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Organize Your Closet And Your Life Will Follow
What does it mean to be more with less? I’m Ruma Tenbrink and welcome to the “Organize your closet and then your life will follow” podcast. If you feel like you are drowning in things and need to take back your life, you are in the right place. I am excited for you to “move towards minimalism” right along with me! Let’s do this together!
First, let’s talk a little bit about the Pareto Principle. It’s otherwise known as the 80/20 Rule and the law of the Vital Few, The Pareto principle states that for many outcomes roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes - the “vital few”. So, if we translate this idea to our closets, really think about your wardrobe. You probably reach for 20% of your clothing 80% of the time. I know for a fact this was so true for me and that realization really hit me! It was the first time I went through all the fancy-wear and business clothing I was holding onto in deeper storage. Meaning, I never, ever, ever used them. I love being comfortable and wearing comfy clothes that feel good on my skin and make me feel good. So, I decided to be bold and just dropped them all off at a consignment shop in a funky little community here known as The Piedmont District in Oakland CA. I made it easy on myself and asked her to do her best and whatever didn’t sell well or fast enough for her, she could add to her donates pile which she took to a local women's shelter.
The magic of doing this was I went home to a lighter space that felt a lot less overwhelming and easier to organize. I also did good by providing clothes for someone else to love and use. It’s a win-win-win-win. The consumer creates a small carbon footprint by reusing something and getting a good deal on the item, the shop makes their money for holding and displaying the item, the local charity gets really nice clothes donated to them and I go home to the start of serenity and freedom in my closet.
Are you ready to change your life simply by organizing your closet? Could it really be that simple? Actually, yes it can. As a professional home organizer, I have seen the phenomenon take place with all of my clients. Every. Single. One. As you start to change your environment for the better, you inherently change along with it. You simply cannot help yourself. This opens a doorway into the world of positive change and along with that, infinite possibilities to uncover who you really are without all the physical stuff bogging down your home and your mind. Ultimately, your creativity hides deep within you because it is so muffled by the things taking up all of the open space and also things you choose to hide behind.
Let’s make this shift right now. By the way, did I mention this will be life-changing? Stay tuned and be ready for it!!!
Organize Your Closet And Your Life Will Follow
Episode 3 - The 30-Day Minialism Challenge
Wow! We made it to January 1st, 2021!!! Congrats y'all this is truly amazing! What a fitting time to start this challenge! I spoke of the 30-day minimalism challenge in my last podcast and wanted to elaborate on it in this episode. My heroes, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, started the 30 day minimalism challenge as a way to motivate themselves to get rid of all their excess stuff. Try this out for yourself and see how you react to this exercise. I was extremely challenged the first time I did this in May of this year, but then I got kind of addicted to letting go and believe it or not, I did it two more times in July and again in November. As hard as the last one was I'm considering doing this a 4th time!!! That's how addictive and freeing this has become for me.
I will be sharing on my IG page the items that were decluttered. So feel free to check that out for ideas to help you during your challenge. Follow me on IG @rumaten8r1nk and on Twitter @mylifeinflow.
Here’s how it works.
On the first day of the month you eliminate one items Two things on the second day. Three things on the third day. Four things on the fourth day and so on and so on and so on. Find a friend, family member, or coworker who’s willing to minimize their stuff with you. If you can't find anyone, just do this on your own and really challenge yourself. Be your own accountability partner! There's nothing more empowering than keeping a promise to yourself. I know you can do this and you will feel so much better when you are done. I promise you that and as far as the items you are decluttering,
Anything goes!
Collectables.
Decorations.
Kitchenware.
Electronics.
Small appliances.
Furniture.
Bedding.
Clothes.
Towels.
Tools.
Knickknacks.
Whether you donate, sell, or trash your excess, every material possession must be out of your house—and out of your life—by midnight each day. In the vein of efficiency and small carbon footprint, I collected all of my items in a corner of the garage so I could disburse all at the end of the month. I pinned up signs above the piles that let me know if the pile was trash, donate or sell.
I jumped on some neighborhood apps here known as LetGo, Close5 and Nextdoor for the items I wanted to sell. I also sold clothing through ThredUp.com which is an awesome service. I also gave away a lot of items through my local "Buy Nothing" chapter which you can find on Facebook and then lastly I take the rest of the donations to GoodWill or Salvation Army. These two places have become last on my list because it's just better to try to recirculate your excess by resale or direct donations.
It’s an easy game at first and I try hard to get ahead of each day by finding many items at the beginning of the challenge. Soon enough, it grows considerably more challenging day to day as you get to week 3 and week 4. By day 20 I was struggling a little and realized that I have to start really getting rid of the "excess". Excess is all the extras you have of one type of item. Who really needs 20 pairs of jeans or 40 t-shirts or 28 pairs of sweatpants and leggings. Why would anyone have 8 frypans when you can only really use 4 at one time on a regular stove top ? It's things like this that add to the chaos in your kitchen for example. When you have less stuff to manage, it honestly saves you a lot of headache. It's time to downsize all of that.
You can check out my inspiration and my heroes here: https://www.theminimalists.com/game/
Consume less, live more!
Consume less, live more!
https://linktr.ee/rumatenbrink
PODCAST 3 – The 31 day minimalism challenge
Wow! We made it to January 1st, 2021!!! Congrats y'all this is truly amazing! What a fitting time to start this challenge! I spoke of the 30-day minimalism challenge in my last podcast and wanted to elaborate on it in this episode. My heroes, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, started the 30 day minimalism challenge as a way to motivate themselves to get rid of all their excess stuff. Try this out for yourself and see how you react to this exercise. I was extremely challenged the first time I did this in May of this year, but then I got kind of addicted to letting go and believe it or not, I did it two more times in July and again in November. As hard as the last one was I'm considering doing this a 4th time!!! That's how addictive and freeing this has become for me.
I will be sharing on my IG page the items that were decluttered. So feel free to check that out for ideas to help you during your challenge. Follow me on IG @rumaten8r1nk and on Twitter @mylifeinflow.
Here’s how it works.
On the first day of the month you eliminate one items Two things on the second day. Three things on the third day. Four things on the fourth day and so on and so on and so on. Find a friend, family member, or coworker who’s willing to minimize their stuff with you. If you can't find anyone, just do this on your own and really challenge yourself. Be your own accountability partner! There's nothing more empowering than keeping a promise to yourself. I know you can do this and you will feel so much better when you are done. I promise you that and as far as the items you are decluttering,
Anything goes!
Collectables.
Decorations.
Kitchenware.
Electronics.
Small appliances.
Furniture.
Bedding.
Clothes.
Towels.
Tools.
Knickknacks.
Whether you donate, sell, or trash your excess, every material possession must be out of your house—and out of your life—by midnight each day. In the vein of efficiency and small carbon footprint, I collected all of my items in a corner of the garage so I could disburse all at the end of the month. I pinned up signs above the piles that let me know if the pile was trash, donate or sell.
I jumped on some neighborhood apps here known as LetGo, Close5 and Nextdoor for the items I wanted to sell. I also sold clothing through ThredUp.com which is an awesome service. I also gave away a lot of items through my local "Buy Nothing" chapter which you can find on Facebook and then lastly I take the rest of the donations to GoodWill or Salvation Army. These two places have become last on my list because it's just better to try to recirculate your excess by resale or direct donations.
It’s an easy game at first and I try hard to get ahead of each day by finding many items at the beginning of the challenge. Soon enough, it grows considerably more challenging day to day as you get to week 3 and week 4. By day 20 I was struggling a little and realized that I have to start really getting rid of the "excess". Excess is all the extras you have of one type of item. Who really needs 20 pairs of jeans or 40 t-shirts or 28 pairs of sweatpants and leggings. Why would anyone have 8 frypans when you can only really use 4 at one time on a regular stove top ? It's things like this that add to the chaos in your kitchen for example. When you have less stuff to manage, it honestly saves you a lot of headache. It's time to downsize all of that.
You can check out my inspiration and my heroes here: https://www.theminimalists.com/game/
