I’m six months into my declutter schedule which means I’m halfway through. I’ve been clearing out 6 spots a month since January. So what have I learnt?

• It can be hard to keep the momentum. Some months it has been easy to dealt with six spots. Other months, it has felt like a struggle.
• It’s best to schedule a mix of small easy areas and larger or more challenging spots. Then when you don’t feel like doing it you can start with an easy spot to get you in the mood!
• And even if you are in the mood it can be difficult to get into a mindset where you actually get rid of things.
• Over cluttered spaces are sometimes easier to deal with. Knowing that you have to remove some things to make it all fit gets you into the right mindset. Otherwise it can be easy to take it all out and put it all away again in a neater fashion. The goal is less stuff, not a tidier drawer.
• However there is a huge satisfaction when a space has been pared down. Choosing which bag to take with me has become a pleasure now that I have very few and don’t have to try and stuff them all back in after selecting.
• Part of your space will look messier and cluttered while you make arrangements to dispose of items.
• Despite trying to work on a variety of rooms I seem to have avoided most of the kitchen. Perhaps I should assign a set number of spaces from each room per month in future.

It feels like progress

I’m pleased that I’ve stuck with my programme. However, I have had to really force myself to do it at times. My space becomes ever lovelier to live in and tasks that were challenging (putting clothes away, finding a clean towel, dealing with paperwork) have become less fussy. However I’m really going to have to make myself stay on track and slip at this point. I want a decluttered living space by 2016.

Anyone else decluttering this year?