You should now have all the knowledge and theory as to why you clutter. The next step is to understand the techniques and attitudes that will allow you to actually de-clutter with minimal stress and effort, and also develop the motivation to stick with it. Unfortunately there is no magical approach to de-cluttering, it will require some effort and dedication on your part. However if you follow the practical advice given the whole process can be made much more simple and streamlined.

It’s one thing to have the knowledge, it’s entirely another to put it into practise. Thus, the first step you should take is simply to pull a box out from underneath your bed or from a cupboard (whatever has a bit of clutter) and have a little play around. Don’t take it too seriously to start with, this is more an excuse to put some of what you’ve learnt into practise. If you end up throwing some stuff away, great, but don’t analyse your entire clutter-free future based on this one moment. Take an item out and see why you kept it. Was it nostalgic or did you think it would come in useful? If the latter, when did you actually last use it? Can you see why keeping hold of it was bad? What sort of clutter type is it? If in doubt refer back to the first chapter and refresh your memory. Remember, this book can be used for reference too.

De-cluttering is one big cycle. To start off, you won’t get rid of much, but as the days and weeks go by and you revisit areas of clutter, your confidence and tolerance levels will increase. You will quickly realize that those things you throw away aren’t suddenly going to come back to bite you. You will quickly realize that your friend won’t question you about that furry pen she bought you six months ago that you’ve now binned. You will quickly realise the benefits of being able to find your wallet straight away without digging through piles of laundry. I could go on but I imagine you’ve got the idea.