The process of decluttering your home can be overwhelming. Sometimes to the point of paralysis. You’re just in so deep that you don’t even know where to start. So instead, you do nothing. And I’m betting that clutter is starting to take a toll on your mental health. These 5 simple decluttering tips will help you get started today.
I’ve been on a personal mission to declutter our home for this exact reason. With three kids and busy schedules, it’s still not where I’d like it to be, but I’ve made great progress, and you can too.
Remember that your decluttering journey will be specific to your home and the items it needs to function properly. These are some concepts that have helped me, so take what resonates with you personally and ignore the rest.
Decluttering Tips
- Be realistic
- Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your home won’t be perfect overnight. Give yourself some grace and know that any progress you make is better than nothing at all.
- Start small
- If you’re just getting started, pick one small area to tackle for a quick win. Maybe a kitchen utensil drawer, shoe bin or junk drawer. Eliminate distractions. Set a timer for 15-20 minutes and accomplish as much as you can. You’ll be surprised how much you can do in a short period of time when you make it a priority.
- Set up stations
- The first thing I do when I’m decluttering a space is to set up “stations.” It doesn’t have to be fancy. Garbage bags, cardboard boxes, laundry baskets, etc…… Something that’s easily portable from room to room. Label them with the following categories:
- Trash: Anything that’s broken, has holes in it, or just straight up trash.
- Keep: You love it, and use it.
- Relocate: Items you choose to keep, but need to be moved to the appropriate place.
- Donate: Items in a good useable condition that can be passed on.
- Sell: Be cautious here and have a plan. I use Facebook Marketplace for larger items like furniture and home decor. Mercari has been profitable for me to sell clothing in like new condition. If it doesn’t sell within a week I donate. Otherwise it’s still clutter.
- Unsure: Items you’re not ready to fully commit to eliminating. Often times sentimental items, which are the hardest to declutter, will fall here. Place them in this bin, and come back to in a few hours or the next day with a clear head.
- The first thing I do when I’m decluttering a space is to set up “stations.” It doesn’t have to be fancy. Garbage bags, cardboard boxes, laundry baskets, etc…… Something that’s easily portable from room to room. Label them with the following categories:
- Mindset is everything: The following are common excuses for keeping items when it comes to decluttering, and how a quick mindset shift will help you move past them.
- “But I spent x amount of $ on this!” “It feels so wasteful to get rid of it!”
- Yes, it is wasteful, but you wasted the money when you purchased something you didn’t need, not when you eliminate the clutter.
- “But I NEED this!”
- But do you? Ask yourself how many times you’ve used the item in the past 30 days. Unless it’s seasonally specific (ski pants, a winter coat, etc….) chances are you don’t NEED it near as much as you think.
- “I can fix that / use it for something else”
- As a creative DIY-er my garage is a true testimony to this one! Again, if you don’t have a specific plan to fix it or upcycle it within the next 30-60 days. Let. It. Go. Not to mention, it’s really hard to fix or create anything when your tools are buried in clutter.
- “But I spent x amount of $ on this!” “It feels so wasteful to get rid of it!”
- Be intentional with your purchases
- As you move through your decluttering process, you also need to be very mindful of what you allow back into your home. Each of those items you’ve worked so hard to eliminate can be easily replaced with new clutter if you’re not careful. Before making new purchases, ask yourself the following questions.
- Do I have a designated place for this?
- Do I already own something similar?
- Could this purchase wait for 30 days? If the answer is yes, you probably don’t need it anyways.
- As you move through your decluttering process, you also need to be very mindful of what you allow back into your home. Each of those items you’ve worked so hard to eliminate can be easily replaced with new clutter if you’re not careful. Before making new purchases, ask yourself the following questions.
I hope these decluttering tips have been helpful to you! Remember that the decluttering process is a journey, but every tiny little step you take adds up to a big impact in the end.
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