for these cloths. Literally, this has lifted a weight from my mind, and opened a space in my home.
Since you asked I am nearly done making a list of 100 activities, responsibilities, worries that I am never doing or thinking about doing again. Needed because decluttering the stuff is well underway but for quality of life and clarity of mind, need to focus on fewer uses of my time and energy. Thanks for your help.
That's a great idea! :)
Two things come to mind after watching this video:
-my mom still has mine and my sister’s prom dresses and we are both over 50!😁She still doesn’t want to part with them.
-when my husband and I were waiting for the house we now live in to be built we had to box up a bunch of stuff and move into a rental place for several months. When we finally moved in I think I opened at least six of those boxes, closed them up again and donated them. After 3 months in storage I realized I didn’t need or want any of it.
When we moved 2 years ago it was one of the best decluttering I have ever done. We had to use a POD for a few weeks while the house sold so lots of boxes where in there. When we got into the new place I started to unpack the “de cluttered” boxes and I ended up getting rid of lots more. The items had been in the POD for a few weeks and I didn’t miss the majority of it.
We are moving 2000 miles away in four months. Your videos are very timely for me at this point in my life! I cannot justify paying the gasoline at these current prices to haul something across the country that never should have left the donation center. I am loving hearing about your move.
I appreciate your brain 🧠 soo much because I go through the same thought process!! I was decluttering yesterday and after about two weeks of sorting paper and going through different piles..I FINALLY feel like I've made progress. I'm getting better with asking myself the questions. Stuff that I put in the keep pile one day, I got rid of the next day because I said, I don't need to hold onto it for another 20 years 🙌🏽 breaking that threshold 🤗
Thank you, Dana!!! You have helped me a lot with my decluttering thought processes over the years. You're a genius!!! I find myself in yet another season of power decluttering!!! I want peace MORE than creativity expression! I go back and forth!
Great video, and Reid is so funny! My parents recently gave me my trombone that I played from ages 9-14. I’m 55. I automatically said thanks so much, and took it, but will be donating it. I had no idea they had it stowed away in their attic. I’m so afraid of what else is up there!
I'm about the same age and my trombone is in my attic. I think I'm about to let it go!
@Lori Taylor Smith and @Amy Crane contact local middle schools or high schools. They may be THRILLED to receive musical instruments!! AND it feels SO GOOD to give your unnecessary possessions new life and joy in the hands of children!!
@@deborahturner1853 that's my plan
Photos are my downfall! I inherited all of my mother’s photos and photo books, along with my own! I have been married for 49 years, so there are LOTS of photos! I started sorting through them before Christmas as I was making a book of their photos for each of my 3 children, all girls. While doing this, I came across an envelope of photos that I had intended to send to one of my cousins, even had the envelope already addressed! Sorry to say he passed away without ever receiving those. There were pictures in that envelope of him as a baby (he was 12 years older than me), him with his parents, his parents on their wedding day (they divorced when he was 3), and a few others I’m sure he would have liked to have. But my procrastination kept me from sending them. I am in the process, as I go through my mom’s, of sorting them into piles to send to different cousins I think might enjoy them. Some are also being thrown away. I have come to realize that pictures that meant something to someone else, or even to me at one time, doesn’t mean I need to keep them forever!
When I had to go through all of my parent's photos, I first went through and got rid of all the envelopes and negatives from the developer. That reduced it quite a bit. Then I went and got rid of all pictures that did didn't have people in them or houses/buildings that we were attached to in some way. Since my Dad loved taking pictures of plants, flowers and cool buildings that reduced the pics left by 75 percent!
Rather than throwing away negatives and unwanted photos--especially the ones of landscapes, buildings, and people--check with your local or state historical society or museum to see whether they would like them. Photos are the ONE thing I would go out of my way to deliver to the "best" place, because they are not replaceable.
@@queenofputrescence5167 -- I'm going through old photos doing the same thing right now. Tons of photo envelopes and negatives -- tossed. Only keeping the photos that mean something. I've purged a ton! Nobody will want these in the future -- I disagree that negatives are worth anything anymore. Felt great to get them out of the house.
I'm am in the middle of photo sorting. Been married for 26 years and have 7 kids. We inherited lots of photos from parents and grand parents and even great grandparents. So many that are unmarked. We kept the ones that have a historical value to give to the grand kids but the rest are being tossed. I realized that taking so many pictures is really overrated. Most of our pictures of the last three kids are digital. Thats my next project. There are so many who has time to even enjoy them.
Also consider donating photos. Some crafters love using old photos, and buying them online, even as digital downloads, can be pricey.
I love your videos-always a great way to get me motivated. I found recently that I had kept a little folder from a mattress I bought 2 years ago-not a warranty just advertising-and I found streamers from my now 24 year old sons 5th bday party that partially disintegrated when I picked it up out of my decoration tub to throw it away…after a moment of “omg I can’t believe I had kept that” it pushed me to keep going to find more forgotten stuff to get rid of.
Oh my goodness. I am packing everything away to paint my house interiors. This is so cathartic to see the things I want to pass along!!! Thank you for the blueprint of how to sort and enjoy my things.
I paused after the cow spots and went and got my wolf costume together in a bag to donate. These videos help me declutter! Thank you for taking the time to share.
And I love the embracing where you've come to instead of dwelling on the negative feelings
I'm currently going through old boxes from my garage. Yes, random things that you are referring to in this video.
Thank you for your videos. I totally get you because I am the same! 🙋♀️🇦🇺
I remember decluttering the basement once and found a full copy-paper box of baby socks (nb to 1year). My youngest was 14 at the time. Yeah. LOL
Yes it is amazing going through my storage area for the hundredth time, how many things I have stored for years and now with different eyes I now see that Yes I can declutter that, regardless how much it costs, some were expensive. But I now look at my storage space per how much each square foot cost,several hundred s of dollars, it let's me argue with the side of me that wants to sell it, but know I wont. Add that cost to the mental,emotional and physical costs that clutter is causing in my body, on top of that the family relationships and the fact I can't let good friends come over due to embarrassment,, Clutter is very costly! I have to Let it go!
😆 cow udders! I don't think anyone can top this as random!
Thank you for sharing this- it serves to make you more human- relatable etc.
My decluttering has slowed considerably due to increased health needs of family members- but
I continue to declutter at the speed of life!
Thank you!
This was so helpful. I have several boxes that I've labelled as miscellaneous and go through them when I have capacity, but the truth is that I don't need or use that stuff. Some of it doesn't make sense to donate. So trash it is and I'll make sure that stuff doesn't come into my home again.
Loved this and easily could identify!! I found several old pairs of glasses (hello I can donate) and a remote from a tv gone long ago. Random earrings with no match. A sewing kit I didn’t remember I had. Leather cleaner never used. And on and on.
I relate to you better than other declutter coaches. Love your humor! Love your blue velvet couch❤️ I, too, am a fellow Texan trying to stay warm in this icy mess we got going on.
My husband and I are going to temporary accommodations this week so our home can have major water leak damage repaired by our insurance company. Today, knowing I have people coming Thursday to pack out our stuff, I was able to let go of almost all of my old spices. I had a bag full. I also accidentally ridded myself of a bag from the thrift store I planned to use when my grand daughter took it out as garbage. I also discarded a bag of old towels from my bathroom and my old mop this week. I have such a long way to go, but it's feeling lighter inside. We will survive this mess in our home and life will go on... Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I found 12 packs of red tacks...???
I don't know why I bought them in the first place. I think the receipt was from the 80s. I kept one pack, though I can't tell you the last time I needed even one tack, much less a whole pack of them. Definitely don't need 12 packs of tacks.
I recently decluttered a gallon size bag full of bits of paper and cardboard. I think it was from when I did a couple of junk journals a few years ago. I guess I thought it was precious and couldn't be replace.
I found a box of Crayons in a box that we moved with us 13 years ago. The Crayons were fine, but rest of the contents was basically trash. Dates showed it was from 1979.
A bottle of perfume someone gave me. It smelled so bad, I put it in a bag in the garage so it wouldn't stink up my house. We moved it with us and it was in our garage at the new house for 13 years. That's when I started decluttering. It was at least 20 years old by the time I pitched it. I don't think my friend is going to ask about that bottle of perfume at this point, but even if she did, that perfume had to go. And the guilt along with it.
What a great video! I am staring at a toaster that definitely is a “why do I still have this?” It is electric and the sides flop down and the bread lays in the tray. It is old...really old. And it would NEVER occur to me that I have it let alone ever use it. Begone silly toaster. I want the white space where you were.
This video actually helped me get off the sofa to toss away art stuff that was no longer usable and had been sitting for 6 years. Thank you.
The credits! ❤️ Maybe the earrings are in the catch-all drawer with keys we keep that we know belong to some kind of lock. 🔐 😂😂😂
Your videos always encourages me to declutter things no longer needed. Continue to be inspiring in your own way. 👍🏻
I wish you could see my after, I had over 100 cookbooks and donated all but 12. Going forward, I will mark pages with a post it when I use a recipe and in 3 months re evaluate. If I haven't used it, it will be donated. Once you tackle a decluttering category you wonder why you didn't do it sooner. Thank you Dana, for sharing your valuable decluttering tools🌷
Thanks for making this video. I enjoyed it. I honestly think we should all declutter with the mindset of "Would I pack this if I'm moving?" even if we aren't moving. I have a couple places in my house that I'm dying to get at to declutter because I know there are MANY things in there that I haven't looked at in YEARS and can "hopefully" easily declutter. I will remind myself that I haven't needed it and probably won't ever need it so they can go. It's time to clear out the clutter and free up our spaces and our minds!
We’ve moved over 10 times in 18 years and with every move, guaranteed, there’s always stuff to get rid of, tons of clutter, loads of donations, and all those extra bits that’s in with the photos, and we are moving again in a couple of months and I already know there’s tons more to declutter and get rid of! It’s never ending, but that’s ok. You look lovely Dana 😊💞
Emma - I just moved for the first time since I got married over 30 years ago. 30 years ago all my possessions fit in someone’s pickup truck. OMG I still cannot believe the stuff I had. Just cleaning supplies alone, you would think I was an OCD clean freak. Your comment helped me to realize that even if you move frequently there is always stuff to declutter and I shouldn’t beat myself up about it. I realize it’s hard for me to get rid of gifts given to me even if I don’t like them. They end up stuffed into a cabinet somewhere only to be forgotten.
One thing I did which made me happy was donate dozens of vases to my favorite florist. He was glad to receive them as they were not your typical vases and I quit trying to fool myself that I was going to become an amateur florist.
@@littlemom2070 hi, well done with the vases, that’s brilliant and sounds like you made the florists day! Gifts are really hard, but I tell myself that they’ve stayed with me for a time and done their ‘job’ of being a gift, and it’s now time to move on and make someone else happy. Especially if it’s something you don’t like, the emotional hold I felt with these things in the house was almost toxic, and once I got rid of things like that a huge weight was lifted. Getting rid of gifts doesn’t mean you’re not grateful for them, or that you don’t appreciate the person. Recently I’ve said to a friend that I’m decluttering and that I hope she doesn’t mind but it’s time for xyz to go that she bought me, as there’s no room and that it doesn’t bring me as much joy any more, and, would she like it? If not it goes into charity. You’d be surprised how understanding people are, even if a bit put out at first. Glad my first comment could help 😊
One of the things I read about and have found that helps me is to take an HD or portrait mode photo of the hard copy photos I have. You can also zoom in on the photos that way.
Then shred the photos. Not all but some of them. Or I took a photo of my cheerleading uniform front and back and a high school letter from a football jacket. similar to what you were having trouble with. So at least if I see the photos, the memories come back but I don’t have the stuff laying around.
A decluttering victory report. I moved in April 2020 to Alabama. I only spend part of the year in Alabama. I am still putting things together and into the place I would look first. Lately I added a container of crochet hooks and bits to my designated yarn storage area from where it had landed in the desk in my second bedroom. I had room in that designated yarn area for this smallish container and I like crocheting and I DO crochet! This morning my older cousin in Arizona was telling me about needing a crochet hook to pull out a sweater snag. She scrapbooks and doesn't crochet. I went to my designated yarn area, fetched the container and now 3 hooks are in an envelope, addressed, to her! Here's to the first decluttering question!! Where would I look for this first??
A sort of corollary story, a neighbor dropped by for a visit yesterday. I had not caught up with them in a while. He mentioned that a pseudo son who married a while ago had just had a new baby girl. I know exactly where my finished baby blankets are stored. I immediately pulled one out for him to give to the new baby! So here's to the second deuttering question, too!! I knew I had finished baby blankets and I know where to find them.
Of course, that in turn gives me more motivation to keep crocheting baby blankets; which means I will use more yarn from that designated yarn area and so on and so on and doobie doobie doobie!;
Thanks for all you share in such an affirming, caring and encouraging way.
Children's hospitals/neo-natal units often enjoy getting new blankets!💝
@@deborahturner1853 thanks! I moved away from a Baby Pantry in Michigan and haven't hunted up anywhere here in Alabama at which to donate. I appreciate the reminder to look.
You are beautiful... even without makeup, your real!!! Thanks for sharing your move story. The things I am finding while rearranging to accommodate my crazy large family and extended family in my 120 year old home. It's a bungalow style built in 1902. What that means is there were no closets when we bought our major fixer upper 29 years ago. The container concept is real. I have an attachment to almost everything I have, and every milliliter of space is , well has, busted at the seams. I am an artist and love creating anything and everything. As I am going through things slowly, I am so overwhelmed. My home is a wreck, but my doors are always open. I used to make excuses when anyone stopped by. Now I say, "I would apologize, but this is how we live.". If there is anything out there craft and project worthy, I have it. Actually, I probably have it, and a backup for it, and a backup for my backup... and it goes on and on. I can't believe how many art and DYI things I have new in packages. My husband was in the military, so we were a military family... moved 7 times in one year... I had very little extras because we never knew when orders would come and the packing would start again. I was able to pack my entire home in 2 day. We were a family of 4. When he retired, and we bought our home I was no longer limited. It was freedom! The freedom now has me drowning. I am struggling with how do I let go. It literally scares me when I am trying to declutter because what if there is an apocalypse and I, or someone else, needs it. During the lock down of covid began, it honestly didn't affect us. I got calls, and family and friends came to me needing something... anything... and I had it. With the event real, I am now struggling even more. Dana... I have so much anxiety over my brain always going back to the "what ifs". I watch you and have gone through and watched you from the beginning of Nonny. I feel you... you are an inspiration, this unusual attachment is real. Yes it is. Thanks for sharing your story, I do pray and I pray one day my brain will not go into "what if" mode.
And, my doors are always open and someone is always stopping in, we just move piles. I have three adult children, a 35 yr old, (he just moved back out into the home behind me), a 30 yr old daughter, (we keep her 3 kids, 12, 10 (with asperger's) and a 4 yr old), a 28 yr old ( lives with us and asperger's) then we adopted our twin granddaughters, they are now 7... so when I say we have busted at the seams, that's an understatement.
@@janabuchheit3389 bless your heart for caring for so many so beautifully. On the apocolyptic thoughts I would just say the only real thing that will matter is food. Okay, not the only thing but the most urgent thing. At the end of the day Dana says "Does it fit in the container?" You know what to do. You are just afraid to do it. You really enjoyed helping out those who needed things when you had them. Imagine that someone out there right now is looking at the thrift store for the very thing you have in your stash. Perhaps you can thank the item for the joy of possibility it gave you when you bought it but now wish it well on its way out the door to bless someone else. Anywhooooo. sorry for going on, I can just hear you struggling under the weight of it all.
I understand the wonderful feeling of being able to help someone else with something they needed. It is a great gift to help others.
The word that stood out in your comment though was you are "drowning". You are trading your peace and comfort with things that someone might need later. All of those things are keeping you from relaxing bc they are causing anxiety.
You seem to be a beautiful soul. Creative minds usually are. 😁 Find places locally that you can bless with your extras. Try nursing homes, daycares, shelters. I know they enjoy crafting supplies.
@Nancy Schwartz I constantly donate, give, take to the homeless shelter... etc. I am just now going through, battling with the guilt of having so much when so many are in need. Before I became disabled (I didn't mention before.... actually my husband became disabled while in the military in 1992, and completely in 2007... myself in 2009). I worked with special needs children, volunteered at nursing homes, and our church. Then we had guardianship of or precious granddaughter, she left us and joined Heaven the night of her first birthday. She was with us for one year, I found her the morning after her first birthday. My world crashed. I became numb. I am just now able to start going through things. She went to Jesus in April of 2012. As I sort through things, I have anxiety, I always find something of hers. Counseling is something I went straight to. I only gave myself to start grieving a year ago. So now the loss is real. I go into her room and am making progress, real progress. Then I may be in the middle of making progress and... wham it becomes real and I lose it. I do know it's okay to breakdown, because I know my rope is a long rope and I still am hanging on. So in reality, I lost almost 10 years of being numb and only now see a light that's not a train headed right at me. I look at something and have to say outloud, this is not fulfilling the purpose it was intended for... thank you Dana... and am letting go of things, but not the wonderful memories of whatever it is. A blanket, shoes, toys... don't really mean anything. Thank you for the positive feedback. I really appreciate it.
@Carrie Bass I'm working on it. I posted on another comment more of what my heart, head and brain are going through. Change is difficult, but necessary for growth. I'm heading, slowly to the growth. Thanks for the encouragement!
We've been considering moving and just that possibility has given me a whole new decluttering mindset.
Yes, exactly!
Great video Dana! You are definitely not the only one with that kind of stuff in photos! I just decluttered a similar stash! I'm so happy for you to have a great place to do your magic! You've changed my life! Lots of love from PA!
This really helped today. I started watching your videos last July. Funny thing is my home got to the point where cleaning was tediously easy. I'm not complaining but I got lulled into a false sense, my fault totally, but in the past week I started realizing things weren't right and thus video was the kick in the pants to get going again. The miracle is there is no paralyzing guilt! You help us face what we need to do with bravery. Thank you for being there!
I needed a positive video this morning as I woke up very grumpy! Thank you!
Thank you for sharing so vulnerably. Really helpful.
Great video! Thanks for sharing. I feel the same as you. We just had our water heater flood our basement. My basement has been an eye sore for over 20 years. This forced me to throw things out I would have never early on. It felt good. I still struggle getting rid of things but I think I’m getting better. Thank you for being here. ❤️
Having now helped my mother in law, my husband’s older brother, and recently, my Mom, as their health began to fail and they needed (and deserved) our help, my husband and I have vowed to not leave a huge mess for our children. In this vain, we’ve gone through so much stuff. Our youngest daughter’s room was like a small city unto itself! We still have more to do, but we continue to move forward! Getting started is the hard part. I’ve found that once I’ve started on an area, it all moves right along.
I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought so much of this stuff, but it makes me happy to know that our Hospice Thrift Store is very pleased at the van loads of things I’ve donated.
When moving I found a beautiful handmade dress I’d forgotten to dress my daughter in. It was size 6 months, and she was 5 years old. It honestly broke my heart and I had some tears. Then I decided to keep it, in case she has a daughter. I donated it a month ago after she explained she’s probably not going to remember it and neither will I. She’s 14 and so awesome.
Thank you for all that you do for sooo many people, Dana.
I like finding things that can go, and laugh a lot -- the other day I found the extra car keys from at least 4 minivans ago 😂
I love your Logic when you’re decluttering. You always give me a good laugh and I’m not laughing at you, but me. I can so relate to the silly things we keep and completely forget them. I’ve decluttered a lot and every once in awhile I find one of those boxes. It’s amazing how our minds work. Good thing I have a great sense of humor and I’m not beating myself over this stuff. Thanks for the chuckle. Can’t wait to see your new home.
That 🛋 couch and YOUR EYES!! Fabulous!! Thanks again for sharing❤️😁📚🥰
I'm doing photos right now, the beginning of my attic project. Tons of non photo stuff you're not the only one. But 7 kids and 30 years of photos makes me wish I had spent less time taking pics of memories and spent more time being in the moment.
Yes, just live the moment. 😊
This was very comforting to see. I have listened to Decluttering at the Speed of Life three times. Now I listen whenever I am decluttering for more than 5 minutes. You have truly changed me and I will be forever grateful!
Dana, I love your videos. They are so informative, but you make me laugh, too!
Thanks for helping me feel better about all of the things I knew I had ... somewhere... but couldn't find so the opportunity passed me by (a long time ago 💔). As I continue to declutter I KNOW I'll start to berate myself for not getting rid of this or that years ago. However, I'll remember your message and give myself some grace and work through my annoyance and regrets! You're the best Dana! 💕
Lovely sofa behind you Dana! I do like the 'benchmark' of "Is this item worth packing and carrying to another house?" G Ire
I’m so glad you are reflecting on your move while still fresh. You have a lot to offer us from your perspective! I’m sure this type of video takes a lot more editing so Reid is really earning his 💰 now! 😁🎉 Please do share more videos like this. AND…you look beautiful, radiant, creamy skin, all good things and fun faces!
Your humor and facial expressions make it so wonderfully fantastic to watch your youtube station. Thank you so much for help me start to realize I can have a clutter "less" environment. Oh yes by the way, my husband thanks you too.
Great video, I started reading your new book, Wow, it is so ooo good, thank you for sharing your wisdom. Congrats on your new office space, I'm trying to make an office space for me, am so excited go see it coming real after that space being buried after so many years, over 20,,yes, gave myself grace, after 2 kids, several health problems, your advice has been life changing! May you continue to be Blessed!
My husband had stuff that he put up in the attic, when we moved here-IN 1987! Never even inquired about what it was. My daughter threw out a lot (because she would say “Da-ad, you don’t need to keep THIS do you?” That would not work for me. Now that our youngest is moving out, I’d like to be prepared if we do finally downsize into a smaller place. Following The Minimal Mom’s suggestion, I had put a bunch of kitchen stuff in “quarantine” and after 6 months (or more) I got rid of five good sized boxes. I never even missed any of it and now I can actually find cooking pans AND their matching lids.
Dana, I love listening to you while I clean and tidy. I wasn’t even mad when the auto play algorithm decided to play this video while my hands were wet with scrubbing dishes even though I already listened to it and it’s not even two weeks old. Needless to say, I was SO happy when I saw that your podcasts aren’t identical to your videos.
I nearly choked on my water over the Shrinky dinks!! Not gonna lie, I think I would've had to play with them just because I always wanted some as a kid. Dana you are a Godsend, I am so grateful to have found you and especially to now have the ears to hear. Finally, finally I am making real progress on my "office" read: room o' chaos. I cannot thank you enough.
This video was fun. Little clips of reality. The best.
It’s not the things I’ve kept. It’s the things that somehow I don’t have! Like the blueprints to the house we decided not to build 20 years ago. What did I do with them? And my running vest bladder. Where is it? Ughhhh. My container will be a 400 sf RV with strict weight limits as well as size. I’m getting stronger at this decluttering and letting go of crap thanks to your methods and help! Thanks Dana💞
Wait. What? You aren't wearing makeup?!
Oh my gosh! Why waste your money on it?!
Thank you for all your videos. My mind has completely shifted since I started watching your videos.
Well done!
I love the idea of decluttering as if you are moving. I think, without realizing it, that’s what I’ve been doing for a while now. My husband doesn’t share this mindset unfortunately so the house (especially the basement storage area) is filled with delayed decisions. Things that we currently have room for so he sees no need to get rid of them even though he does use them at all. Decision fatigue is something we can avoid. Make decisions over time instead of having to deal with many things at once (as in moving/downsizing).
This might be one of my favorite videos! Your thought process with each different item is really helpful!
I truly believe the Lord introduced me to your videos and your book Organizing for the Rest of Us!! Your words “Less”. and “Better”. are so incredibly helpful to keep me from being overwhelmed and from feeling like a failure with my house. Every summer I’ve said I’m going to organize -so many years that it’s kind of a joke with friends and family. Well this summer I am decluttering and it’s already BETTER!!! And you make me laugh💗😀Thank you from the bottom of my heart💗🙏
FABULOUS video. I have been following you for a couple of months and love how you keep it REAL. And you are a beautiful person- with or without makeup!
Just love your videos! You were the first person I started watching on RUclips that got me motivated. You always make me laugh when the situation could be depressing for me. I have lots of sentimental stuff from family, so you always help me feel better about letting go. I especially liked this video with the little clips of examples. We bought our first house back in 1997 and when we moved in 2003, I found boxes in the attic that had not been opened since the previous move!! 20+ years in the attic. Thats crazy! Love you Dana!
I enjoy when you talk about the stuff that you get rid of and give your rationale for each thing.