Lost Your Decluttering Momentum? Try This 3-Step Reset

I am always trying to avoid loss of momentum. In almost anything I’m doing: a client project, training for an event, writing a book, potty training my puppy! The reason I’m scared of losing momentum is because it is such a powerful tool. So much better than motivation. Momentum means you are building on top of success. It means you feel good about what you’ve accomplished and are excited to keep going. It feels empowering and propels you forward. It’s the secret sauce of habit formation. Decluttering momentum is key when you are in midlife.

So what do you do when life gets in the way of that precious momentum? It can happen with anything you are working to achieve but you are especially vulnerable when you decades of stuff you’re trying to declutter. You get sick. You go on vacation. Work gets crazy. Suddenly there isn’t time to declutter and when the time opens up again your motivation is nowhere to be found. This feeling sucks, frankly. And it happens to a lot of people! Us midlifers have a lot to declutter and it’s very easy to fall off the momentum wagon because we aren’t talking about a week-long (or even month-long) project.

This blog is about what to do when you’ve lost your decluttering momentum and procrastination has taken its place. I have a 3 step process to get you back on track, baby! Let’s dig in.

Step 1: Give Yourself Grace

When you lose decluttering momentum, there is often a tendency to self-flagellate.

“I was doing so well”

“I guess I’m just a quitter”

“I knew this project was too big”

Stewing in those stories works against re-starting because your brain begins to take on the identity of someone who is not going to finish what you started, instead of the identity of the person who made it this far.

So if you find yourself stewing, check the facts and give yourself some grace. The fact is you stopped. And another fact is you can start again. Just because you stopped doesn’t make you a ‘quitter’; remove the drama from the soundtrack in your head.

Another fact: shit happens. Stop the self-blame game – you are merely navigating the perils of being a human. Be gentle with yourself, the way you would with another person who was feeling discouraged. Giving yourself grace will help you eventually get back on the horse. I had to use this advice on myself this week as I was reminded that the road to a potty-trained dog never did run smooth.

Step 2: Revisit Your ’Why’

Before losing your decluttering momentum, you surely had a reason why you started this decluttering odyssey in the first place. Perhaps you realized the toll your clutter was taking on your mental health. Maybe there was a room in your home you wanted to repurpose. Or you no longer wanted to be burdened by the mountain of stuff you inherited from your parents.

Whatever your reason, it should serve as your beacon and your touch-stone. Reminding yourself of your purpose helps you to get back into a growth mindset vs. a defeatist shame-spiral. And if you didn’t really have a clear purpose to begin with? Well, now is the time to get clear on the reasons why you are decluttering in the first place. Those reasons provide a  vision of how a clutter-free home will look and feel. Those feelings are what you draw on when you go to hit the Re-Start button!

Step 3: Shrink The Re-Start

If you’ve been following along here for awhile, you’ve heard me extoll the virtues of starting small. To gain decluttering muscle we begin with small spaces, short efforts and small wins. We build on those wins by moving on to bigger spaces and longer sessions.

It may be that you were knee-deep in one of those bigger spaces when you lost your decluttering momentum. Now the thought of picking up where you left off is distasteful to say the least. But here’s the thing, you don’t have to pick up where you left off!

In fact, you can go back to the basics and start small. I guarantee you can find an unintimidating space in your home that could use some decluttering. It could be as simple as dumping out your handbag or cleaning out the glove compartment in your car. Anything that is small enough to reduce the intimidation factor down to zero works fine. You can even pick a space you’ve already decluttered! That ensures it will have a zero intimidation factor!  Remember, you are re-engaging with your project by first building back the decluttering muscle you lost.

If the thought of starting again feels overwhelming, that is an indication that the place you are starting is too big.

The chances are good that your muscle memory will bounce back. Before you know it you’ll be able to attack that basement and momentum will again be yours. Stopping and starting is just a part of life. Especially midlife, when we are all talking about years and years of clutter buildup. The sooner you move from decision to action, the sooner you’ll enjoy the many benefits of momentum!