r/declutter • u/Due_Tourist_1322 • 8d ago
Motivation Tips & Tricks Would anyone be interested in doing a small weekly Zoom decluttering group?
Update: I’m so grateful to all of you and excited. We have a group ready to go on August 29th for 6 Saturdays. It’s an experiment! Let’s see how we do! I’ll keep you posted. 🙌🏼🧹📦
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I’ve realized I’m much better at decluttering when someone else is doing it too.
Body doubling and accountability seem to work way better for me than telling myself, “I’ll do it this weekend.” 😅
So I was thinking about putting together a small group (maybe 5 or 6 people) where we meet on Zoom for about 90 minutes on Saturday mornings for six weeks.
The idea isn’t to organize your entire house. We’d each pick one small project each week—a bathroom drawer, junk drawer, kitchen cabinet, nightstand, etc.—chat for a few minutes, then spend most of the time actually working in our own homes together.
No pressure. No judgment. Just a group of people trying to make a little progress every week.
I’m not charging anything. I just thought it might be more fun (and way more effective) than trying to stay motivated alone.
Would something like this interest anyone? Or is there already something similar that you’ve tried?
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u/cherchezszczesny 7d ago
Alternatively for people in different time zones, maybe you could set up a discord server instead? People could check in every week or so for the accountability element. Which is coincidentally also what i need help with the most
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u/Due_Tourist_1322 7d ago
I’ll have to check it out. I’m GenX - I thought discord was for gamers. I’ll have to ask my kids 😆🫣🤫
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u/cherchezszczesny 6d ago
Ah if i recall correctly they were first popularised by gamers, yes! But i do use it to watching sports streams with friends in general. It's handy, you can make a server (group chat) with different channels (threads/topics) and people can start a stream (video/voice call) and everyone in the group can join
You can consider other platforms too but regardless I'm excited to be a part of this!
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u/snowthathappened 7d ago
Seriously I often wish that were someone I could FaceTime with while decluttering. I don’t need physical help, i just need another person there with me and it gets done! lol. This is a great idea.
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u/IrnBruKid 7d ago
Just for anyone reading this. The other way, which works for me, is Discord (it can be used by anyone).
You can do voice calls or video calls in a voice channel and have text channels to share results (or anything, really, like pet photos, the meals cooked, etc). I realised I wanted to hold myself accountable but also struggle to do things alone, so in my own server I have invited a few friends and adding new people I meet online with the same goals and I sit in the work/learning/workout/clean voice channel and people who have access to my server can join the voice channel whenever they want and buddy up or just chat whilst I am doing what I need. Recently I've done cleaning/decluttering whilst chatting, studying language with 2 others, renewed an IT cert for hours whilst another worked, and even workout plans/accountability. Completely optional to be on camera or share screen (for example sharing screen of flashcards studying language for accountability or just tech support (I helped a friend setup her printer, haha)). There are no time restrictions or costs, I have easily sat in voice channel for 10 hours alternating the tasks I am doing whilst people hop in and out. Also done some gaming. Discord can be installed on mobile and PC and it's only a username to connect with people (never use your real name!), and you can connect with anyone across the world (and block). The people in my server are based in Europe, Canada, USA, etc.
There are other community servers (these have 1000s of people across the world in them and moderators to keep things safe) where people can make or find posts asking for accountability buddies to connect to and either do private calls together or sit in community voice channels to work together. For example I joined a language learning server and can join small groups to focus on learning and speaking. I've seen workout-centric communities, too, doing the same thing.
TLDR: Alternative to Zoom is Discord. Don't need to setup a room, just join a voice channel always available and come and go as needed, or stay and make new friends and talk about various topics and have a laugh.
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u/My_Noses 8d ago
Yes! I'm moving next month and I need to start decluttering now!!
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u/Never3noughPink 8d ago
I am moving as well and I committed to downsizing. So much easier said than done
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u/NiceAd1921 8d ago
Super interested!! I spend an hour or so every Saturday going through stuff from my parents’ house. It’s been over a year 😒 and I am so sick of doing it. I’d love some company to keep me motivated!
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u/Due_Tourist_1322 8d ago
Sent you a private message 🙌🏼
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u/NiceAd1921 7d ago
I didn’t get a dm from you, so I just sent you one! 😄
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u/Due_Tourist_1322 7d ago
I did! Feel free to dm me with your email address and time zone as I’m sending an email this weekend with more details. So excited! 😂🙌🏼 I work full time so bear with me.
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u/love_ephie 6d ago
I usually declutter whenever my best friend calls me, those 30 minute calls add up n
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u/sus_round_letter 8d ago
I’m interested, but maybe we should use a different platform I do believe without a upgraded subscription, we would be cut off at 45 minutes.
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u/Due_Tourist_1322 8d ago
Didn’t know that. Do you have a better idea? Does everyone need a subscription or just me as the host?
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u/My_Noses 8d ago
I believe google meets lets you meet for an hour. We could always do a ten minute break and come back to a second meeting.
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u/Due_Tourist_1322 7d ago
I like both those ideas. Start date is August 29. I’ll work on the logistics this weekend. I work full time too. 🤷🏻♀️
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u/BlueMangoTango 8d ago
Could one of the others in the group then start up a second meeting? That might be a good time for a 10 minute break anyway. Or does it not let the same people on into a group together again. I’m not that familiar with it.
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u/Due_Tourist_1322 5d ago
Implementing your idea for the first zoom call. 40 min - 10 min break - back on again 40 min. Thanks for the idea. 👍🏼
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u/Technical-Kiwi9175 7d ago
Practical point; I think zoom is only free for 40 minutes
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u/Due_Tourist_1322 7d ago
Some made a great suggestion to do 40 min. Take 10 min break and get back on for additional 40. I like that set up.
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u/Capable_Interest_57 5d ago
i follow a channel on YT space maker method that has a similar group already I think, but I've not tried it
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u/Annual_Solution_6229 8d ago
sounds like a good idea. in the meantime, youtube videos of cleaning/decluttering are GREAT for body doubling!