Living Clutter Free Forever - decluttering tips,home organizing, minimalist living

How to declutter like your life depends on it. 3 Tips to safeguard essentials in an emergency situation #139

• Caroline Thor - Professional Organizer - KonMari® Consultant

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What if you had to leave your home in minutes?

Would you know what to grab? Could you even find it?

We never want to think about emergencies, but being prepared is life-changing—and decluttering is your first step.

In this episode of Living Clutter Free Forever, I’ll share three powerful strategies to help you safeguard what matters most. This isn’t just about tidying—it’s about protecting memories, reducing overwhelm, and creating a clutter-free home where you can breathe easier.

A cluttered house slows you down. A well-organized space empowers you.

Using the KonMari Method and other practical declutter strategies, I’ll show you how to:
✔️ Identify the essentials
✔️ Create systems that work in any crisis
✔️ Turn small wins into big peace of mind

Because intentional living isn’t just about having a tidy home. It’s about feeling prepared, calm, and in control—even in the toughest situations.

So ask yourself:
👉 If disaster struck tomorrow, are you ready?
👉 What’s stopping you from taking control of your space today?

Don’t wait for a “forced reset” to find clarity. Decluttering now is your chance to choose what stays, let go of what doesn’t, and enjoy the freedom of a lighter life.

🎧 Tune in for insights that might just change the way you think about your home—and your future.

Listen now. Your clutter-free, intentional life starts here. ✨

I would LOVE to hear from you. Text Message me here.

Get your home tidy in just 15 minutes a day! Grab my FREE 15 Minute Declutter Kickstart Guide HERE!

Thanks for listening! For more organizational motivation, support and free resources:
Join my online membership Clutter Free Collective
Join my podcast Facebook group Living Clutter Free Forever Podcast: KonMari® Inspired Organizing | Facebook
Visit my website www.caroline-thor.com
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Follow me on Facebook @carolineorganizer

Speaker 1:

Hi there, I'm Caroline Thor, professional organiser, konmari, consultant, teacher and mum of three. I started off my life as a mum feeling overwhelmed, disorganised and desperately trying to carve out some time for me amongst the nappies, chaos and clutter. One day, one small book called the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying changed everything and I began to learn strategies for making everyday life easier. Today, I have the systems in place that means life can throw almost anything at me, and I want to share them with you. If you're an overwhelmed mum struggling to keep it together, then this is the podcast for you. Grab a coffee and settle in for a quick chat with someone who gets your reality. Hello and welcome back to the living clutter-free forever podcast. If you've listened before and if you haven't, I'm caroline.

Speaker 1:

I am a british konmari, a professional organizer living in Germany for the past 19 years. Now, I have to be honest. This is not an episode that I had planned. I had planned out my content for the whole of January and February and then on January, the 7th the same as an awful lot of you, I'm sure I sat watching with horror the fires unfolding in LA and it really got me thinking about just how devastating it is when there is any sort of disaster or war and you lose everything. I can't even begin to imagine not having been in that situation myself how it really must feel, and if you're listening and you have been in that situation, I send you all my love and all my compassion. I'm so sorry that you had to go through that, but these sorts of events really remind us of the fragility of our homes and our possessions. I was really first confronted with this a few years ago now, when I drove with a woman I'd been supporting who had escaped from Ukraine and had come to Germany. I'd been supporting her and her cousin had also managed to leave, and she asked me if I would go with her to the station to pick her up. And I remember standing there waiting for this young woman to walk out and she had two suitcases with her and I remember thinking what on earth would I take in that situation? How do you decide what to grab in an emergency? And it really is very grounding, but also incredibly overwhelming, and so today's episode is really to discuss the preparedness and the decluttering that can help us have homes, that, if we're faced with that situation, we can make quick decisions, but also to express gratitude for the spaces that we all call home.

Speaker 1:

Now, losing everything in a natural disaster, as happened in LA or has been happening in any of these war-torn countries is, is really a forced reset. It is the ultimate declutter, and very often we will say, when we're overwhelmed with anything, oh I wish I could just set fire to it all, it's just too overwhelming. But when that actually happens, when that is a forced reset, it becomes one that is filled with grief and loss, because it's not just about material items. It's about the memories that are attached to those things that we have lost. We all know how hard it is to let go of sentimental items and actually that is the episode that I had recorded for today and that will be coming out next week and it's also about the sense of security that is tied to a home. So the things that people often miss the most in situations like this are the family photos or the heirlooms or items that are tied to personal milestones, and the difficulty of these losses and the emotional toll they take is just immeasurable. This isn't about the things, but it's about the life that they represented. So if we were to find ourselves in this situation and I hope for all of you listening.

Speaker 1:

You never do, but it's good to be prepared for an emergency. It happened that the fire started, I think the 7th of January. On the 10th of January, in the village next to mine, a family of five had to leave their home that was on fire, literally in the clothes they were wearing. They had no time to take anything and they lost everything. The home was completely burnt to the ground. So I think that, although it's not something we ever want to imagine will happen to us, it is sensible to be prepared and to have almost like a grab and go list, the essential things to take in an emergency.

Speaker 1:

So those things that are really essential and difficult to replace are your IDs and important documents, potentially medications and a small first aid kit, sentimental items like photos and keepsakes, and then basic supplies like cash, a phone charger, etc. But, quite honestly, the medication can be replaced. The basic supplies like cash and phone charger can be replaced. Eventually, ids and important documents can be replaced, although that really is a major hassle. The sentimental items the photos and the keepsakes are really the things that it's just impossible to replace and I think we need a bit of a reality check here.

Speaker 1:

If we have got a home that is really cluttered, it can make it harder to find and grab these essentials quickly. If you haven't got a system set up, if you haven't got it organized, that you know, were this to happen this is where they are and I could just grab them then you are going to be struggling to pack or grab things efficiently in a cluttered space. It's going to slow you down. So there are some practical solutions that you can have to be ready. One of these is you can use a fireproof and waterproof pouch or pouches for important documents and a few of your favorite photos. So I have sort of an A4 or US letter size fire and waterproof wallet. In there I have documents that are going to be really hard to replace and in there I also have copies of the insurance stuff. So that were the worst to happen and I don't manage to pick up this pouch to take with me. Hopefully they will survive the fire because the pouch is meant to be fireproof, meant to be Never tested it, but meant to be.

Speaker 1:

And I have another smaller pouch, again fire and waterproof, which our passports are kept in and I always take them on holiday in that as well so that if something were to happen on holiday we wouldn't lose them and we would be able to get home again. Having a small pre-packed bag with key items can be really helpful and, again, keep these in an easily accessible spot. It really got me thinking because our key items that are in these fire and waterproof pouches I also have in there a few photos as well that I would be devastated if they were lost, but these are kept in the cellar so I can't just if the house were on fire I wouldn't be running down to the cellar to grab them. So maybe I need to think about bringing them upstairs and having them in a place where they would be more easily accessible. That really got me thinking when I was watching these awful images coming from LA.

Speaker 1:

And you also need to think about decluttering as a way of almost safeguarding your life, and I know that sounds really dramatic, but if you have got a very cluttered house, it can hinder your safety and decision-making in an emergency. It may. If you're really cluttered house, it can hinder your safety and decision making in an emergency. It may, if you're really cluttered, even hinder your exit from your property. So a clear and organized home allows for quicker, calmer action and it will also give you peace of mind. So decluttering is not only going to simplify your everyday life, but it is also going to provide reassurance during a crisis.

Speaker 1:

And as we go through the decluttering process, we can reflect on the privilege that we have now of choosing what we keep. Those people in LA have lost that choice. You, as someone who has not suffered a disaster like this, are now in a really privileged position, are now in a really privileged position. You get to make a choice now about what you want to keep and what you are choosing to let go. You're not having that choice taken away from you and it really is an amazing opportunity to go through your belongings and to decide what's meaningful for you. If we apply the KonMari method, what sparks joy for you.

Speaker 1:

That is something that I felt desperately sad for the people of LA watching these homes burning, because they really have had that choice taken away from them and so many of us complain away from them and so many of us complain I don't have the time to declutter, I don't have the energy to declutter. I think lots of those people that unfortunately and desperately sadly lost their homes would wish that they had that time again, and I think we owe it to them to move forward, looking at our decluttering as an amazing choice and a gift that we have. So decluttering is going to allow you to enjoy your home and be grateful for your home, and to have your home as a place that really is a space for joy and not just storage. We need to be grateful for the process, because decluttering is an opportunity to reflect on what adds value to our lives. To reflect on what adds value to our lives, and when we compare this to the experience of those who lose everything and have no choice, then it should really fill us with immense gratitude that we get to be able to do this. So declutter with gratitude. Keep only what serves you and what sparks joy for you, and let go of the rest for the appreciation of the role that it has had in your life.

Speaker 1:

If this has been a little bit of a heavy topic for you today, I'm sorry for that, but I think it's just so important to reflect on how our homes and possessions can be lost in an instant, but at the end of the day, the love and the memories they hold will endure and our spaces deserve to reflect our values and properties.

Speaker 1:

So be thankful for your ability to decide what stays and what goes, and go forward from today and use that choice to create a home that brings peace and joy for you and your family, remembering that decluttering is not about perfection. It's about making your life lighter and brighter, one small step at a time. Until next time. If you've enjoyed this episode, please send the link to a friend you know would appreciate it, subscribe and leave a review. I look forward to bringing you more organising tips next time, but if you can't wait until then, you can go to my website or find me on instagram, at carothor, or on facebook at carolineorganizer. Thanks for listening and I look forward to guiding you on your journey to find your clutter free ever after.