12 Days of Christmas Decluttering: Day 6 Little Acts of Decluttering

As I mentioned previously, I want to share a monthly calendar with the little acts of decluttering on. So before we get started with January’s, we need to finish off the ones I have already shared on other social media (Instagram https://www.instagram.com/declutter.your.life/ and TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@declutter.your.life ) so that we are ready and up to date for the new year.

Little acts of decluttering…

The idea is that each of these areas or items could be decluttered in one small go. There is no pressure to do them all at once, but choose a time that suits you for each one.

• Gift bags – Do you have any that are damaged that could be recycled? Could you use them to gift your presents this year and reduce the number that you have?
• Manuals for tech – Most tech manuals can be found online now. You could always check each product before you recycle the manual to see if it’s online.
• Toiletries/perfumes – Do you have any that you don’t like or won’t use?
• Outdated reference books – these could be from studying previous qualifications. If they are not ones that you are still reaching for in your job, etc, then these could be donated or recycled if they are outdated.
• Outdated travel books – with so many online apps and travel blogs, the days for needing a travel book are over. Many will now have old and outdated information and won’t include lots of new restaurants or cafes for the area you are visiting.
• Takeaway menus – Most takeaways offer delivery through an app or service and you can easily view their menu when ordering online through the app or on their website.

• Ink cartridges – do you have any that don’t match your current printer? Do you have old ones waiting to be recycled? Now is the time to clear these out.
• Ornaments – can reduce down any collections you have in a theme? Why not see if any friends or family members would like them? Outside furniture – do you have any that is looking tired or that you no longer enjoy using. Could it be recycled or donated to someone else that could bring new life back into it?

More little acts of decluttering…

• Notifications – It is time to turn these off and reduce the number that are turned on to only important ones. This will help you to prioritise what is important and let go of other things.
• Apps on your phone – can you reduce the number of apps on your phone that will give you space and free up time too.
• Dining table – make sure this is clear of clutter. Putting everything back in its place and recycle any unnecessary paperwork.
• Cutlery and utensils – can you reduce down any duplicates and declutter any that don’t get used.
• Emails – can you delete old emails, as well as unsubscribe to any newsletters that you no longer need to receive (or never signed up to).
• TV recordings – if you are able to record live TV or download episodes, do you have any that you ahem already watched and can you delete these? Do you have any that you no longer wish to watch?
• Old school books – Hands up, do you still have any books from your school days that you were given by your parents? Yep! That was me. I had a brief look through and I just couldn’t justify keeping them. It showed nothing of value. Education changes so much that the strategies would be different these days. So why keep them? One to bear in mind when you have children.
• Children’s clothes – I tend to go through these every 6 months as they grow so quickly. I just bag up the clothes into age categories and then donate or sell them on like this.

keep going…

• Stationary – can you reduce down the number of items you have in each category so that you aren’t harbouring a stationary store of your own in the office/desk area.
• Slippers – do you have any old or worn out slippers that are passed their best? Now is the time to bid farewell and only keep ones that are in good useable condition.
• 15 minute timer is a great little act of decluttering – set yourself a timer and see what you can achieve in a particular area within that time frame. There is no pressure to find a certain number of items to declutter, but will still allow you to see some progress.
• Tops and shirts – go through and declutter any that no longer fit, that are worn through or do not fit your style. Reduce down the number of similar items, styles or colours that you have.
• Fancy dress – it’s time to go through and see which you are likely to wear and which you will not. Do your children have any fancy dress items that no longer fit that could be donated to a friend or local preschool/school?

and finally…

• Shorts and skirts – again, go through and declutter any that no longer fit, that are worn through or do not fit your style. Reduce down the number of similar items, styles or colours that you have.
• Watches – do you have any that are broken and unrepairable? Any that don’t match your current style could be sold or donated.
• Bedsheets – how many spare sets do you own? It’s time to reduce the number of sets. Remember to clear out any that don’t fit your duvet size too.
• Find 15 items – there is no time limit here, just a request to find 15 items from anywhere in your home that could be removed.
• Broken items – go round your home and recycle anything that is broken and no longer useable.
• Unwanted gifts – this one I will be covering in more detail very soon, but it is worth considering if the gift will add value to your life or whether it would be more beneficial to declutter, donate or sell to someone else.

I look forward to sharing a new monthly format of the little acts of decluttering with you very soon!

Rachel, Declutter Your Life X

For more 12 Days of Christmas Decluttering https://declutteryourlife.co.uk/decluttering/declutter-your-home-one-month-challenge/

Here is my youtube channel for more information https://declutteryourlife.co.uk/decluttering/how-to-get-started-with-decluttering/