I’m struggling with decluttering after hoarding for over 10 years

[anotherDayofThis]

I was a hoarder and started trying to sort my home out over a year ago.

Had a break as had a baby during lockdown and since august I’ve restarted the effort and I am exhausted!

There’s too much stuff !!!! Every DAY I’m getting rid of approx 3-4 bin bags full. I’m seeing no improvement yet and I’m so desperate to get it done by nov so that I can then decorate for Xmas and relax for once but I’m losing motivation.

I’m making the mistake I think of not doing one area at a time ? As in I’ll think ‘oh I’m in the kitchen the foods cooking il do that one drawer’ then later ‘dc in the bath , I’ll sit here by the door decluttering the books’ or ‘dc watching CBeebies so I’ll declutter the toys in the playroom’ and I just don’t do one job at a time so every room is partially done .

Any tips ? Or something that will motivate me as it’s Sunday and I just want to sit down but I know I have to get on and declutter more and I’m exhausted

@anotherDayofThis

I got a lot done yest but made the unpleasant discovery of a lot of damp and mould behind some of the accumulated rubbish so spent the evening sorting that out 😬

Oh nooo. I feel your pain a bit. Dh caught the cleaning bug yesterday too and went to wipe some mould off the corner of our son's wall. There waa a leak last year that has now been fixed but it's obviously deep rooted amd has still been coming out the wall. Well, the lining paper disintegrated and the wall behind it too. The plastee had turned to dust and just kept pouring out. So DS current has a hole filled with cloths to help dry it out.

Well done OP for making a start, my understanding is that hoarding is a very difficult problem to properly overcome. Are you in SW London by any chance? I'm happy to come and help as a compassionate, but slightly ruthless random friend if you like! x (please pm me if so)

OP you're doing a great job. I'm attempting something similar. I've gone through my wardrobe culling, put things I want to keep but not wear now into underbed storage boxes (I love ikea), now I'm just sorting through the other random boxes/kids clothes etc in the room.

Then I can start on the other rooms! I think little and often is the best approach, but get organised so you have boxes for bin/store/keep so it's easily to sort when you only have a few minutes.

Another two hours today, 3 bags full I suspect have thrown it on spare room bed to sort into charity and rags.

Tomorrow will sort out shoes, boots and bags. Hoover and our bedroom is done.

I put Rosewood on my phone to listen to whilst cleaning. I find streaming Netflix, prime or Disney star makes boring jobs more bearable

well done @justasking111
I've been through some of the kitchen cupboards today. heavens above. DH has almost crippled himself trying to get the bags/ boxes out.
I'm sort of doing it at same time as a friend in the US. She has got someone coming weekly to help her.

I think my Dad was a hoarder because he was orphaned as a youngster before WWII, and never had anything to call his own as he was passed from hand to hand.

Do you have the funds/space for a skip OP? We did the same earlier in the year and it made such a huge difference. Having the time limit of the week we had the skip for meant I had to get on with it, and being able to just chuck stuff straight in was amazing because it was straight out of the house. I did have a lot of stuff that was completely damaged by damp and mould from the garage/loft though so I couldn't have charity shopped it. If it's an option, I really would recommend it.

I would definitely do one room at a time. Then when you are feeling overwhelmed you can go to something you've already done and feel good about yourself and breathe in the peace.

I don't know if they have these in the uk.. can you rent a large dumpster? Maybe for one weekend and then have family come over and help and just get rid of everything you possibly can? I would get rid of anything you're saving for the future, by the time you get there you'll probably prefer something new.

Last I would make sure you have adequate storage and a place to put things! Some of the ikea shelving is pretty good and you can get boxes to slide right in. You want to make sure you have a place to put the stuff you keep. You can do it!!

I highly recommend YouTube videos of joshua becker. Calm and inspiring and short!