Why I Waited So Long to Clean Out My Closet

I would take down a top and put it on, only to immediately take it off again.  It was too tight, too short, or not flattering.  Then I would hang it up again, because you know, if I just lost 10 pounds, I’m sure I could wear it.  It’s a perfectly good top. 

This cycle was on repeat.  Every day I wasted 20 minutes trying to figure out what to wear.  Trying things on. Taking them off.  Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t as serious as some of the closet articles you see trying to sell you an app. It wasn’t ruining my marriage or keeping me from going out.  I wasn’t having a personal crisis over my closet. But I WAS annoyed. 

I should be able to fix this mess.  And I should be able to lose those 10 pounds.  Then I’d rush through the rest of my morning. 

Something had to change.

Something doesn’t have to be a crisis before it’s worth fixing.  I needed to figure out why I kept putting this off.

If I was being honest with myself, I was simply overwhelmed at the thought of tackling that closet. There was so much in there, and every item required a decision.  I didn’t know where to start.  And it’s hard for me to let go of things.  What if I get rid of that dress I haven’t worn in a year and then need it a month from now?  Silly, I know, but that’s where I was.

Then there was the reality of seeing how much of my closet was too small for me to wear anymore.  It was a reminder that I had “let myself go.” I’m on a fitness journey and losing weight is part of it.  If I kept the clothes that were too small, I would eventually be able to wear them, right?  I thought it was wasteful to get rid of them only to turn around and buy new clothes when I lost weight.

Then I must admit, I have a little obsession with the idea of a capsule wardrobe.  It seems so simple.  Fewer choices, but quality items that make it easy to feel put together.  At least in theory, everything works together, everything fits, and getting dressed is easy. I read about creating a capsule wardrobe, I pinned examples and lists on Pinterest, I even bought two different capsule wardrobe apps I thought might help. I found the apps disappointing when their suggested capsule was full of clothes I didn’t like and wouldn’t wear.  I still didn’t know how to actually create one.  And why would I do that anyway when I still needed to lose weight?  It wasn’t the right time for that investment.

Once I could see what was holding me back, it was time to change my thinking.

I had a lot of reasons, some might call them excuses, for not dealing with my closet.  But somehow, I had turned cleaning out my closet into a much bigger project than it actually needed to be.

Was I just overthinking this? 

I know that for me, weight loss is a long-term goal.  I want to lose it in a healthy way, because my goal is to be healthy, not skinny.  In fact, I normally don’t describe my fitness goals as weight loss.  It could take me a year or more to reach my goals.  Was I okay putting up with this closet for the next year?  No, I wasn’t.  I also knew that I was going to donate anything I decided I didn’t need.  That is not wasteful at all.  It’s helping someone else.  And when I reach my goals, I deserve some new pieces to celebrate my hard work.

As for the capsule wardrobe, it would be great, but it wasn’t something I had to figure out right now.  I decided to keep looking into it and making a plan, but I wouldn’t let it keep me from what would be the first step anyway…cleaning the closet.

The reality was that I was overwhelming myself!  The fact that I haven’t reached my fitness goals yet does not make me a failure.  I’m still working on them.  But current me deserves a closet full of clothes she can actually wear.  Not future me. Current me. So, I got to work.

I decided to break the closet down into very small pieces I could handle in 15 minutes or less.  Every weekend, I scheduled a section to take care of. I broke it down into tops, pants, skirts, dresses, shoes, accessories, and purses.  Some weekends I did multiple sections.  Some weekends I only did one.  But every weekend I made progress.  I took each item out, tried it on, and made an honest assessment.  Had I worn it recently? Would I actually wear it if I put it on tomorrow morning? Did it fit properly right now? If the answer to any of these questions was no, then it had to go.  It took me three weeks to finish the job.