How To Do It (Right-Sizing Your Life, Part 4 of 5) s4e4
Send us Fan Mail ⏱️ Knowing What to Keep vs. Actually Doing the Sorting: Two Very Different Skills Episode 4 of the Right-Sizing series shifts from what to keep to how on earth you actually get through the sorting process without collapsing around hour three. Julie and Janis open with the classic mistake: pulling everything out of a closet at once, turning a manageable afternoon into a bed-floor-and-hallway disaster, and somehow ending up cross-legged on the floor holding a sweate...
RSS Feed ⏱️ Knowing What to Keep vs. Actually Doing the Sorting: Two Very Different Skills
Episode 4 of the Right-Sizing series shifts from what to keep to how on earth you actually get through the sorting process without collapsing around hour three.
Julie and Janis open with the classic mistake: pulling everything out of a closet at once, turning a manageable afternoon into a bed-floor-and-hallway disaster, and somehow ending up cross-legged on the floor holding a sweater from the Clinton administration.
The fix is refreshingly familiar territory for longtime listeners: work in small, defined areas — one drawer, one shelf — and start with the easy stuff (broken, expired, duplicate, forgotten) before you ever touch the sentimental box.
Save the emotionally expensive decisions for once you've built momentum, not for your first 20 minutes.
The JJs also break down the two main organizing approaches:
A) by category (gathering all your towels, all your holiday decor, all your Tupperware from across the house to see just how much you actually own)
B) versus by room (for the satisfaction of walking into a finished space) —
With the honest reminder that neither is more "correct."
Use whatever works for your brain.
Then comes the real heart of the episode: pacing and decision fatigue.
The Decluttering Dozen (12-minute timer, work until it goes off, stop) gets an upgrade with the "doom-busting session" — stacking a few 12-minute rounds together with a wrap-up buffer.
The golden rule is knowing when to stop before exhaustion turns every decision into "maybe I'll keep it," quietly refilling your donation pile back into your keep pile.
For anyone working toward an actual move, Julie and Janis lay out four simple stages
— Decide, Distribute, Prepare, Move —
with one hard rule: the moving truck is for transporting decisions you've already made, never for making them.
✅ This Week's Challenge
Pick one small area — a drawer, a shelf, one section of a closet.
Set a 12-minute timer, #thedeclutteringdozen, start with the easy stuff, and stop when the timer goes off (or sooner, if decision fatigue hits first).
Share your doom-busting session wins in the ABC Declutter Facebook Community!
Next time: Moving Day itself — the final episode of the Right-Sizing Your Life series.
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Keep it Simple, Keep it Intentional, and - as always - Keep Decluttering!!