Decluttering is so much easier if you think about it as a lifestyle. It’s something that’s ongoing.

On this episode of the Plan Simple Meals Podcast, I’m really excited to talk with Deirdre Nesline, a personal organizer about the importance of clearing clutter and creating the space we want to help improve the rest of our year.

One of the big ideas Deirdre shared was the idea of thinking of decluttering as a lifestyle, not a task or series of tasks. you think about it as a lifestyle. Like it or not, it is something that’s ongoing. There are times when task oriented decluttering makes sense, like when you are moving, but mostly, and what we focus on in this episode, is a decluttering lifestyle.

Deirdre talks about clutter blindness—how we drop stuff on say the kitchen counter or table instead of putting it where it belongs. That creates stress and builds a habit that creates more clutter. If instead we build new habits, we start to decrease clutter regularly.  

Deirdre shares tons of tips about clearing places that are already cluttered and setting up new habits to make decluttering more of a lifestyle than a task we dread. And she points out that things usually take less time than we think—we waste a lot of time and energy thinking about doing them.

We talk about:

• Getting into the habit of putting things where they belong throughout the day

BIO

Deirdre Nesline is a personal organizer in Connecticut, Florida and online. She assists people & their families who struggle with where to start and complete de-cluttering their homes so they can de-stress and enjoy a full life without extra burdens. She helps people who are ready to take control of their lives and develops solid systems which allow them to step away from items & stresses that no longer serve their new DeCluttered life.

LINKS

• Declutterbydeirdre.com

Doable Changes from this episode:

• DO A CLUTTER WALKTHROUGH. Have a friend over (you can do the same for her) and just walk through your house. Ask her to point out clutter in a non-judgmental way. She can ask questions like Why do you have that there? or Why is the mail piled up on the counter? This helps you see areas where clutter has built up that you might not even see anymore. It can also help you see where your organization may not make sense.