We all have items in our homes that are barriers to decluttering. When I come across these types of items, they can literally stop me in my tracks and I either stop decluttering or move them to another area of the room or house.

Today, I got past a few of these items. I think that it helped that I was listening to a decluttering book at the time, because it completely altered my frame of mind. I picked the items up and put them in a charity bag. It was hard, but I did it. Thoughts were going through my mind at the time about how much I paid for the items or that someone I know might want them. I tried to change my mindset by thinking about how much I value the charity shop that I donate to, so I imagined someone buying the items and looking after them for me, instead of them being in my spare room for the next 10 years.

I talked to my partner about this to see if he could help me make sense of what was going through my mind and he said ‘other people needing these items isn’t our issue’ and suggested taking photos of them as memories. He made me realise that just giving them away would free the space and allow me to actually use it to relax. He thinks so differently to me.

A clutter barrier item

As part of my decluttering project, I’ve decided to make a list (and take photos of) the items that I come across that literally stop me delcuttering. Then, at some point in the future when I’ve put the new space to good use (which is still a very scary thought and feels a long way away) I will look back at what had been stopping me all these years.

What’s stopping you decluttering?

Until next time…