How To Start Decluttering When You’re Drowning In Stuff
This realistic action plan helps you start your decluttering journey without getting overwhelmed so you start seeing progress quickly and maintain motivation to keep going.
Tell me if this sounds familiar. You walk into a cluttered room to get something you can’t remember where it is, you stub your toe on a piece of furniture you meant to sell two months ago, open a closet and an avalanche of stuff falls off the top shelf, and you give up on looking for that missing item because it’s not worth the trouble.
You promise yourself you’ll declutter that room and never have a mess like this again. But over the course of the day, you notice clutter in more rooms. And cabinets. And drawers and closets and baskets and bags. That’s when you realize you’re drowning in stuff you don’t need and have no idea where to even start.
As a professional organizer and a former “stuff drowner” I can completely relate. And you’re in the right place if you want to tackle the clutter for real this time. Here’s my quick start to decluttering guide guaranteed to see progress and keep you motivated.
Starting To Declutter The Organized-ish Way
Let’s be real, decluttering is stressful. So many decisions to make, so little patience. The reason most people quit within the first day of decluttering is because they think too much into it. Yes, eventually you will need to make some hard decisions, but not in the beginning. If you’ve tried and failed before, this system is going to bring back that purging confidence. Ready to get started?
Start With Trash
You’d be amazed at how much trash ends up in our houses. And not just in trash cans, but all over! Tags we clipped off new clothes, shipping boxes that haven’t been broken down, junk mail on the counter, empty candle jars, the list goes on and on.
Nothing motivates you more than progress, and progress has to be seen in order for your brain to register it. So here’s what you’re going to do.
- Grab a trash bag and bin for recycling.
- Pull up your favorite playlist or drop a vinyl on the record player.
- Race against the first three or four songs to see how much trash you can collect around the house.
- Peek in the bag and bin and realize all that was taking up valuable space in your home.
- Take out the trash, then treat yourself to a beverage for freeing up so much clutter.
Reading this, I know you’re thinking “there’s no way I’m going to be motivated by some trash.” But this method works every single time. For teenagers, for seniors, for busy working parents, for anyone.
Keep cleaning up trash until you can’t find anymore. This may take a few days depending on how much time you have. The goal is to only focus on trash and not anything else. Once you’ve tackled the trash, you can move on to the next step.
Head To The Most Annoying Spot
We all have that space in our house that just annoys us so much. Maybe it’s a drawer that never seems to close because it’s stuffed full. It could be the TV cabinet that’s bursting at the seams with random things. Or it’s the shelves in the laundry room that make you hate doing laundry (even more than you already do).
Think back to the last time an area in your house made you frustrated and start there. Remove anything that doesn’t belong, and put it where it should go. Box up every single thing you don’t use, need, want, or have room for so it can be donated. And I bet you’ll find more trash while you’re at it. Yay for more trash! (Seriously! Trash is an obvious out-the-door item so you don’t have to make any decisions.)
Keep this annoying space super small and easy. We’re talking one drawer, one cabinet, one shelf, one corner. Don’t go wild thinking you can clear out an entire closet in your first go-around. It won’t happen, life will get in the way, and you’ll have an even bigger mess than you started with.
Remember you’re looking for that thrill of a good before and after to motivate you to do it again another day. You’ll only get that thrill from completing an area, so make sure that spot is small enough to actually get it done in 30 minutes or less.
Keep Working On Small Spaces
If you follow me on Instagram, you know I sound like a broken record saying “one drawer at a time” over and over again. But as silly as it sounds, it’s truly the most effective method to not lose your focus and give up.
When you just declutter one drawer in your kitchen in the morning, then go back in the kitchen that evening to cook dinner, you open three messy drawers and one tidy one. You’ll notice the clutter in the other three drawers more than you did yesterday. And you will look forward to the next chance you have to tidy up another drawer. (Have you ever looked forward to decluttering?)
Set a goal for yourself to declutter just one small space a day for 5-10 minutes. This is totally doable no matter how busy your schedule is and no matter how messy your house may be. You aren’t organizing anything; you’re solely removing things that don’t belong in an area so it has less stuff there. Simple, right?
Give that daily 5 Minute Declutter a full month of devotion, and that’s thirty small spaces that are a lot less full than they have been in a while. (PS: Need a list to help you stay on track? Here’s 50 things to declutter during that timeframe.)
Don’t Touch Sentimental Items
I see you eyeing that box of photos from high school and that closet full of clothes that used to fit but now they’re too snug—stop right there; don’t you touch them. The biggest roadblock when it comes to decluttering is sentimental items, and they’ll slow you down to a screeching halt and make you give up before you ever got moving.
Sentimental items are something you have to work your way up to. You wouldn’t hop on an exercise bike and take the most difficult class first, would you? No way! You’d cruise along on the beginner class for at least a few weeks before you even attempted a climb ride. And that’s what sentimental items are in a decluttering journey, a big giant hill that requires more stamina and willpower than you’re ready to deal with.
As you’re working through rehoming items that don’t belong in the spaces you’re working in and you come across something sentimental, either put it in a box or leave it there. This is the one time you get to procrastinate. Do not consider whether you should keep it, do not spend the next hour looking at old photos, do not pass Go, do not collect $200. (Unless you find $200 while decluttering, which is even more worth the time of going through things!)
There’s a time and place for sentimental decluttering, and that’s a weekend when you have no other obligations and your mood is just right. But for now, decluttering while you feel overwhelmed and drowning in your own home is not that time.
The Organized-ish Decluttering Method Recap
- Remove all trash and recycling.
- Start with the spot that annoyed you most recently.
- Work in one small section, drawer, cabinet, or shelf at a time.
- Rehome items that don’t belong and fill a donation box with things you don’t need.
- Skip sentimental items for now.
