Slow and Steady Organizing

If you've been following along for a while you may have noticed that I pretty much stick to the same method of organizing, remove everything from the space, purge, and then return things in an orderly fashion. This works best for me and provides me with the most sanity. However, I realize this isn't necessarily what's best for everyone and it especially isn't working for me right now. 

I'd love to be able to dedicate a couple hours to organizing our closet and cleaning out unwanted clothing but I just don't have time. Can someone please teach me the trick to adding 6 more hours to the day without cutting into sleep time? I feel like one of you out there must know the secret and I need it!! I will pay you in cookies and hugs. Until someone shares their secret, I have to adjust my method of organizing. 

How often do you sift through your clothes with an internal monologue that goes something like, "hate it, too tight, too loose, too ugly, too old, hate it, hate it, hate it..." I can't be the only one, right? So about a month ago I decided instead of just pushing past each item I "hated", I would actually do something about it. 

Step 1: Remove it!
Instead of pushing through pieces of clothing that you know you don't want to wear, take it out of the space. Set it aside and don't look at it for a while. Remove the item without thinking too long about it. If it's that shirt that you always ignore because you know it just doesn't flatter your figure, remove it! 

If you have known me any time in the last 5 years, you have seen me in this shirt. A former favorite, it is stained, damaged, and wrinkles if you breath on it {obviously}. It's time to go bye-bye. 

I moved everything to the floor of our guest room. Whether you use a guest room or a small corner of your bedroom, just find a space to remove the clothing from your day-to-day life. Get it out of sight {and out of mind}.

Step 2: Schedule a Donation Date
Put a date on your calendar to donate everything you collect. You can either schedule a date to take items yourself, or use a service like Big Brothers, Big Sisters, who will pickup your items from your home. I find having a company pick up my donations is so much more effective. Otherwise the items will either sit on the floor in a room, or sit in the trunk of my car for weeeeeeeeks. Having a pick up date also helps to hold you accountable. If you know someone is coming to pick up donation goods next Thursday, you're going to ensure you've got enough to actually give them! 

Step 3: Sort Through the Pile
This time can be a bit challenging. What you don't want it to turn into is a reminiscing session of all the items you set aside. Go through everything and try to remind yourself why you put each item in the pile in the first place. Go through with the mindset of cleansing and try to not put anything back into your closet. 

While sorting through everything, you can make several piles. I typically make two piles, one for donations and one for items to be sold or sent to ThredUp {or similar sites}. I've talked about ThredUp on here before, so in short, it's a site where you can send your clothing and they will pay you for the items they keep. It typically only ends up being a couple dollars per item, but it's better than nothing! 

Step 4: Say Bye-Bye
Get rid of it! Everything you set aside can now be donated, given away, sold, or burned. Whatever your method is, just get it out of your space so that you closet is only filled with things you want to wear and that make you feel confident and beautiful. I mean that makes perfect sense, right? Why on earth would I hold on to something that makes me feel insecure, frumpy, ugly, or just not myself? 

I was a little nervous using this new method to clean out my closet, I didn't think I'd be able to get rid of very many items. But you guys, I was able to remove 80 items within one month {this also included outerwear for our hall closet}, which is equivalent to what I normally donate each year! 

So if you feel like you just can't find the time to dedicate to cleaning out your closet, that's ok. Take it one day at a time, and within a month you may just surprise yourself with how much you're willing to part with. My closet makes me so much happier now, and although I still struggle trying to figure out what to wear {a lot of which has to do with the tiny human inside me :) :) } I am able to find something suitable much faster and without nearly as much stress or frustration. 

Thanks for visiting!