114 - Heather Says It’s Okay: Boxing Day Decluttering Without the Pressure

Summary

In this episode of Decluttering Untangled, Heather Tingle addresses the post-holiday chaos and the feelings of overwhelm that often accompany this time of year. 

A gentle episode for when your energy is low, your house feels loud, and even thinking about a fresh start is too much.

She emphasises the importance of self-care and offers simple decluttering wins that can be accomplished without adding stress. Heather introduces the concept of HSIO (Heather Says It's Okay) to give listeners permission to take it easy and prioritise their well-being. She also discusses the difference between reasons and excuses for not achieving goals, encouraging listeners to be kind to themselves during this reflective period.

Chapters

00:00
Navigating the Post-Holiday Chaos

06:57
Simple Decluttering Wins for the New Year

08:45
Understanding Reasons vs. Excuses

Transcript

Heather Tingle (00:00.984)
Hello, Untanglers, and welcome back to another episode of Decluttering Untangled with me, your host, Heather Tingle. Now, this episode is released on Boxing Day, and if you are listening around release date, then welcome to the weird bit. So that weird bit between Christmas and New Year, where you have no idea what date is, and the house looks like a bomb's hit it, and you're all a bit tired out, all a bit stressed, all a bit, it's all a bit much.

and it can feel a lot. So it might be that your energy's low, brains are a little bit foggy, or it might be like most people I know, everyone's bodies have suddenly decided they're gonna get a cold or you're gonna get flu or something's gonna happen. So the house is poorly and it's a lot, isn't it? So brains are foggy, expectations are really loud, all the things that you wanna get done in the holiday, or actually you're gonna force yourself to be happy and relax.

And let's face it, that isn't always the way either. So let's be clear right from the beginning. This is not a reset episode. This is not a fresh start, new you kind of thing. It is not. We are in shutdown mode at the moment. We're in tired, weary, just batteries run down episode. So this is not a let's get organised for the new year situation. This is a, it'll be fine episode. It'll be reyt as we say in Yorkshire.

because I am gonna give you HSIO, which stands for Heather Says It's Okay. Now, if you are in my world, you will be familiar with HSIO. A HSIO is usually when people want permission to do something and I tell them, yes, it is okay, you get a HSIO. So, I am gonna give you today three little decluttering wins, but they might not be that little for you. Now, I'm gonna tell you them. Not rooms, not surfaces, not drawers.

These are things you can do sitting down with your stuff around you, wrapped in a blanket with a cup of tea going cold next to you, that is fine. However, if you are tired, if you are weary, if everything is a bit much, you do not have to do these. It is okay. I am gonna give you a HSIO straight away that you don't always need to be decluttering. Sometimes the best thing to do is to relax.

Heather Tingle (02:21.676)
Now, that can feel very hard when you are surrounded by stuff. So, if you want to get moving and you want to do a little something, then there are a couple of ideas for you, but don't feel that you have to do them just because I'm giving them you now. This might be a, okay, yeah, I'll remember to do that at some point and I'll write it in my diary or set myself reminded to do it. I'll revisit this episode when I am ready to get started again. So, the first one is dead batteries because this time of year...

We borrow the remote control batteries to put in the toys that the kids got for Christmas because we forgot to buy the batteries for them or we just go with the junk drum and there's like loose batteries. In my handbag, there's always loose batteries from clients. There's always, I put them in my pocket to take them and then I put them in a bag. So there's always batteries around in my house, but dead batteries. Now, I do not want you to put them in the normal rubbish because they can cause fires. What I want you to do is put them in a little bag, a little food bag is fine.

and I want you to put them somewhere where you're going to remember to take them with you when you next go to a shop that has a battery disposal space. So for me, it's my local supermarket. So they would go by the window. So when I go to leave the house and get my keys, they're there, I grab them and actually remember to take them with me. It might be that you put them in the console of your car. It might be that you put them in with your shopping bags. Where are you going to put them? So have a look at your dead batteries.

So we're not doing a whole draw, not doing a big sort out, we're not testing absolutely everything. If something didn't work yesterday, today, we're gonna take the batteries out of it and we're going to put them in that bag. There we go. You've removed a future tiny irritation, which let's face it, happens so often when you need that battery to work and then you put another dead one in, or you got those ones that are half dead and they'd ever work properly. So have a look around your home, see you can find some dead batteries and get them all together. It's gonna be one less thing to annoy you in January when things don't work right.

and that is a massive win for Decutterim. The second one is gift bags. Let's talk about the ones that you didn't use for Christmas this year and funnily enough, I've been in that cupboard or in that bag of bags for the past five years and still never been actually given away. You know, those wine bags, but you never actually give wine to anybody or the bags that maybe had something written on them on the tag and so you used one that had got a tag that hadn't been written on.

Heather Tingle (04:43.789)
Let's let them go. And it is okay. You do get a HSIO to put them in the rubbish or recycling bin if appropriate, rather than find the right exit for them. So make a list of those. Maybe grab them when you are next going to a craft place or next time someone needs something, instead of putting it or put your gift to charity in there, your donations, put them in a gift bag rather than in a carrier bag. Let's let them go because...

There are a limit to how many we can actually give away in a year. And I can guarantee you've got more bags than you've got gifts to give people. So let's let them go. So you get a HSAO for those. And the third one, I'm actually gonna give you another one before this one actually. I'm going to give you the wrapping paper that you got yesterday or this Christmas or this holiday if you do not celebrate Christmas that you thought just needed a bit of like, know, straightening out maybe a bit of an iron to reuse.

that you never actually are going to because you just can't ever remember it every time you want to use it and that you get new each time or use the same stuff each time and not that little bit because you haven't quite found the right parcel for that little bit because it's not quite big enough for the parcels that you buy. Let it go. It's OK to put it in recycling. Let it go. It's OK. And the third one, proper third one is instruction leaflets from yesterday, from Christmas. So the ones for toys.

Who reads the instruction leaflet? For most things, we do not read the instruction leaflets for hardly anything these days, except maybe like board games, which, you know, I would say keep that one. But for toys, gadgets, something with buttons on, and actually you just press the buttons because let's face it, ADHD kicks in and who has time to read the blooming instructions anyway? Let them go. If it's set up and it's working, get rid of the leaflet. And if you want to go totally crazy, let's get rid of the box as well.

because the box does not give really that much extra money if you resell it. It's highly unlikely you are gonna resell it. And if you did, how long are you gonna keep hold of that before you actually resell it? Isn't it better to have a decult at home rather than the box taking up space? So have a look and see what boxes and leaflets you can get rid of today. Because let's face it, instruction leaflets are always in a pile for later to be filed away or I'll deal with this later.

Heather Tingle (07:06.817)
And then let's face it, when we need something, we just go to Google and ask Google what this error code is or what's wrong with it. Or a lot of the time, it's something that you would never even fix if it broke. You would just get a new one. So let it go. So there are a few little easy wins for you. Mitch might not always feel like easy wins. They might feel actually quite difficult. If they feel difficult, let them go for the time being. Declutter your brain first. Because the bit I really want to get through to you today is something I sent in an email.

to my wonderful community the other day. And this time of year has a funny way of making people reflect and look back and feel behind, behind on tidying, behind on life, behind on decluttering, behind on who they thought they'd be or where they'd be by now. But you know what? Have a look at why. Really have a look at this year might have taken more from you than you realize. It might have been like me, you're in burnout.

Might be that you extra responsibilities to happen. It might be that life happened and things happened to you. Might be that for me, I had to advocate for my daughter. It might be that you had to hold things together. It might be that you were poorly. These are not excuses. They're reasons. And there's a massive difference between excuses and reasons. And I really want you to realize that these are not excuses to why you didn't do stuff this year. They are reasons as to why you didn't do stuff and very good reasons. They matter and they count.

So if you manage one thing today, that is enough. If you manage to put the wrapping paper into the rubbish, then that's enough for today. If you manage to wash some pots today, that's enough. And you know what? You don't even have to do that things today. Leave it, it's okay. Because a lot of the time we think we're lazy, actually we're tired and we're weary.

So I'm giving you a head that says it's okay because you're not lazy. You're not failing. You're tired a lot of the time. So be aware of that. Remember it's not an excuse. It's a reason. So on a little more upbeat, I am here to help you with everything when you've got the capacity. I am around. I am in on my emails. I am in this podcast, which you can always message me and I can't always reply back to podcasts because it doesn't, I can't reply if you send me a message, but.

Heather Tingle (09:26.018)
be aware that I do read every single one. And if you need support with something, send me a message and I'll do a podcast about it. We've also got the Facebook group, which over Christmas and the new year, I am gonna be on social media a lot of the time. So feel free to post in the Facebook group if you need support with something because I will be there for you. So remember until next time, please remember you're not alone. Be kind to yourself and keep untangling.