1 00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:09,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, 2 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's 3 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: tip is that when you are decluttering, it is fine 4 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:28,520 Speaker 1: on the first pass to keep items that you find useful, beautiful, inherited, 5 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: or hopeful. Allowing for all of these categories may keep 6 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: you from getting derailed. Today's tip, like another this week, 7 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:44,199 Speaker 1: comes from Emily Grovenor's book Find Yourself at Home, a 8 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:49,519 Speaker 1: conscious approach to shaping your space and your life. Grovenor 9 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: says decluttering is all about making room for change and 10 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: new energies, while also simplifying and making life less stressful. 11 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:06,040 Speaker 1: She proposes you beautiful, inherited, and hopeful as the categories 12 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:09,400 Speaker 1: of objects you might want to keep. You can let 13 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: go of objects that don't fit in any of these categories. 14 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,680 Speaker 1: Useful and beautiful are familiar screens. You are not going 15 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:22,480 Speaker 1: to get rid of a blender if you use it 16 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,679 Speaker 1: every morning to make your smoothie, and you won't give 17 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:27,760 Speaker 1: away a painting hanging in your living room that you 18 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: find aesthetically pleasing. Unless your space is tight, items that 19 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,199 Speaker 1: are useful or beautiful have a reason to be there. 20 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: I am reminded of the frequently quoted guidance of William Morris, 21 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: a designer from the Arts and Crafts movement. Have nothing 22 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:45,399 Speaker 1: in your houses that you do not know to be 23 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: useful or believed to be beautiful. If you know something 24 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:54,639 Speaker 1: is usefuler believe it's beautiful, then keep it. The additional categories, however, 25 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: are less talked about, but I think that if you 26 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: want to make progress decluttering, they are quite helpful For starters. 27 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: It just seems practical to let inherited be a category 28 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: of item you'll be slower to get rid of. You 29 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 1: are a lot less likely to get rid of something 30 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: with memories that are attached to it. It seems worth 31 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: acknowledging that to speed up the decluttering process. Now, maybe 32 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: if you live in a tiny apartment and you just 33 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 1: inherited a whole houseful of furniture, you'll need to rethink this. 34 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: But lots of people stop decluttering because they get to 35 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: Grandma's china. Everything gets emotional, and then their energy for 36 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 1: cleaning things just dissipates. What's left is piles of stuff, 37 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: including things that really could go, but they happen to 38 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: surface after the china, and so there they sit as 39 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 1: for hopeful. This isn't just about being over prepared. Plenty 40 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: of people keep you can openers even though they just 41 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: use the first one maybe once a week. If you 42 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: don't own any king sized beds, there isn't a whole 43 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 1: lot of use for king sized bedding. It's unlikely to 44 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:13,959 Speaker 1: come up in a situation where you can't just figure 45 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:19,799 Speaker 1: something else out. But hopeful is different. This is about 46 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: visions you have of your life that you hope will 47 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: come true, even if that is not your life right now. 48 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: Maybe you bought knitting needles and beautiful yarn the last 49 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: time you got together with a friend who is an 50 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: enthusiastic knitter, even if you are not knitting now but 51 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: would like to learn how keeping the knitting supplies could 52 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: be an act of hope. It might spark an effort 53 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: to find online videos or a local class where you 54 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 1: can learn a hobby that gives your friend so much joy. 55 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: Or you might call your friend whenever you see those 56 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: knitting needles and frankly, I think that would be a 57 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: win too. Or maybe you have a set of toy 58 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: blocks that you played with as a kid and you 59 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: would love to have your own kids play with Even 60 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:16,280 Speaker 1: if you don't have kids now but want to in 61 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 1: the future, it can be okay to keep the blocks. 62 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: Hope matters, just like being useful or beautiful. The upside 63 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: of expanding the keep category to include the inherited and 64 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: the hopeful is that it removes a lot of the 65 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: emotional pressure from decluttering. Most people are fine with getting 66 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: rid of trash or broken things, or even everyday stuff 67 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: that doesn't get worn. It's the stuff with the memories 68 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:50,520 Speaker 1: or the stuff that's a story you are trying to 69 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: tell about your life that is complicated, So take that 70 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: out of the equation for now. Maybe eventually you will 71 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:04,039 Speaker 1: just that Grandma's china needs another home, but keeping it 72 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: for now means you can get rid of all the 73 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: other knickknacks you don't like in your dining room. And 74 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: if that is the case, then keeping it serves a 75 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: very useful, beautiful purpose. In the meantime, This is Laura, 76 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of 77 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've 78 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 1: got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at 79 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a 80 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit 81 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 82 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: your favorite shows s