Professional organizer Carrie Powell’s book, The Midlife Edit, offers practical ways to declutter, from planning donations before sorting to setting rules for sentimental items. One technique is designed to reduce decision fatigue by making choices in groups rather than assessing every object separately.
Powell’s “inside-out” approach starts by gathering similar items—for example, bras—then pulling out the ones that fit and are regularly used. Once those priorities are set aside, the remaining items can be discarded without examining each one individually, she writes.
The book also recommends beginning in areas with few sentimental belongings, such as a medicine cabinet, before moving on to more emotionally difficult items. For keepsakes like birthday cards, Powell suggests establishing filters in advance, such as saving only cards with personal inscriptions or limiting the number kept.
Other advice focuses on making decluttering easier to complete. Powell suggests researching local donation options and their accepted items, hours and drop-off procedures before starting. She also recommends using boxes for donations, which are easy to distinguish from trash and transport.
For paper clutter, the book divides documents into three groups: originals to keep, records to digitize and papers to shred. Powell’s examples of originals include vital records and wills; items to digitize include older tax returns and lease agreements; and recurring statements and appliance manuals are among the papers she says can be shredded.
Powell also advises using organizing products only where they are useful and keeping frequently used items within easy reach. She says clear bins can help in garages and basements, while labels are most useful when household members regularly forget where things belong.
Sources: Domino.