29 Things That People FORGET To Declutter

Hey, guys, welcome back to my channel, and if you are new here, then welcome. Today, I wanted to chat about things that we very often forget to declutter. So this is a little bit of a memory jog checklist for you, because a lot of times we just remember to declutter the things that are on our surfaces or that are just top of mind that we're seeing frequently or that are regularly irritating us. There are things that are just really easy to forget about. So today I want to dive into these things that I feel like are often skipped over and are really easy to forget about. So the first thing I want to jog your memory about is anything that you've been in the process of trying to sell. This is your reminder to check the calendar, pull up your offer up app or whatever it is that you use to sell stuff and see exactly how long it's been that you've had that thing on the market. Because if you don't put a timeline on these things, then they're probably not going anywhere. This is your friendly reminder to check those things that you've put up for sale and to finally make a decision on those things. The second thing that we easily forget to declutter, I feel like is medicines, our medicine cabinet. You know, we get sick. So we buy a new cough syrup or we buy throat lozenges or something. And then maybe you're not sick for another two years, but you never really stop to go and check the medicine cabinet to see exactly how many expired medicines you now have collected over time. And this is something this is an area that I see really expand for a lot of people, like it can take up an entire like three tier cabinet just full of medicines that have been collected over time. Sometimes prescriptions, antibiotic prescriptions that you received years ago that maybe you've held on to. The next thing that we often forget to or make excuses not to declutter are our spices and seasonings that we keep up in the spice rack. It could be that you got a whole collection at once of different kinds of spices and you don't really use all of them, but it came as part of the collection. Or it could be things that you just purchased for a specific diet that you were on. You know, like I had some xanthan gum. I have no clue how to use that in an actual recipe, but I held on to that thing for probably six months after I was on a keto diet a year and a half ago. The next thing that we often forget to declutter until it's too late and we're in the process of looking for something to wear is socks. Going through those socks that have started to get worn to where they're almost having calls or do have holes in the heels and in the toes or are missing their pair, missing their partner. All of those solo socks. I keep a little pile of my solo socks for like, I don't know, not a set amount of time, but for a while just to make sure that the other one doesn't pop up, because I feel like as soon as I throw out a sock, then it's missing partner will reappear. But eventually I do have to go in and toss the socks that have not had their partner reappear. Another thing that we can forget to declutter is cleaning supplies. A lot of times that's because they're all crammed underneath the sink in the back of the cabinets and you're just not really back there very often. You probably have the things that you're regularly using right there in the front rows of the cleaning supplies and the things in the back can be forgotten about, whether that is things like scrubbers that are now super rusted and couldn't be used or different cleaning supplies that you're not using anymore because you found a better replacement, something that you like better, or maybe you don't even have the item that you use that cleaning supply for. Along those same lines of out of sight, out of mind, another really big pain point for a lot of people, and it has been mine in the past, too, is things like cables and cords and adapters, you know, like all of the electronic stuff that you just wad up and you throw away in a drawer or in a bin somewhere and they get all tangled and you lose stuff at the bottom to where you don't even know what you have. And the stuff that you do have, you're not entirely sure what it belongs to. I've done that before. I've thrown away cables that we needed to charge equipment that we did still have because I had no clue what it belonged to. I don't know if you're like me on this one. One thing that I have forgotten to declutter in the past is random one off pillowcases, just pillowcases that used to go with different bedsets from the girls when we change their bedsets up, random pillowcases that you're not going to use with any of your current bedsets. There's really no reason to hang on to unused pillowcases. Another thing that we often forget to declutter is assembly pieces and parts that came with things. So the bunk bed that you bought from Ikea or the desk that you bought from Ikea or from Target or, you know, like all of these things that we get from Amazon that come with like all of the little extra packages of tools and screws and pieces that you end up not really needing. At some point, you need to go through those things. Otherwise, they're just going to all pile up again inside of some kind of a bin or box somewhere or your toolbox. And you won't have a clue what any of the stuff goes with. Old prescription glasses and eyewear could be contacts. I know that the reason for this is because you want to make sure that the new prescription is actually going to work before you get rid of the old one. So you order new glasses, you put the old ones in their case and put it in a drawer somewhere, and then you never go back to actually check on it, even when the new glasses are working. So if you're a glasses wearer or a contacts wearer, be sure to go back through all of your old previously used prescription glasses that you're either just not wearing anymore because you don't like the style or because it's not the correct prescription. Here's a big one. Now, whether this one is another one of those just don't want to declutter it or putting off decluttering it versus forgetting about it, probably a mixture of the two, that would be old cell phones. So many people will hold on to like decades worth of old cell phones. I don't know if decades might be a little bit of a stretch for some people, but years worth of cell phones where you could line them up and look at the progression of cell phones on a timeline. It's easy to get into that because when you get a new cell phone, you want to save your old one just as a backup in case something happens to it or in case you end up not liking this one and need to switch back. So it's kind of like the prescription glasses thing where you hold on to it while you're testing in the new thing just to make sure. But then that holding on while you're waiting thing turns into forgetting and never going back to it, especially if it's over like five years old, because it's probably not going to work with the new data updates anyway. Next up is makeup. A lot of people don't realize, first of all, that makeup does expire. But just in general, we tend to just collect makeup. There are so many different shades and colors and styles. We often forget to go back and actually declutter the things that we're not using anymore because we've outgrown it. Our skin's changed. Another area that we can forget to declutter or put off decluttering because we don't feel like messing with it at that time when we're digging through it is our jewelry. So if you have those earrings that are missing their partner, kind of like the socks, you haven't been able to find the other earring. No matter how beautiful the remaining earring is, you're never going to use it if it doesn't have a partner. So, you know, things like that or if they're missing pieces, missing parts or if you're just, of course, not wearing it, because again, our styles can change. Things can start to get tarnished. It's a good idea to go ahead and remove those things from your jewelry box or your jewelry location, because it'll make the jewelry that you have stand out more. It'll make it easier to take care of those pieces that you have, and it'll make it easier to get dressed when you do want to wear jewelry. Another thing that people I feel like legitimately forget to declutter is paint cans when you painted your bedroom or, you know, when you bought a new can of paint and you painted your kitchen cabinets. We tend to, you know, hold on to these paint cans. And sure, they're great to have for a while, but eventually the paint does go bad or it could be that you're no longer using that color or it could be that the paint can is really basically empty and you would have to buy another can anyway if you were ever to actually need it. We often forget to declutter sunglasses. How many times are you digging through a drawer and come across like three pairs of old sunglasses? We often just, you know, we'll use them for the summer and then the seasons change and we stop using them. And then the next year we buy another pair. But if especially if they have scratches all over them, just throw them away. There's not even any point in trying to donate them. And I recommend, if at all possible, just getting a really quality pair or at least a decent pair that you really like and keeping it in a sunglasses case, rinse and repeat. I've had the same pair of sunglasses for probably three years now. And I prefer that because I know where it is if I need it. And I'm not needing to buy a bunch of cheap pairs of sunglasses that I don't even really like. Something that can be a huge hassle is having old batteries mixed in with the good batteries. We've all experienced it before. But be sure to declutter the not so good batteries. I think that a lot of times where we get tripped up with this is if we're testing different batteries and you can't remember which one is good and which one is bad, but then we can forget to go back and declutter any unused batteries and not remember until the moment when we actually need them, which can be really frustrating. Another area that can be easy to forget to declutter is pet supplies. It can be easy to remember the ones that are out in your face, like the toys that are falling apart that you just throw away as they start to break. But then there are other things like sweaters and extra leashes and light up reflectors for whenever you're walking them at night or camping supplies, things like that. It can be hard to remember to actually go through and update your pet supplies and make sure that you're only keeping the things that you're actually still using. One area that people forget to declutter until it's too late and then it becomes this big burden is pictures, and that can be physical photos that can really start to collect or it could be digital photos, especially nowadays where we're snapping pictures all the time with our phones every time you eat something or go somewhere or see somebody. And so all of those start to back up mostly on the cloud. If you're like me, I use Google Drive or Google Photos for my backup of photos. And then we can forget to go back and make sure that the photos that we have on there are actually worth keeping. And it's not like five versions of the same flower. Growing up, we had a big chest that was just for pictures, and it was actually kind of cool. I'm I'm not opposed to keeping physical pictures. I don't keep any myself, but I understand why people do. And as long as you have like a dedicated space that you feel happy with keeping them and it's not a burden, then I think that that's totally fine. But I do remember having this photo chest growing up where occasionally we would sit down and flip through these pictures. And there were pictures in there that I took as a kid of the TV while I was watching E.T. You know, just declutter the things that aren't necessary to be inside of your picture space, and then you'll have less of a hassle later on when they really start to build up. Another thing that people often forget to declutter and even get a little bit paranoid about holding on to is documents, especially things like government documents, tax documents, things like that. You really only need to keep your tax documents for seven years. And even then, it doesn't have to be the physical copy. I have all of my tax documents uploaded online. In fact, I've shown you guys before that literally all of our paper documents from the house fit inside of one zipper binder. Now, I'm not saying that you need to declutter your papers to my level, but I will say that the number one thing that people reach out to me for for clutter overwhelm is paper. So it's a really good idea to try to stay on top of some of those old documents and some of the physical papers that you are holding on to. It's also a good idea to declutter your email folders. I have different folders for every type of email that I'm likely to receive. So coupons, financial receipts, just everything, everything, everything that I might receive a regular email about. I probably have a folder for it. But then I have to remember occasionally to go through and clear out those folders. Some of the coupons have expired. You know, some of the work orders that I'm holding on to are no longer relevant. But that is a good idea to go through regularly and make sure that your folders are up to date, as that is one of our new modern day document storage areas. It's kind of like our own little e-filing cabinet. I find that flower pots are an area that people very often forget to declutter. And I say this because I've moved into many places, apartments, houses where flower pots were left behind, like old cracked flower pots that haven't been used in years. And I think that it's one of those out of sight, out of mind areas, especially for people who aren't really avid garden folk to just like collect and have all of these flower pots that are not actually being used. I would say that overall, most of us aren't hat people, although I do understand that there are some hat people out there, but we can still hold on to hats sometimes, even though we're not actually using them. So baseball caps that we've collected for summer or for different sporting events or activities that we've gone to or like, you know, fedoras that were really cool for like two uses that you don't wear anymore. We often forget to go back and actually declutter the hats that we're not using that may have been collecting dust up in your closet for quite a few years. Don't forget about your stowed away luggage and travel cases. It sucks whenever you need to take a trip somewhere and you're trying to pack up and then you realize that the roller has been broken on your luggage piece for years and you still can't use it. Or, you know, travel cases that you're just not using anymore, that you used to use maybe for makeup or for different types of items. It could be that the hinges are broken. But a lot of times people feel bad about getting rid of luggage, even luggage that's broken, that doesn't work and that they know they're not going to use because it feels wasteful. So don't forget to go check where your luggage is stowed away and make sure that you have an actively working set. We can very often and very easily forget to declutter coupons and receipts. Those coupons, they can expire so quickly. So a week later, it might be time to declutter it already. And where are you storing all of your receipts? Do you have them wadded up in some kind of a zipper in your purse or at the bottom of your purse or crammed into some little pocket somewhere? Be sure that you take the time to go through and declutter those things so that they don't get backed up and so that you can actually use the ones that you need and are able to find them. Wouldn't it be great if you had only pots and pans that you absolutely loved? But so often we have extra pots and pans that have the scratched Teflon that you'll never grab because it's going to get the little black bits of Teflon in it, or that's just a really odd shape and doesn't work with any of the dishes that you actively make. So be sure to go through and declutter any of those pots and pans that you're not actively using. Something that I'm kind of a stickler about decluttering around here is pens. I like to have good quality, sturdy pens. I hate to grab a pen and it doesn't work. And then you've got to toss it and search for another one that does work. Just declutter the pens that you're not using or that you know that you're not going to like writing with. Another thing that we can easily forget about is old sunblock. Last year, sunblock that's been sitting in the cabinet and you didn't use it all winter and now it's expired. Sunblocks are one of those things that you do need to buy an updated version of every year because they can stop working. Sometimes it's good to hold on to a manual when you first get a new piece of equipment to make sure that you know how it's functioning. I held on to my Instant Pot manual for like a good two weeks just to make sure that I had all of the settings down. But at some point you become pretty confident with whatever it is that you're trying to use. And also all of the manuals are online. So it's really easy to get whatever information it is you're looking for. Holiday or greeting cards. These are really difficult for a lot of people to get rid of because they feel guilty once they're given a card. Sounds really nice that somebody gave it to them and it sounds mean to throw it away. So instead, they'll store it in a drawer or a box. But then won't remember to go back and actually go through those cards and get rid of the ones that are super old. So whatever amount of time you feel comfortable with holding on to your greeting cards, thank you cards, holiday cards is totally fine. But remember to go back and sift through those eventually to throw out the ones that have passed that date. And finally, I want to empower you to declutter any remote controls that are no longer being used. This could be remote controls that you don't even remember what it went with or you no longer have that appliance. Now we have remote controls for everything, right? You have some light bulbs that come with their own little remote controls with all the color buttons on it. And so it can be really easy just to collect all of these remote controls and hold on to them because you think you might need it or you're not even sure what it goes with. So be sure to go through and make sure that the remote controls that you have are actually functional and have something that they work on. So that's it. Those are things that you might be forgetting to declutter and reminders to go ahead and get those things taken care of. If you're struggling with getting any of the clutter out the door, then I want to direct you to my free masterclass where I share my holistic clutter free formula. It's totally free and you can get the link to it down in the description. I'll catch you next week.