# 5 Decluttering Mistakes to Avoid (STOP SABOTAGING YOUR EFFORTS!)

**Creator:** Hi, Fam!
**Platform:** youtube
**Duration:** 11m
**Source:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE

## Summary

This video discusses five common mistakes people make when decluttering and offers solutions to overcome them. The speaker emphasizes that decluttering is an ongoing process rather than a one-time event and encourages viewers to adopt mindful practices for maintaining a clutter-free home.

- Decluttering is not a one-time task; it requires ongoing effort, especially in homes with children.
- Involving children in decluttering can be challenging; it's important to communicate openly while also managing their expectations.
- Donate or dispose of items immediately after decluttering to prevent second-guessing and reaccumulation.
- Avoid the "what if" mindset that leads to hoarding; trust that you will have what you need when you need it.
- Take small, manageable steps rather than attempting to declutter everything at once to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
- The speaker offers a free decluttering challenge to guide participants through the process and provide support.

## Transcript

[[0:00]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=0s)
in this video you're gonna learn five
mistakes that we all make when it comes to decluttering and what you can do
about them you're gonna want to stick with me until the end because I have an
incredible declutter challenge it's absolutely free and I would love for you
to join me details on that at the end if you're ready to love parenting and
parent from love flower let's subscribe and like button don't forget to turn on
the notification bellow so you can meet

[[0:22]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=22s)
me back here every Monday hi I'll be
Tull of a mindful parenting coach and mother of four and I absolutely love
talking about presence peace and play and reclaiming those for you and your
family today I'm gonna share five ways we sabotage any decluttering that we
want to do and I'm going to share what you can do about it
if you're ready to declutter hit that like button and let's get started number
one thinking it's one and done people

[[0:55]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=55s)
often tell me but I decluttered last
year and they think that they're done decluttering now I know there are lots
of different methodologies out there and some of them think that it is one and
done but what I've seen with my clients is that that's simply not the case
especially when there are young children around and especially if you live in a
seasonal place things come in and out of your life in a pretty rapid pace kids
bring home more and more art projects or

[[1:20]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=80s)
every time you go to the dentist they're
given another little toy babysitter's friends and well-meaning family members
bring lots of gifts that sometimes you don't want in your home or maybe you
yourself are buying all sorts of stuff that you eventually realize you don't
want that's okay the most important step here is to forgive yourself all of that
and realize that decluttering is not one and done it's an ongoing process so yes
there might be one major declutter of

[[1:48]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=108s)
every different category or room in your
house but you're going to need to continue in your decluttering efforts
all the time because things are coming in to your home all the time
and equally they need to be leaving your home as your children outgrow certain
things certain toys become irrelevant or things break those are the times that
you're going to want to keep and can ually get those things out of your
sacred space so please don't worry

[[2:16]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=136s)
yourself if things continue to
accumulate of course we all want to watch our consumption habits and try to
limit the things that we don't want coming in from coming in but we also
have to forgive that this is the type of culture we live in and it's going to
happen I keep a continual decluttering gangster
bag on the go always there I'm always working it whenever I see things that we
no longer need is going in there on the

[[2:39]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=159s)
regular for me that's the only way to
make it work and I've seen that that's true for so many of the parents that I
work with number two is decluttering in front of
your kids now this is a complex one and of course it depends on your lifestyle
on whether your kids are with you 24/7 and on the type of kitten you have some
kids are really okay letting go of stuff they bless it and they move on and some
parents manage to teach their kids about

[[3:04]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=184s)
decluttering in a way that feels good to
both of them but when you want to do a real declutter a big overhaul it's going
to be challenging with most kids at least from my experience most kids are
going to say ah I need to hold on to that suddenly the toys that you've seen
they haven't played with in over a year become their most prized possession but
I love the little plastic teddy bear right and then it becomes very difficult
because we don't want to take away

[[3:32]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=212s)
something that they say they love but in
truth and in essence they haven't touched that I've taken any interest in
it for years and they probably would never again and they might not even
notice that it's gone now if your child is the kind of child that does notice
and does care then of course you need to communicate with them when you're
decluttering their belongings and then I would absolutely say hey baby here's the
space that we have for your things for

[[3:57]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=237s)
your treasures or for your toys or for
your artwork for your clothes and when this becomes full I'm gonna get rid of
the stuff that you don't seem to be using if there's something that you
really never want me to get rid of let me know of course I won't but on the
whole we need to keep our home tidy we need to keep our possessions only to the
things that we like to use so that our

[[4:18]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=258s)
home feels good to us and that we don't
create a lot of mess and other people can enjoy these things it makes
space for us to enjoy the next things that come into our home too so I
absolutely think we should be teaching our kids and putting language around
that and we should be transparent and authentic it's not that you should sneak
behind their back but as long as you're actually
communicating to all the children at

[[4:42]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=282s)
least that this is something that
happens and you can let them know hey I'm gonna be decluttering next week let
me know if there's anything that is out of balance
of course you're never gonna take any of their prized possessions but if it's
stuff that's been lying around for a long time no one's taken interest of all
its stuff that's adding bad energy to your home like things that have a
million little pieces and is always a

[[5:01]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=301s)
mess around it you take the liberty as
the leader of the home to make that decision so you can communicate it to
your child but I recommend doing it when they're not there if they're that type
of kid at least right at least for me that's how it works when my kids are
there I can do some decluttering but I can't do really in-depth you know work
in other people's homes or in my own when there are children standing there
saying no I love this I love that

[[5:25]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=325s)
because it's not real it's a holding
feel feeling that comes up it's a fear-based feeling of like they're gonna
take everything from me but the truth is that we have to focus
on what we gain by the excetera we gain space we gain focus we gain a sense of
soothing you know enjoyable beautiful space for ourselves and that's what we
want to focus on with our children so it's not that I'm taking away the stuff
that you love is that I'm clearing your

[[5:51]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=351s)
space so you can focus on the things
that you do love leading on from that point point number three not donating
the stuff immediately you've got to get it out ASAP because if you don't as I
said before suddenly your children will find it and be like this is my best
thing ever and you yourself will start to have your doubts creeping in again oh
but maybe I will use this one day maybe these pants will fit me again maybe I do
like those shoes after all when you

[[6:20]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=380s)
leave things around you start to get
doubtful about it they start to creep right back in and all of your hard work
went for nowt and you never got that satisfying feeling of truly clearing
space whether you're selling it on eBay donating it to your local Salvation Army
or whatever that you're doing try and do it in a
timely fashion at the very least put it in your car if you have one to symbolize
yourself that this is no longer part of

[[6:46]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=406s)
your home this is no longer yours maybe
make that call to the pickup company that comes from the charity to pick up
the bags try to get it out quicker rather than later because otherwise it's
gonna migrate back in to your stuff and you'll feel like I'm never decluttering
again it doesn't work anyway number four is going down the what if a
rabbit hole you know the one what if I need this one day what if it fits me one
day what if the person who gave me this

[[7:13]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=433s)
find out that I gave it away what if I
regret this what if I need to buy it again what if it could work what if I
could fix it what if I could patch it up the what if rabbit hole is every
declutter is worst nightmare because you're trying to make space in your
knife and you're trying to be intentional and only have the stuff that
you want but this is just this massive sense of doubt that you're doing it
wrong and you shouldn't do it in the

[[7:37]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=457s)
first place because what if the key were
the what-if is to remember that it's a survival mechanism right it's that
hoarding mentality we could hold on to it because maybe there'll be a famine
maybe there'll be a dry drought and we will need these things in some capacity
I think it's better energetically speaking to trust that we will have the
exact things we need as we need them I know that many of us didn't have that
experience so we don't know that in our

[[8:05]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=485s)
brains we don't feel that in our body we
don't trust that we'll have what we needed so we hold on to the things that
we frankly don't need you've got to address those stories and those limiting
beliefs and learn to let go because you'll find that the beautiful
experience of letting go holds its own gems as well when you hold on to stuff
it might feel like security and it might feel like safety but it might also be
slavery and enslavement into holding you

[[8:31]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=511s)
back in a prior version of yourself a
prior version of your values or body or taste or size or finances that isn't
true anymore you've got to let yourself evolve and you've got to let yourself
send that message to the universe and to those around you that you're ready for
the next level ready for the next iteration now this isn't a ploy
for consumerism I'm not saying you should keep buying more I'm saying don't
hold on to the things that aren't you

[[8:58]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=538s)
anymore allow those things out allow
them to serve someone else and allow something else to come in in its place
you can trust that you will have the things that you need because you are a
creative capable individual and hopefully you can create that sense of
safety within you and if there is a odd thing that you regret letting go of
something that you did declutter that you probably shouldn't have remember
that you gain something by that as well

[[9:30]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=570s)
first of all you learn an important
lesson you took things a little bit too far and you learn where your edges and
what is important to you and second of all in that decluttering spree you made
space you got rid of things you created minimalism and soothed your environment
so yes you got rid of something that you wish you hadn't it happens but on the
other hand you got rid of a lot of things that you did need to do and
probably that outweighs the cost and

[[9:58]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=598s)
finally don't take on too much at once
when we decide we're ready to declutter we sometimes take on our entire house or
all of the toys are all of the clothes and it becomes too much you get
overwhelmed and then you give up without experiencing any sense of success and
then you're never gonna do it again because it was too hard and you failed
at it anyway so if you want my step-by-step declutter guide I've
created a PDF for you and in fact a

[[10:24]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=624s)
challenge where I'm gonna hold your hand
and we as a community are going to declutter together I'm so excited it's a
free challenge and I want you to sign up if you check out the description box
below you'll find a link when you sign up you're gonna get a video all about
this decluttering and my story behind it and some of my personal truths here and
it's a little vulnerable to share but I want to because this is so important to
me and I believe in it so much plus

[[10:52]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=652s)
you're gonna get some really practical
step step guides on what to do next so that
you can experience success right now now if you're watching this sometime in the
future this challenge might be over and I'm sorry but you can still follow the
link in the description box below to be notified next time we're running this
challenge now's the time to leave me a comment below are you ready to take on
the challenge let me know whether

[[11:15]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=675s)
challenge accepted if you are doing it
give me some love in the comments so that were like button if this is helpful
for you and you want to hear more about decluttering doing that gives back to me
and to our community because it helps other parents who might find this useful
find it so thank you so very much and I would love to see you inside that
challenge today now you're gonna win the slam on that subscribe button because
here's what's coming next week we're

[[11:40]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Uvrx8RtyE&t=700s)
talking about another favorite topic of
mine if you've spent all this money and energy on buying lots of beautiful toys
for your kids and they're not playing without all this video is thank you