Thinking of the huge work it was to take care of the stuff elderly relatives had in their homes, and how it tends to overflow my little home, meant to be the bas for simple living. Struggling with Swedish early dödsstädning (cleaning, tidying, discarding, organizing before one's own death) ahead, so that the next generation doesn't feel as overwhelmed as I am. We have some item's called farfar's or mormor's thing (those were grandparents'), but they really are from grand, grand, grand, grandparents of my our grandchildren. I wish some influencers would show these grandchildren that they could live minimal life-style with old stuff, not just all white and newly bought from Ik-a. Like one cupboard is one cupboard, even if old?
@@DNA350ppm I think some young people appreciate old and antique stuff but the aesthetic tastes have changed so much that most people just want more modern-looking styles in their homes. We have a bit of a mix of things and styles in our home but still try to keep it looking fairly simple with wooden + natural colours :)
Decluttering is now a state of mind for me. I'm always asking myself, "Do you reallllllly use this or that?" If the answer is NO- it's gone!! And my spending habits are 100% different than before. It truly is a state of mind!!
Procrastination is the greatest enemy of mental clarity. I try to remember how satisfied I feel after completing a task when I find myself confronted with what I think is an overwhelming task. It's amazing how less overwhelming a task becomes once you begin it. And, as grandma always said:" A place for everything and everything in its place." Also, "Return items from where you got them." Wisdom for the ages.
I feel like an often overlooked aspect of reducing clutter is also inside your refrigerator. A useful tip is to take a photo or 2 of what you have before you go shopping and base some of your weekly meals around what you already have rather than having to buy new groceries. Thanks Seve for another great video ✌🏻
Hi Seve, A long time ago, I worked in a bar/nightclub. It was my job to make sure the premises was clean, tidy, and guest accommodating. (i.e. Grunt Work) In the beginning, I would always make a scene if I had to cleanup after pig customers. (Why are these people such pigs and why do I need to do this?) My Mentor/Boss quietly spoke to me: Now Jeremy, all that time you spent bitching about doing a job, it could have been done already, without all that fuss !! I still use that advice to this day. I live in an apartment building with pig tenants. After dinner each night, I do a trash run to the basement, on the way, I hit the lobby, and collect all the trash from the mailroom, the garbage, and all the garbage people throw on the ground in front of our building. Then I take it all to the basement waste systems. If I am somewhere in the building and there is a mess, I just clean it, instead of fussing with management and maintenance. I have extra bags at home, cleaning supplies, etc. In the neighborhood, on my walks to and from the shops, if there is trash on the ground, I usually pick them up and dispose of them in the garbage cans provided on each block by the city. It's not so much an OCD issue, but a mindful, just something I do. This morning the closet is fully decluttered, and the winter changeover is DONE !!! YAY !!! I just realize that people are pigs, they don't think, and you cannot rely on anyone else to do the job, that you can do better than they can, so I just Do It, quietly and humbly !!
Thanks for sharing this! It really sounds like you've taken your mentor's advice to heart and turned it into a positive habit 😇 The way you take care of your building and neighborhood is really admirable. It's not always easy to deal with messes left by others
I just posted a video on closet decluttering and a selling deadline was a big point I made. If you don’t set one the items will just sit there… FOREVER. I set a 2 week deadline and after that they get donated. It’s a great strategy!
I'm at the point where I decluttered many times in the last 15 years from moving that almost everything I own now is curated to what I need and use. Really it was trying to fit everything in a car or ute that was the primary motivator. The last declutter was when I moved to another country with 2 suitcases. I wouldn't be where I am (in a better place) if I tied myself down with "things". This speech from the movie "Up in the Air" was the main driving force behind my decluttering: "How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you're carrying a backpack. I want you to feel the straps on your shoulders. Feel 'em? Now I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life. You start with the little things. The things on shelves and in drawers, the knick-knacks, the collectibles. Feel the weight as that adds up. Then you start adding larger stuff, clothes, table-top appliances, lamps, linens, your TV. The backpack should be getting pretty heavy now. And you go bigger. Your couch, bed, your kitchen table. Stuff it all in there. Your car, get it in there. Your home, whether it's a studio apartment or a two bedroom house. I want you to stuff it all into that backpack. Now try to walk. It's kind of hard, isn't it? This is what we do to ourselves on a daily basis. We weigh ourselves down until we can't even move. And make no mistake, moving is living."
Just discovered your channel over the past couple days. Very impressed with the information, and you have a delightful accent. Started minimalism about three years ago and currently at about a four according to your other video; wanting to get to level five soon. Looking forward to learning more from your channel. Thank you for your efforts in making these videos!
I so agree aboutt storing things in somewhat visible, obvious places (jars, open containers, high use of labels) rather than squirrreling things completely out of sight and incognito. Even with my minimalism, I've "lost" things because I got too creative with hidden storage, or found things I don't recall the purpose of.
Yeah same, I like to remove visual clutter but if I'd to try to stuff everything in closets, cupboards, and cabinets, I'll fill my whole house with storage solutions haha 😄
Unfortunately our local dog shelter is always in desperate need of newspapers because people don't buy them anymore. I also remember this guy who used to sell them by my subway stop. He had a limp and appeared disabled. Year by year I saw him selling less and less papers. I bought them long past when I needed them just to try to keep him afloat. Eventually, he just disappeared. I still wonder what happened to him. So sad when the way you make a living just vanishes.
"Selling deadline" - genius! One thing I do with subscriptions or apps.... after purchasing, I go online and immediately cancel it. It won't cancel until the 3, 6 or 12 months is up, but that way it won't automatically renew!! Rewardingly junk mail, I was receiving mail for my deceased mom of four years, and my 22 year old daughter who lives on her own. I researched how to eliminate junk mail and found websites to register and this mail has stopped!! Wooooot!!!
So you can stop junk mail online? That sounds like a fantastic system! 😯😎 I actually do the cancelling thing too! I might include this one day in some video as a tip to save money, thanks 😇
I have a large, very large book collection. Very few books are fiction, possibly less thas 10. I have started to organize my library by category and author as I started to find that I had purchased some of the same books twice . I must of really liked it. Lol
My father-in-law left us an eminent, big book-collection, I was so impressed, it included all kinds of classics in four languages (Swedish, French, English and German), and so much knowledge and many first editions, almost all beautiful bands, and what not. The special book antiquarian came and looked, took care of very few, and left with the dry remark: Böcker är mest till besvär. (It almost rhymes. Easy to remember.) Books are mostly a nuisance. Kirjat ovat enimmäkseen vaivaksi. And there was I, almost idolizing books and reading!!! Big life-lesson! 😀
For parents, I read an article about how stuffed animals are hard to get rid of because of their faces. I have my kid every few months make piles of the stuffed animals they love and ones they don't care about. I don't really look at that second pile. I just reach my hands right in and toss them without those faces haunting me lol.
I like how your child doesn't care about them anymore but you do haha, that's amazing ❤️😄 But yeah as emotional beings, I think the face thing is so true! But giving the toys a new home by donating them is also a good deed 😊
For the second habit I just want to add one advice - don't overdo it and allow some imperfections (I guess habit 10 sort of touches on it). Sometimes I get obsessed with tidying up and just find more and more (unimportant!) things to do, while forgetting other responsibilities. Or simply get stressed when I can't take care of it immediately.
KEYS! Oh good lord. I’d like to have the time back that I have spent looking for keys before I started always putting my keys in the same place-To say nothing about the time I had to pay a locksmith to come out and remake half a dozen keys that were in my jacket pocket with a handkerchief on top of them. Next I’m going hard core minimalist on my refrigerator.
I keep my keys in my pocket, and I never lose track of them. But then, I don't wear 4 different pants in a week. It's the same pair of pants all week 😅
I would also add that you should lower your standards and be more gentle with yourself. Sometimes we set them high and then feel overwhelmed that we or our love ones cannot reach those standards of tidiness or cleanliness. It is your life and you can live however you want. A little mess never killed anyone. We all have families and work, our spaces are full of life. Sometimes we just can't look after everything and things get messy. That's okay. I think it is time to reevaluate your organization system and take just small steps.
What's one thing you do to reduce clutter in your home? 🏡
Thinking of the huge work it was to take care of the stuff elderly relatives had in their homes, and how it tends to overflow my little home, meant to be the bas for simple living. Struggling with Swedish early dödsstädning (cleaning, tidying, discarding, organizing before one's own death) ahead, so that the next generation doesn't feel as overwhelmed as I am. We have some item's called farfar's or mormor's thing (those were grandparents'), but they really are from grand, grand, grand, grandparents of my our grandchildren.
I wish some influencers would show these grandchildren that they could live minimal life-style with old stuff, not just all white and newly bought from Ik-a. Like one cupboard is one cupboard, even if old?
@@DNA350ppm I think some young people appreciate old and antique stuff but the aesthetic tastes have changed so much that most people just want more modern-looking styles in their homes. We have a bit of a mix of things and styles in our home but still try to keep it looking fairly simple with wooden + natural colours :)
Decluttering is now a state of mind for me. I'm always asking myself, "Do you reallllllly use this or that?" If the answer is NO- it's gone!! And my spending habits are 100% different than before. It truly is a state of mind!!
Procrastination is the greatest enemy of mental clarity. I try to remember how satisfied I feel after completing a task when I find myself confronted with what I think is an overwhelming task. It's amazing how less overwhelming a task becomes once you begin it. And, as grandma always said:" A place for everything and everything in its place." Also, "Return items from where you got them." Wisdom for the ages.
That's so true! Getting started feels always the hardest but once you are 5-10 minutes in, it's not that bad anymore 😄 I like your grandma's wisdom 😉
@@SunnyKindJourney So do I!
That is so true, Mark!
I feel like an often overlooked aspect of reducing clutter is also inside your refrigerator. A useful tip is to take a photo or 2 of what you have before you go shopping and base some of your weekly meals around what you already have rather than having to buy new groceries. Thanks Seve for another great video ✌🏻
Great idea 💡 thanks!!
That's true, great tip! 🍉🍉
Hi Seve, A long time ago, I worked in a bar/nightclub. It was my job to make sure the premises was clean, tidy, and guest accommodating. (i.e. Grunt Work)
In the beginning, I would always make a scene if I had to cleanup after pig customers. (Why are these people such pigs and why do I need to do this?)
My Mentor/Boss quietly spoke to me: Now Jeremy, all that time you spent bitching about doing a job, it could have been done already, without all that fuss !!
I still use that advice to this day. I live in an apartment building with pig tenants. After dinner each night, I do a trash run to the basement, on the way, I hit the lobby, and collect all the trash from the mailroom, the garbage, and all the garbage people throw on the ground in front of our building. Then I take it all to the basement waste systems.
If I am somewhere in the building and there is a mess, I just clean it, instead of fussing with management and maintenance. I have extra bags at home, cleaning supplies, etc.
In the neighborhood, on my walks to and from the shops, if there is trash on the ground, I usually pick them up and dispose of them in the garbage cans provided on each block by the city.
It's not so much an OCD issue, but a mindful, just something I do. This morning the closet is fully decluttered, and the winter changeover is DONE !!! YAY !!!
I just realize that people are pigs, they don't think, and you cannot rely on anyone else to do the job, that you can do better than they can, so I just Do It, quietly and humbly !!
Thanks for sharing this! It really sounds like you've taken your mentor's advice to heart and turned it into a positive habit 😇 The way you take care of your building and neighborhood is really admirable. It's not always easy to deal with messes left by others
I decluttered my wardrobe yesterday and donated two bags today. Feels liberating. And my wardrobe looks so neat when I open it )).
Wonderful! 😇
I got rid of so much, decluttering what's around me, helped declutter my mind. Stay Uncommon!
That's excellent! 🌿😊
You're so right about doing a task immediately rather than letting it hassle you on your mental to-do list! I really like your videos, thanks.
Thanks for watching! :)
I just posted a video on closet decluttering and a selling deadline was a big point I made. If you don’t set one the items will just sit there… FOREVER. I set a 2 week deadline and after that they get donated. It’s a great strategy!
That's great! 2 weeks sounds like a good deadline 😇
Seve never fails to provide practical and realistic tips. ❤ Thank you again! 🎉
Glad you like them! 🌿🌿
I'm at the point where I decluttered many times in the last 15 years from moving that almost everything I own now is curated to what I need and use. Really it was trying to fit everything in a car or ute that was the primary motivator. The last declutter was when I moved to another country with 2 suitcases. I wouldn't be where I am (in a better place) if I tied myself down with "things".
This speech from the movie "Up in the Air" was the main driving force behind my decluttering: "How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you're carrying a backpack. I want you to feel the straps on your shoulders. Feel 'em? Now I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life. You start with the little things. The things on shelves and in drawers, the knick-knacks, the collectibles. Feel the weight as that adds up. Then you start adding larger stuff, clothes, table-top appliances, lamps, linens, your TV. The backpack should be getting pretty heavy now. And you go bigger. Your couch, bed, your kitchen table. Stuff it all in there. Your car, get it in there. Your home, whether it's a studio apartment or a two bedroom house. I want you to stuff it all into that backpack. Now try to walk. It's kind of hard, isn't it? This is what we do to ourselves on a daily basis. We weigh ourselves down until we can't even move. And make no mistake, moving is living."
That speech is so powerful! 🌿
I really like your videos and tips you share, thank you for sharing with us!
Thank you for watching 😊
Just discovered your channel over the past couple days. Very impressed with the information, and you have a delightful accent. Started minimalism about three years ago and currently at about a four according to your other video; wanting to get to level five soon. Looking forward to learning more from your channel. Thank you for your efforts in making these videos!
Thank you and I'm glad you found me 😊
I so agree aboutt storing things in somewhat visible, obvious places (jars, open containers, high use of labels) rather than squirrreling things completely out of sight and incognito. Even with my minimalism, I've "lost" things because I got too creative with hidden storage, or found things I don't recall the purpose of.
Yeah same, I like to remove visual clutter but if I'd to try to stuff everything in closets, cupboards, and cabinets, I'll fill my whole house with storage solutions haha 😄
Unfortunately our local dog shelter is always in desperate need of newspapers because people don't buy them anymore. I also remember this guy who used to sell them by my subway stop. He had a limp and appeared disabled. Year by year I saw him selling less and less papers. I bought them long past when I needed them just to try to keep him afloat. Eventually, he just disappeared. I still wonder what happened to him. So sad when the way you make a living just vanishes.
"Selling deadline" - genius! One thing I do with subscriptions or apps.... after purchasing, I go online and immediately cancel it. It won't cancel until the 3, 6 or 12 months is up, but that way it won't automatically renew!! Rewardingly junk mail, I was receiving mail for my deceased mom of four years, and my 22 year old daughter who lives on her own. I researched how to eliminate junk mail and found websites to register and this mail has stopped!! Wooooot!!!
So you can stop junk mail online? That sounds like a fantastic system! 😯😎 I actually do the cancelling thing too! I might include this one day in some video as a tip to save money, thanks 😇
I have a large, very large book collection. Very few books are fiction, possibly less thas 10. I have started to organize my library by category and author as I started to find that I had purchased some of the same books twice . I must of really liked it. Lol
Yeah getting those organized must be a big project but probably will be so rewarding! 😊📚 Great to hear that you have started already!
My father-in-law left us an eminent, big book-collection, I was so impressed, it included all kinds of classics in four languages (Swedish, French, English and German), and so much knowledge and many first editions, almost all beautiful bands, and what not. The special book antiquarian came and looked, took care of very few, and left with the dry remark: Böcker är mest till besvär. (It almost rhymes. Easy to remember.) Books are mostly a nuisance. Kirjat ovat enimmäkseen vaivaksi.
And there was I, almost idolizing books and reading!!! Big life-lesson! 😀
For parents, I read an article about how stuffed animals are hard to get rid of because of their faces. I have my kid every few months make piles of the stuffed animals they love and ones they don't care about. I don't really look at that second pile. I just reach my hands right in and toss them without those faces haunting me lol.
I like how your child doesn't care about them anymore but you do haha, that's amazing ❤️😄 But yeah as emotional beings, I think the face thing is so true! But giving the toys a new home by donating them is also a good deed 😊
So much learning
For the second habit I just want to add one advice - don't overdo it and allow some imperfections (I guess habit 10 sort of touches on it).
Sometimes I get obsessed with tidying up and just find more and more (unimportant!) things to do, while forgetting other responsibilities. Or simply get stressed when I can't take care of it immediately.
Yes, it's so important so keep things balanced on this journey of simplifying life! Thank you 🌻
The same premise can well be applied to computer file clutter.
Certainly! 💻
KEYS! Oh good lord. I’d like to have the time back that I have spent looking for keys before I started always putting my keys in the same place-To say nothing about the time I had to pay a locksmith to come out and remake half a dozen keys that were in my jacket pocket with a handkerchief on top of them.
Next I’m going hard core minimalist on my refrigerator.
Oh noo 🫢 I'm afraid to lose my keys too and started keeping many of them separate just in case I lose one or two, it doesn't mean I lose all of them
I keep my keys in my pocket, and I never lose track of them.
But then, I don't wear 4 different pants in a week. It's the same pair of pants all week 😅
A true minimalist 😉
I would also add that you should lower your standards and be more gentle with yourself. Sometimes we set them high and then feel overwhelmed that we or our love ones cannot reach those standards of tidiness or cleanliness. It is your life and you can live however you want. A little mess never killed anyone. We all have families and work, our spaces are full of life. Sometimes we just can't look after everything and things get messy. That's okay. I think it is time to reevaluate your organization system and take just small steps.
Very well said! 🌿🌿
I always give away anything I don’t want, either to family, friends or donation.
That's so great habit to have! 🌿
The best yard sales are the ones you have!!
🙌🙌
Just donate those stuff you don't need , it's much simpler than sell it online .Unless you 're really in need of money.
Yeah, it's much wiser especially for low-cost items 😊
We live in the country so we put unwanted stuff “to the road.” Disappears in no time.
🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍
❤️❤️❤️❤️