I am currently decluttering sentimental items and your tips have been very helpful, thank you! I have also really paid attention to how the item makes me feel and anything that brings up any kind of negative emotion is instantly being removed. I only want to find joy in my box of memory items.
Well done, enjoyable, and inspiring. : ) I haven’t been too sentimental with many items except for books & journal supplies. However, a couple years ago I started letting go of more books every few months and it felt great. Now I have maybe 10 and I go thru them often. My journals and supplies now fit into a handled tool bag type thing. Its much more manageable and useable. Each year I get more clear on what I want to own and store in my house. I find it to be an enjoyable process now. Feels light and free. I don’t have any near plans to live in an RV, however, I find myself thinking what would I own if I lived in one. It is a strange fantasy. I like my minimalist journey.
That sounds wonderful--you go! I too fantasize about minimalist scenarios, i.e. living in an van or RV or tiny home or wondering how long it would take me to move. I don't plan to do any of those things either, but I find them to be useful mental exercises. It definitely keeps me motivated!
I´ve discovered your channel just yesterday and been binge watching most of your videos since than. I really love how clear you present your content, your videos are so well structured.
Would love to hear how you deal with photos once theyre digital - I have SO MUCH digital clutter of photos that's just accumulating into an ever more intimidating virtual pile. Thanks again for our great content!
hope you don't mind my butting in :-) I have lots of digital photos, as I am going through the processes described in this video. I settled on a 'naming convention' and so the photos are organized that way. I also have tons of family photos, 130+ years' worth. My naming convention includes as much of the following info as is known: YYYY MM DD . With digital photos you must have backup whether on external hard drive, archival CD, etc.
Martha, I use a very similar naming convention for many of my normal files on my computer! I adopted it after working at a company that was religious about backing up files, and it has stuck with me. For my photos, I'm actually a little less stringent because I don't always have the month and date that they were taken. Right now, I have a Photos folder and I keep subfolders for different subcategories within it, e.g. "College," "Family," "Wedding," etc. I haven't given the individual photos proper names (right now they're just "upload #####"), but I might in the future, e.g. "YYYY." Once I've scanned all of the physical piles I have, I plan to upload those to Google Photos or some other cloud backup and delete them from my local storage. I also haven't turned my attention to digital clutter fully yet, but I plan to as soon as I'm done with my house. I've recently tasked myself with deleting 50 photos from my phone each day (I have a ton of photos on my phone), and I do the same thing with my inbox occasionally. A friend of mine has incorporated digital items into her "30 day minimalism game" decluttering and seems to be pleased with it. Re: external hard drives and CDs: If that's useful for you, go for it, but I find that, once I back something up on a physical device, it tends to be shoved in a drawer and never used again. I have one external and one thumb drive that I need to go through, and I want eliminate all external storage. I'm hoping to use something like the Google Drive syncing service so all of my files live locally and can be managed at any time, but they're also backed up in case my computer ever kicks it. That way I can continue to access all of my files in one place without breaking out other hardware, which I'm hoping will make it easier to continually pare down my digital files.
i did cd backups of everything i had at the time in college, when external hard drives were very expensive (instead of just regular expensive nowadays) and i can't believe i spent that time and energy and money on all that. i do have an external hard drive i plan on keeping, but more and more lately, everything is backed up to google drive and i use that hard drive less and less. i don't think i'll ever get rid of it, but it definitely sits in a drawer most days of the year.
I opened my letter box (yes, I'm older than 12! ☺). Discarding most item was incredibly difficult: former best friends, exes, dear old people... I cried for days, but I have saved only the ones that bring me joy, pride, inspiration.
Aww! I'm not sure what to say. "I'm sorry" or "good for you" or both. Letters can be particularly hard, and there's no need to get rid of those that you truly love and feel a connection with, so I'm glad you saved some of them. I've held onto a few from when my husband and I first started dating, and I plan to keep those forever.
Enjoyed this segment very much, as I have always had a tough time deciding what to do with sentimental items. Your presentation and rational for dealing with this type of item was very helpful. Thanks for sharing, Florida, USA.
I really liked the duplicates idea! I collect stuff from my travels pretty mindlessly. It’s gotten better, but as a teen I used to collect boarding passes, notepads from hotels, entry tickets to museums, even cutlery from the plane 🤦♀️ I really need to get into that box and weed out all the weird stuff. As always, very inspiring!
great tips!! I really liked the one about duplicates! I already keep most of my items in a box that I store away in the attic. the majority of what I have however are things given to me by my best friend or bought when we were together. this is important to me because they live in a different country and we only see each other in person once a year and it's fun to me to keep the things we share so I can sort of document our long distance friendship.
Keep what makes you happy! My two closest friends are currently living in different parts of the country, so I understand that maintaining that in different ways can be important. Our momentos, however, are usually expensive phone bills and long text threads.
This came at an appropriate time. In my June 30 day challenge I've (which I find really fun...it's like a big scavenger hunt. As I'm falling asleep I'll think of an item lurking somewhere and think "Oh, first thing for day 5 or day 7 or whatever the next day is. I'm not keeping an exact record for each day, but I'm pretty sure I'm ahead of the game) I rounded up all the sentimental items I have. I organized them by category, tossed some, but there are still quite a few. I like your idea of keeping one item that's representational of a memory and getting rid of the rest. I think after the 30-day challenge, I'll go back through the sentimental stuff and cull the duplicates. As you suggested, setting aside a dedicated space for those kinds of items is a great idea. I had a set of pretty boxes that I'd emptied out but still really love. They'd been in and out of the give away pile several times. But I decided to use them for the sentimental items, rather than keep those trinkets in cardboard boxes stashed in my closet. I now can enjoy the boxes while still being able to pull out random pieces of ephermera and annoy my son by asking him if he remembers where it came from.
As an adjunct to the 30-day challenge of physical objects, I also made a dent in the files on my computer. I work from home doing transcription and have saved every document from almost every project going back several years. Why? I have no idea. I'm sure the PhD students I've worked with have long ago published their papers and graduated. So, starting on June 1, I began deleting documents. I'm sure my computer thanks me. :)
I figured you might like it after you mentioned your collection of wine corks last week, and I'm really glad you're enjoying the TDMG (can we call the 30 day minimalism game that? can I start that now?)! I do something really similar and run ahead in my mind to decide what to get rid of next. At this point, I can proudly say that I have an improved understanding of all the things I have because I can run through each space in my mind and I know what's there. You go for tackling digital clutter! That's next on my list after the game this month.
Could you please talk about trying to be more minimalist when surrounded by immediate family and friends and community who have strong hoarder tendencies and aren't interested in changing. This video was great. Motivated to go through my photos. 😀
You're so right about fragrances being sneaky secret time machines :) Do you find that songs can transport you to a different time in your life as well? What's the fragrance you mention if you don't mind sharing? Can't wait to collect enough strength to deal with all my photos. Thanks for sharing your method - I'll have to try it.
Oh, absolutely--songs can definitely take me back! The fragrance is Prada Candy. Not particularly unique, but I wore it constantly about five years ago, so it's definitely the strongest association I have to that time. Best of luck with your photos! Really, it's not that bad. Just set aside five minutes some day to get it started!
Thanks. I fully intend to. And yes, I love five minute goals - that's exactly how I'm going to approach it. I recently lost my mum and when I opened my first random album, there she was smiling at me, and I just knew that I wasn't ready yet. In good time. Have a great week! Natalya
I have a video all about shopping tips: ruclips.net/video/hX6S3CJt6-M/видео.html If you shop a lot and/or are very impulsive, I recommend a shopping fast. Don't give yourself a budget that will make you miserable, don't make up little strategies for limiting shopping--stop shopping all together for a few months. I used to shop basically as a pastime, and I had to break the mindset that shopping was a recreational activity. A shopping fast can be really useful for retraining your brain to understand that shopping is rarely something one "needs" to do (with the exception of food, medications, and certain other necessities, all of which can also fall victim to "impulsive" behaviors as well). As overly impulsive behavior is, I would imagine, something that leaches into other parts of your life besides shopping, you might want to look up strategies for managing impulsive behavior online. Lots of people have probably dedicated their lives to studying this, and they are better suited for giving advice on this topic. ;)
I'm on a shopping fast now, AND IT'S SO HARD, but worth it. I tried budgeting, but that wasn't working. I still have my budget, so that I can track what I've spent, but I've been avoiding stores and online shops altogether unless there is something I need (cat food, toiletries, and such). It's only been a month, and I've slipped up a few times, but I'm determined to change my relationship with shopping and not be so impulsive. I've gotten rid of so much stuff over the years that I know I never should have bought in the first place.
Thinking about places that sentimentals have gathered, they're mostly under my bed or in the basement, two of the places in my house that get visited so rarely you wish nothing in them actually existed so you didn't have to think about them. It's quite a revelation to me that I actually feel this way about these spaces- I used to think under my bed was so convenient, but a quite thick rug and a folding side table live beside my bed. I love these two items and their position in the room. They block access to at least half if not more of the boxes, which I NEVER feel like accessing anyway, but even when I consider looking through them I'm deterred by the simple fact that they're on the floor and I'd have to move things to get to them- even just the bedskirt is a deterrent. The reality is, though, 90% of the things down there aren't making me happy anymore, and the things that would aren't because they're in an inconvenient location. The basement is a completely different beast, but my room deserves better than this. Thank you for the inspiration.
I am a firm believer that beds are not storage furniture, but I overlooked this rule until very recently in my guest bedroom, where I kept a box of things under the bed that I planned to deal with later. The other day, I removed the box from under the bed, dumped all of the items into a night stand, and threw away the box. Now the space is clear and I'm forced to deal with the items because they aren't conveniently tucked away anymore. --- --- I'd actually planned to talk about "access to sentimental items" in this video, but I decided against it to keep it shorter. You're totally right: many of us store away sentimental items and never look at them, which defeats the purpose, in my opinion. I'm trying to do away with the idea of "storing" any of my items. They either are things that I use on a regular basis and they have a place to "live" (not "be stored"), or I get rid of them.
There's not just the inconvenience of getting on the floor to access your items in under-bed storage, there's also the issue of literally forgetting about them because they're so out-of-the-way. My mom recently decided to start working on her own bedroom. The first item we pulled from under the bed was a shopping bag that had a top I'd been searching for for YEARS and a pair of shorts she didn't even know she had, that actually fit her, and that she wished she had known about last summer. It's crazy! These aren't even items that don't already have a home by time they get into the house, they're CLOTHES! I don't want to forget what I have. I want to know, and I want to know that it all makes me happy and serves a purpose. If it doesn't do either, it's clutter, and if it doesn't do both, there might be something better out there I can replace it with. New rule: The only things hiding under beds should be children and pets, and I have neither of those atm.
last summer when i moved out of my parents house for the first full time (not just for college), i did that with all my photos...but only half way. they're all in boxes and i went through them all. this summer is the time to double check them all and finally put them into a photo album. then i'll have the pictures i want and not a cluttered mess. i also keep my playbills from shows i like and i figured out a way to keep them organzied as well - so again, in an album and not a messy pile. going through the last bits of sentimental things will be the most difficult. some things i like, but am not in love with, and only keep because i was given them. i think more things can go this summer. i'd like to keep a memo box type of thing around to collect special items all year and then every summer go through and keep only the best. i do have some things left at my parents house, and i don't even know when i'll be able to get to all of those. and i do have some things that will never leave my life because they are that special. while watching this video, i did actually pause and get rid of something that i got in college, and while it's nice and pretty, i've not used it in ages - it's purely decorative. and while that's not a bad things, and i have had it for several years now, it's not something i think i'm going to miss like other items i own.
Oh good! I'm glad the video seems to have helped. Photos and sentimental items in general are tough, but time definitely helps to shape our perspective and show us what is important, so this second pass may be very different for you. Best of luck!
I’ve attempted KonMari five times and gotten further each time, but photos is always last for me. I just can’t quite do them! Too much baggage I think. Loved everything you taught here, especially about keeping things for bad reasons. My mom hand-wrote journals for me when I was tiny, but I really don’t care what I was doing at eighteen months. I just can’t quite declutter them though. The struggle. Also, if you ever write a book, ima buy it!
Ha! A friend of mine and I actually joked about writing a book together the other day. I'm not sure when I would have the time, but it's an interesting thought. Re: baby journals: I totally understand. My mom saved a bunch of my old toys from when I was a child, and it wasn't easy to let some of them go (in fact, my cat decided to claim one of them and she cuddles with it all the time, so that one survived the purge). If you actually want the journals, keep them, but another way to look at it could be that your mom kind of wrote them for herself / their primary value is to her. Sure, they were for you in a way, and I'm sure she included messages for you and thought about you reading them down the road, but they're primarily sentimental to her because it's a recording of her memories. You probably already know all of that though. If you write journals about your kids, maybe let them read them but keep them for yourself. :P
I am 46 and my mother died when I was 22. I had no father or siblings so I kept all of her things and I have been feeling bad all those years because it has become a real burden. My basement is full of things I just cannot throw away. It seems I will never be free of her. Your video helps me think from a different point of view. Still need to think about all this but thank you !
Some sentimental items are definitely easier to rationalize away than others, and your situation is certainly a tough one. I don't want to overstep any bounds, but I feel it's likely that your mother would not have wanted you to be burdened by her stuff. Take all the time you need, and definitely keep what you want, but hopefully, with time, you won't hang on to things that are holding you back.
Do you travel often? If so, how do you deal with items collected while traveling? Specifically, I want to document my travels somehow (haven't figured out how) because traveling is a hobby I enjoy, so I will collect items while traveling with the intention to later go through, take notes, etc, but then never follow thru either because it seems overwhelming or life's distractions. Any thoughts?
I don't travel as often as I would like, but I suppose I travel more than some. Before now, I've limited souvenirs to Christmas ornaments, magnets, and stickers, and that worked out for a while. Now, however, I'm further along in my decluttering journey, and the idea of accumulating more stuff is pretty repellant. If I come across something in my travels that I've been looking for anyway and I think it's perfect, I'll buy it, but I plan to avoid buying things just because they came from somewhere else. I do like taking pictures, which counts as a souvenir to me.
Have you watched any old movies in which a character gets out their tiny little box of beloved sentimental objects? That looks like perfection to me, but it also seems completely impossible. I liked the little moment of humor at the end of the video. :)
It's totally possible! Something else that I like to think about as a mental exercise is "If there were some kind of disaster, what sentimental items would I save?" Of course, I don't recommend putting one's self in danger, nor do I mean to belittle actual disasters that others have experienced, but it's an interesting exercise. If my house were to collapse into a sink hole in 30 seconds, what would I save? Do I even know where those items are? If I have countless sentimental items crammed together and stuffed under every bed, I wouldn't even be able to find those things in a pinch.
I have a lot of blankets that relatives have made for me. I don't necessarily want to get rid of them but I know I have too many blankets that don't get used. Any ideas for what I can do with them? I have thought about maybe cutting a piece from each and just making one blanket from all of them. But then I feel bad for destroying them. Haha.
Stitch them all together and make one MEGA BLANKET!! Just kidding! I actually think taking a piece of each to make just one is a good idea. If they're quilts, it could actually be kind of easy (I say this as someone with no experience sewing, by the way) to take one panel/column from each, combine them into one, and then close off the original blankets and donate them. I also kind of suspect, especially if you're new-ish to minimalism, that a little time could make the decision easier. You may find that, as you continue your journey, you grow less attached to them. Finally, I personally like to donate household items in good condition to a local women and children's shelter. Most are always in need of bedding, and, if you know that your items are going to someone who needs them more than you, that can make it a lot easier to let them go. I hope something in there helps!
@@VestedInterests Yeah it definitely helps to think about it in terms of someone else needs them more than I do. And you're right, I'm sure the decision will be easier further along in my journey as I become less attached. Thanks!
My boyfriend of 2.5 years has given me five teddy bears/ plushes, including a giant one. My room is tiny & I don’t have much space for them. I managed to get rid of one & he got a little upset lol. Idk how to deal with this.
I have a few thoughts. One is to let him know that you don't need more stuffed animals in the future, as it sounds like you are seconds away from living in one of those plush toy claw machines. Another is talking to him about what you truly find valuable as keepsakes in your relationship. Maybe you like photos that you've taken together, and you could tell him that, for you, those are the things that you really value and want to hold on to. What you value most may not even be material. You may value "time spent trying new things together" or "deep conversations" or something non-material, and, if so, make sure he knows that. There's actually a concept called "love languages" (and an online quiz) that helps to identify what we value most from our partner/how we like their love to be expressed to us. One of them is "gift giving," so maybe your boyfriend associates gift giving with showing affection. It might be helpful for you to both take the quiz and share your results with each other so you can both be more aware of how the other likes to be appreciated.
I have pre-anxiety about dealing with antiques and heirlooms from my parents. I'm the only member of the next generation on my mother's side of the family, and one of five on my father's side. My half-siblings and cousins have taken on many of the family heirlooms for my father's side, but my mother's side has storage lockers and basements full of items... all of which will be coming to me when my parents/aunts/uncles die. I have little to no regard for any of them, and in the process of moving all these things from house to locker and back again in my lifetime, I've encouraged them all to sell items off or gift them to another family that might care about them and place the same value on them (life-long friends of my grandparents, etc.) None of these efforts have succeeded, and I dread the day that they die and I'm left to make decisions I know would be disappointing to them, all alone.
I. Know. Exactly. What. You. Mean. My dad used to have two storage units full of stuff from an old business. My brother and I used to bug him about it, but we haven't asked about it for a long time so I don't actually know if they still exist. If it does and when that day comes, I'm just going to tell the storage company to do what they want with it. My mom's house is full of knickknacks and craft supplies. In both scenarios, I've already resolved that I'm keeping none of it. Maybe I can invite friends and family to take what they want, and the rest is going without a second look! - - - On the other hand, my mother in law had to deal with two deaths fairly close together a few years ago. After clearing out the deceased's possessions, she went on a major decluttering spree of her own house and got rid of everything except her clothing and jewelry over about three years, and recently she even sold her house! Sometimes, as people grow older, they start to declutter both to pass on less of a burden, and so they can better enjoy the rest of their lives, so it could still happen, and it might be good for your parents personally. - - - Of course, I don't want either of our parents to die, but dealing with their stuff isn't actually the worst thing in the world. Going through and disposing of it all could also be a nice way to say goodbye. Plus, it's not productive to worry about it in advance, because they may change, or, hell, we could die before they do!
Photos are the worst, particularly if you're divorced. I have numerous boxes of photos from when I was married and I don't know what to do with them. I feel it will be too emotionally painful to go through them, I don't want to just throw them out, and I certainly don't want to display them. They'll definitely be the last thing I declutter and I'll probably have to hire a professional to help guide me through the process! (yes, I'm that much of a wimp. I'll just start crying the moment I start looking at those pictures!) (maybe I'll have to learn that you can cry and still be OK, like the commenter below mentioned.)
Crying is definitely ok! If the pictures are holding you back in some way (or even if they aren't really), it might be good to go through them and have a good cry and let them go. You could even invite a few friends over for emotional support and get a bottle of wine (also for emotional support) and make a purging party of it. (I can see how you might want to do it alone, but, if you want to avoid a potentially dark place that those pictures might put you in, having friends around to keep you positive could help.)
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I am currently decluttering sentimental items and your tips have been very helpful, thank you! I have also really paid attention to how the item makes me feel and anything that brings up any kind of negative emotion is instantly being removed. I only want to find joy in my box of memory items.
Well done, enjoyable, and inspiring. : )
I haven’t been too sentimental with many items except for books & journal supplies. However, a couple years ago I started letting go of more books every few months and it felt great. Now I have maybe 10 and I go thru them often. My journals and supplies now fit into a handled tool bag type thing. Its much more manageable and useable. Each year I get more clear on what I want to own and store in my house. I find it to be an enjoyable process now. Feels light and free. I don’t have any near plans to live in an RV, however, I find myself thinking what would I own if I lived in one. It is a strange fantasy. I like my minimalist journey.
That sounds wonderful--you go! I too fantasize about minimalist scenarios, i.e. living in an van or RV or tiny home or wondering how long it would take me to move. I don't plan to do any of those things either, but I find them to be useful mental exercises. It definitely keeps me motivated!
I´ve discovered your channel just yesterday and been binge watching most of your videos since than. I really love how clear you present your content, your videos are so well structured.
Thank you so much! I actually think I could have done a bit better with this video, but I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Would love to hear how you deal with photos once theyre digital - I have SO MUCH digital clutter of photos that's just accumulating into an ever more intimidating virtual pile. Thanks again for our great content!
hope you don't mind my butting in :-) I have lots of digital photos, as I am going through the processes described in this video. I settled on a 'naming convention' and so the photos are organized that way. I also have tons of family photos, 130+ years' worth. My naming convention includes as much of the following info as is known: YYYY MM DD . With digital photos you must have backup whether on external hard drive, archival CD, etc.
Yes please. And digital clutter in general :)
Martha, I use a very similar naming convention for many of my normal files on my computer! I adopted it after working at a company that was religious about backing up files, and it has stuck with me. For my photos, I'm actually a little less stringent because I don't always have the month and date that they were taken. Right now, I have a Photos folder and I keep subfolders for different subcategories within it, e.g. "College," "Family," "Wedding," etc. I haven't given the individual photos proper names (right now they're just "upload #####"), but I might in the future, e.g. "YYYY." Once I've scanned all of the physical piles I have, I plan to upload those to Google Photos or some other cloud backup and delete them from my local storage.
I also haven't turned my attention to digital clutter fully yet, but I plan to as soon as I'm done with my house. I've recently tasked myself with deleting 50 photos from my phone each day (I have a ton of photos on my phone), and I do the same thing with my inbox occasionally. A friend of mine has incorporated digital items into her "30 day minimalism game" decluttering and seems to be pleased with it. Re: external hard drives and CDs: If that's useful for you, go for it, but I find that, once I back something up on a physical device, it tends to be shoved in a drawer and never used again. I have one external and one thumb drive that I need to go through, and I want eliminate all external storage. I'm hoping to use something like the Google Drive syncing service so all of my files live locally and can be managed at any time, but they're also backed up in case my computer ever kicks it. That way I can continue to access all of my files in one place without breaking out other hardware, which I'm hoping will make it easier to continually pare down my digital files.
thanks for sharing!
i did cd backups of everything i had at the time in college, when external hard drives were very expensive (instead of just regular expensive nowadays) and i can't believe i spent that time and energy and money on all that. i do have an external hard drive i plan on keeping, but more and more lately, everything is backed up to google drive and i use that hard drive less and less. i don't think i'll ever get rid of it, but it definitely sits in a drawer most days of the year.
I opened my letter box (yes, I'm older than 12! ☺). Discarding most item was incredibly difficult: former best friends, exes, dear old people... I cried for days, but I have saved only the ones that bring me joy, pride, inspiration.
Aww! I'm not sure what to say. "I'm sorry" or "good for you" or both. Letters can be particularly hard, and there's no need to get rid of those that you truly love and feel a connection with, so I'm glad you saved some of them. I've held onto a few from when my husband and I first started dating, and I plan to keep those forever.
No, it's a huge relief. If you are with your husband, then - of course keep them. I kept the good ones, not the painful memories.
I had duplicate items kept to remember loved ones who have passed away. I used the same approach you suggest. Keep the one that is the most special.
Enjoyed this segment very much, as I have always had a tough time deciding what to do with sentimental items. Your presentation and rational for dealing with this type of item was very helpful. Thanks for sharing, Florida, USA.
I'm glad you liked it and I hope it helps!
I really liked the duplicates idea! I collect stuff from my travels pretty mindlessly. It’s gotten better, but as a teen I used to collect boarding passes, notepads from hotels, entry tickets to museums, even cutlery from the plane 🤦♀️ I really need to get into that box and weed out all the weird stuff. As always, very inspiring!
"Cutlery from planes." There's a new one! It sounds like you definitely have a few duplicates, so I hope that strategy works for you!
embarrassing really XD
Maria Sudermann perfectly normal. I’m the exact same
Bang on with that Guilt thing.
great tips!! I really liked the one about duplicates! I already keep most of my items in a box that I store away in the attic. the majority of what I have however are things given to me by my best friend or bought when we were together. this is important to me because they live in a different country and we only see each other in person once a year and it's fun to me to keep the things we share so I can sort of document our long distance friendship.
Keep what makes you happy! My two closest friends are currently living in different parts of the country, so I understand that maintaining that in different ways can be important. Our momentos, however, are usually expensive phone bills and long text threads.
This came at an appropriate time. In my June 30 day challenge I've (which I find really fun...it's like a big scavenger hunt. As I'm falling asleep I'll think of an item lurking somewhere and think "Oh, first thing for day 5 or day 7 or whatever the next day is. I'm not keeping an exact record for each day, but I'm pretty sure I'm ahead of the game) I rounded up all the sentimental items I have. I organized them by category, tossed some, but there are still quite a few. I like your idea of keeping one item that's representational of a memory and getting rid of the rest. I think after the 30-day challenge, I'll go back through the sentimental stuff and cull the duplicates.
As you suggested, setting aside a dedicated space for those kinds of items is a great idea. I had a set of pretty boxes that I'd emptied out but still really love. They'd been in and out of the give away pile several times. But I decided to use them for the sentimental items, rather than keep those trinkets in cardboard boxes stashed in my closet. I now can enjoy the boxes while still being able to pull out random pieces of ephermera and annoy my son by asking him if he remembers where it came from.
As an adjunct to the 30-day challenge of physical objects, I also made a dent in the files on my computer. I work from home doing transcription and have saved every document from almost every project going back several years. Why? I have no idea. I'm sure the PhD students I've worked with have long ago published their papers and graduated. So, starting on June 1, I began deleting documents. I'm sure my computer thanks me. :)
I figured you might like it after you mentioned your collection of wine corks last week, and I'm really glad you're enjoying the TDMG (can we call the 30 day minimalism game that? can I start that now?)! I do something really similar and run ahead in my mind to decide what to get rid of next. At this point, I can proudly say that I have an improved understanding of all the things I have because I can run through each space in my mind and I know what's there. You go for tackling digital clutter! That's next on my list after the game this month.
Could you please talk about trying to be more minimalist when surrounded by immediate family and friends and community who have strong hoarder tendencies and aren't interested in changing. This video was great. Motivated to go through my photos. 😀
That's actually a topic I plan to cover in a future "decluttering challenges" video, so I'm glad you're interested!
I couldn't find the first video in the series that you mention. Love your videos.
Thanks! Here's the first "Decluttering Challenges" video. Still need to put them in a playlist. ruclips.net/video/PySVXmPnY-w/видео.html
You're so right about fragrances being sneaky secret time machines :) Do you find that songs can transport you to a different time in your life as well? What's the fragrance you mention if you don't mind sharing? Can't wait to collect enough strength to deal with all my photos. Thanks for sharing your method - I'll have to try it.
Oh, absolutely--songs can definitely take me back! The fragrance is Prada Candy. Not particularly unique, but I wore it constantly about five years ago, so it's definitely the strongest association I have to that time. Best of luck with your photos! Really, it's not that bad. Just set aside five minutes some day to get it started!
Thanks. I fully intend to. And yes, I love five minute goals - that's exactly how I'm going to approach it. I recently lost my mum and when I opened my first random album, there she was smiling at me, and I just knew that I wasn't ready yet. In good time. Have a great week! Natalya
That's definitely different. I'm very sorry for your loss, and do take your time. ❤️
Also, can you discuss learning to change ones spending habits especially if that person is VERY impulsive. Thanks.
I have a video all about shopping tips: ruclips.net/video/hX6S3CJt6-M/видео.html If you shop a lot and/or are very impulsive, I recommend a shopping fast. Don't give yourself a budget that will make you miserable, don't make up little strategies for limiting shopping--stop shopping all together for a few months. I used to shop basically as a pastime, and I had to break the mindset that shopping was a recreational activity. A shopping fast can be really useful for retraining your brain to understand that shopping is rarely something one "needs" to do (with the exception of food, medications, and certain other necessities, all of which can also fall victim to "impulsive" behaviors as well). As overly impulsive behavior is, I would imagine, something that leaches into other parts of your life besides shopping, you might want to look up strategies for managing impulsive behavior online. Lots of people have probably dedicated their lives to studying this, and they are better suited for giving advice on this topic. ;)
I'm on a shopping fast now, AND IT'S SO HARD, but worth it. I tried budgeting, but that wasn't working. I still have my budget, so that I can track what I've spent, but I've been avoiding stores and online shops altogether unless there is something I need (cat food, toiletries, and such). It's only been a month, and I've slipped up a few times, but I'm determined to change my relationship with shopping and not be so impulsive. I've gotten rid of so much stuff over the years that I know I never should have bought in the first place.
Thinking about places that sentimentals have gathered, they're mostly under my bed or in the basement, two of the places in my house that get visited so rarely you wish nothing in them actually existed so you didn't have to think about them. It's quite a revelation to me that I actually feel this way about these spaces- I used to think under my bed was so convenient, but a quite thick rug and a folding side table live beside my bed. I love these two items and their position in the room. They block access to at least half if not more of the boxes, which I NEVER feel like accessing anyway, but even when I consider looking through them I'm deterred by the simple fact that they're on the floor and I'd have to move things to get to them- even just the bedskirt is a deterrent. The reality is, though, 90% of the things down there aren't making me happy anymore, and the things that would aren't because they're in an inconvenient location. The basement is a completely different beast, but my room deserves better than this. Thank you for the inspiration.
I am a firm believer that beds are not storage furniture, but I overlooked this rule until very recently in my guest bedroom, where I kept a box of things under the bed that I planned to deal with later. The other day, I removed the box from under the bed, dumped all of the items into a night stand, and threw away the box. Now the space is clear and I'm forced to deal with the items because they aren't conveniently tucked away anymore. --- --- I'd actually planned to talk about "access to sentimental items" in this video, but I decided against it to keep it shorter. You're totally right: many of us store away sentimental items and never look at them, which defeats the purpose, in my opinion. I'm trying to do away with the idea of "storing" any of my items. They either are things that I use on a regular basis and they have a place to "live" (not "be stored"), or I get rid of them.
There's not just the inconvenience of getting on the floor to access your items in under-bed storage, there's also the issue of literally forgetting about them because they're so out-of-the-way. My mom recently decided to start working on her own bedroom. The first item we pulled from under the bed was a shopping bag that had a top I'd been searching for for YEARS and a pair of shorts she didn't even know she had, that actually fit her, and that she wished she had known about last summer. It's crazy! These aren't even items that don't already have a home by time they get into the house, they're CLOTHES!
I don't want to forget what I have. I want to know, and I want to know that it all makes me happy and serves a purpose. If it doesn't do either, it's clutter, and if it doesn't do both, there might be something better out there I can replace it with. New rule: The only things hiding under beds should be children and pets, and I have neither of those atm.
last summer when i moved out of my parents house for the first full time (not just for college), i did that with all my photos...but only half way. they're all in boxes and i went through them all. this summer is the time to double check them all and finally put them into a photo album. then i'll have the pictures i want and not a cluttered mess. i also keep my playbills from shows i like and i figured out a way to keep them organzied as well - so again, in an album and not a messy pile. going through the last bits of sentimental things will be the most difficult. some things i like, but am not in love with, and only keep because i was given them. i think more things can go this summer. i'd like to keep a memo box type of thing around to collect special items all year and then every summer go through and keep only the best. i do have some things left at my parents house, and i don't even know when i'll be able to get to all of those. and i do have some things that will never leave my life because they are that special. while watching this video, i did actually pause and get rid of something that i got in college, and while it's nice and pretty, i've not used it in ages - it's purely decorative. and while that's not a bad things, and i have had it for several years now, it's not something i think i'm going to miss like other items i own.
Oh good! I'm glad the video seems to have helped. Photos and sentimental items in general are tough, but time definitely helps to shape our perspective and show us what is important, so this second pass may be very different for you. Best of luck!
I’ve attempted KonMari five times and gotten further each time, but photos is always last for me. I just can’t quite do them! Too much baggage I think. Loved everything you taught here, especially about keeping things for bad reasons. My mom hand-wrote journals for me when I was tiny, but I really don’t care what I was doing at eighteen months. I just can’t quite declutter them though. The struggle.
Also, if you ever write a book, ima buy it!
Ha! A friend of mine and I actually joked about writing a book together the other day. I'm not sure when I would have the time, but it's an interesting thought. Re: baby journals: I totally understand. My mom saved a bunch of my old toys from when I was a child, and it wasn't easy to let some of them go (in fact, my cat decided to claim one of them and she cuddles with it all the time, so that one survived the purge). If you actually want the journals, keep them, but another way to look at it could be that your mom kind of wrote them for herself / their primary value is to her. Sure, they were for you in a way, and I'm sure she included messages for you and thought about you reading them down the road, but they're primarily sentimental to her because it's a recording of her memories. You probably already know all of that though. If you write journals about your kids, maybe let them read them but keep them for yourself. :P
Great video !
This is exactly what I need right now!
Difficult subject. Appreciate your ideas💝💐😎
Thanks! I hope they come in handy for you!
I am 46 and my mother died when I was 22. I had no father or siblings so I kept all of her things and I have been feeling bad all those years because it has become a real burden. My basement is full of things I just cannot throw away. It seems I will never be free of her. Your video helps me think from a different point of view. Still need to think about all this but thank you !
Some sentimental items are definitely easier to rationalize away than others, and your situation is certainly a tough one. I don't want to overstep any bounds, but I feel it's likely that your mother would not have wanted you to be burdened by her stuff. Take all the time you need, and definitely keep what you want, but hopefully, with time, you won't hang on to things that are holding you back.
Do you travel often? If so, how do you deal with items collected while traveling? Specifically, I want to document my travels somehow (haven't figured out how) because traveling is a hobby I enjoy, so I will collect items while traveling with the intention to later go through, take notes, etc, but then never follow thru either because it seems overwhelming or life's distractions. Any thoughts?
I don't travel as often as I would like, but I suppose I travel more than some. Before now, I've limited souvenirs to Christmas ornaments, magnets, and stickers, and that worked out for a while. Now, however, I'm further along in my decluttering journey, and the idea of accumulating more stuff is pretty repellant. If I come across something in my travels that I've been looking for anyway and I think it's perfect, I'll buy it, but I plan to avoid buying things just because they came from somewhere else. I do like taking pictures, which counts as a souvenir to me.
Have you watched any old movies in which a character gets out their tiny little box of beloved sentimental objects? That looks like perfection to me, but it also seems completely impossible. I liked the little moment of humor at the end of the video. :)
It's totally possible! Something else that I like to think about as a mental exercise is "If there were some kind of disaster, what sentimental items would I save?" Of course, I don't recommend putting one's self in danger, nor do I mean to belittle actual disasters that others have experienced, but it's an interesting exercise. If my house were to collapse into a sink hole in 30 seconds, what would I save? Do I even know where those items are? If I have countless sentimental items crammed together and stuffed under every bed, I wouldn't even be able to find those things in a pinch.
I have a lot of blankets that relatives have made for me. I don't necessarily want to get rid of them but I know I have too many blankets that don't get used. Any ideas for what I can do with them? I have thought about maybe cutting a piece from each and just making one blanket from all of them. But then I feel bad for destroying them. Haha.
Stitch them all together and make one MEGA BLANKET!! Just kidding! I actually think taking a piece of each to make just one is a good idea. If they're quilts, it could actually be kind of easy (I say this as someone with no experience sewing, by the way) to take one panel/column from each, combine them into one, and then close off the original blankets and donate them. I also kind of suspect, especially if you're new-ish to minimalism, that a little time could make the decision easier. You may find that, as you continue your journey, you grow less attached to them. Finally, I personally like to donate household items in good condition to a local women and children's shelter. Most are always in need of bedding, and, if you know that your items are going to someone who needs them more than you, that can make it a lot easier to let them go. I hope something in there helps!
@@VestedInterests Yeah it definitely helps to think about it in terms of someone else needs them more than I do. And you're right, I'm sure the decision will be easier further along in my journey as I become less attached. Thanks!
My boyfriend of 2.5 years has given me five teddy bears/ plushes, including a giant one. My room is tiny & I don’t have much space for them. I managed to get rid of one & he got a little upset lol. Idk how to deal with this.
I have a few thoughts. One is to let him know that you don't need more stuffed animals in the future, as it sounds like you are seconds away from living in one of those plush toy claw machines. Another is talking to him about what you truly find valuable as keepsakes in your relationship. Maybe you like photos that you've taken together, and you could tell him that, for you, those are the things that you really value and want to hold on to. What you value most may not even be material. You may value "time spent trying new things together" or "deep conversations" or something non-material, and, if so, make sure he knows that. There's actually a concept called "love languages" (and an online quiz) that helps to identify what we value most from our partner/how we like their love to be expressed to us. One of them is "gift giving," so maybe your boyfriend associates gift giving with showing affection. It might be helpful for you to both take the quiz and share your results with each other so you can both be more aware of how the other likes to be appreciated.
I get rid of friends , family members etc
I have pre-anxiety about dealing with antiques and heirlooms from my parents. I'm the only member of the next generation on my mother's side of the family, and one of five on my father's side. My half-siblings and cousins have taken on many of the family heirlooms for my father's side, but my mother's side has storage lockers and basements full of items... all of which will be coming to me when my parents/aunts/uncles die. I have little to no regard for any of them, and in the process of moving all these things from house to locker and back again in my lifetime, I've encouraged them all to sell items off or gift them to another family that might care about them and place the same value on them (life-long friends of my grandparents, etc.) None of these efforts have succeeded, and I dread the day that they die and I'm left to make decisions I know would be disappointing to them, all alone.
I. Know. Exactly. What. You. Mean. My dad used to have two storage units full of stuff from an old business. My brother and I used to bug him about it, but we haven't asked about it for a long time so I don't actually know if they still exist. If it does and when that day comes, I'm just going to tell the storage company to do what they want with it. My mom's house is full of knickknacks and craft supplies. In both scenarios, I've already resolved that I'm keeping none of it. Maybe I can invite friends and family to take what they want, and the rest is going without a second look! - - - On the other hand, my mother in law had to deal with two deaths fairly close together a few years ago. After clearing out the deceased's possessions, she went on a major decluttering spree of her own house and got rid of everything except her clothing and jewelry over about three years, and recently she even sold her house! Sometimes, as people grow older, they start to declutter both to pass on less of a burden, and so they can better enjoy the rest of their lives, so it could still happen, and it might be good for your parents personally. - - - Of course, I don't want either of our parents to die, but dealing with their stuff isn't actually the worst thing in the world. Going through and disposing of it all could also be a nice way to say goodbye. Plus, it's not productive to worry about it in advance, because they may change, or, hell, we could die before they do!
Photos are the worst, particularly if you're divorced. I have numerous boxes of photos from when I was married and I don't know what to do with them. I feel it will be too emotionally painful to go through them, I don't want to just throw them out, and I certainly don't want to display them. They'll definitely be the last thing I declutter and I'll probably have to hire a professional to help guide me through the process! (yes, I'm that much of a wimp. I'll just start crying the moment I start looking at those pictures!) (maybe I'll have to learn that you can cry and still be OK, like the commenter below mentioned.)
Crying is definitely ok! If the pictures are holding you back in some way (or even if they aren't really), it might be good to go through them and have a good cry and let them go. You could even invite a few friends over for emotional support and get a bottle of wine (also for emotional support) and make a purging party of it. (I can see how you might want to do it alone, but, if you want to avoid a potentially dark place that those pictures might put you in, having friends around to keep you positive could help.)
Thanks for your support and encouragement! :-))
🖐🏼🙃
You look robotic and psychotic I don’t see you having any sentimental items
Rude