Have you been meaning to go room by room and declutter your space? Are you unable to put things away because the drawers are full? Do your countertops become a catchall? You are not alone! There are people all over the world that have either purchased or been given more stuff than they want or need. If you are like me, clutter in your home causes clutter in your mind. When my house is a mess I get irritable, overwhelmed and all of my happiness and patience disappears.

If you haven’t followed along at SimplyOnEden yet, I had a compete breakdown and couldn’t go another day without taking control of our home. You can catch a little glimpse of that in this previous post, A Year of Simplifying.

Turns out, by simplifying our stuff, I uncovered some other aspects in my life that needed simplifying. I am working on #ayearofsimplifying to be my best me for my family and for myself. Our whole family is happier and it all started with me finally purging my first area, then then second etc.

We spend more time together, we are eating healthy every day, cooking at home more, never wondering where matching socks are and don’t have to fight over who will do the dishes. Ten months ago, I would never have believed that removing physical clutter could change someones life so profoundly.

So… what is stopping you?

Let me guess… you don’t have enough time. I’m raising my hand in solidarity right now. I was a full-time working mom of three with a husband who ran a 24 hours restaurant and was barely ever home. I know exactly how you feel. It starts slow and then eventually, little by little, the entire house had been “swept” as I like to call it. So how did I make time?

PRO TIP: YOU CAN’T ADD AN 8TH DAY SO GIVE YOURSELF A LONGER TIME FRAME TO GET IT DONE AND YOU WILL SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS. IF YOU WANT IT DONE YESTERDAY, YOU’LL FAIL. IF YOU GIVE YOURSELF A WEEK, YOU MAY FAIL… IT’S A LONG PROCESS AND YOU ARE BUSY.  IF YOU NEVER START BECAUSE YOU DON’T HAVE TIME? FAIL.

GIVE YOURSELF #AYEAROFSIMPLIFYING AND YOU WILL UNDER PROMISE AND OVER DELIVER.

Not having time is a very common reason people don’t start declutter their homes but it is not the top issue. There is one question that is asked, maybe 10:1 over any other. Can you guess what it is? Can you guess what is the top reason people seem to stall in changing their home and life forever?

Ready? You sure? The #1 hold up is simply…  They have absolutely no idea where to start.

“My house is a disaster. Where do I even begin!?” I have been asked this 4 separate times this weekend by people. I have asked this same question myself roughly a year ago. Not knowing where to begin is causing people to live in chaotic environments that affects them emotionally, physically and mentally. While we each have our different levels of tolerance for mess, chances are if you are sitting here reading this you are feeling like your level is being pushed.

SO, WHERE DO YOU START?

The truth is, the only way to start is to begin. Whether it is one drawer or 1 room… just get started. If you have 5 minutes while your kids are eating breakfast, open a drawer and get started. Toss the trash first. If you can’t donate it, trash it. Some day when you have a few minutes again, find a cardboard box and a place to put it for storing things to get donated. Even if it is 5 minutes a day do the trash in an area. Then go and do the donation items in that area and you be left with only the items you need and want.

I would love it if everyone could do the Marie Kondo system but we don’t all have time to gather everything in one category and go through it in one sitting. Early on, I could never have done it all in one week and still fed my children and kept my job. However, not starting was making my miserable so I started… one drawer at a time. For me, I started doing the kids toys, one little shelf at a time, and I felt liberated. Soon, I started carving out an extra half hour before bed to do more. Eventually I morphed into a #konmari style purge throughout our home. I made time because I was seeing results and spending less time tidying from the million “little steps” I had done initially.

PRO TIP: IF POSSIBLE, I’D STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU START ON A DRAWER OR SURFACE IN AN AREA WHERE YOU SPEND LOTS OF TIME. MAYBE THE KITCHEN OR YOUR ROOM. IF YOU START IN AN IMPACTFUL AREA, EVEN IF IT TAKE YOU A MONTH TO DO THE WHOLE SPACE, YOUR LIFE WILL BE IMPACTED QUICKLY.

Bottom line is, you are not alone. Many of us don’t know where to start. The answer is simple, start wherever you can. Just start! Each small step is a step closer to being a happier you. You deserve that!

Let me know your first area you tackled or plan to. Did you do a big area at once or start small? Comment below!