Creating a home is not about haphazardly filling a house with stuff but honoring what you have and allowing it to maximize your potential. But, when you start to amass a lot of items over time, you can suddenly find yourself drowning in a sea of clutter. It can dampen your mood, stress you out, and waste time and money. But how do you kick the clutter without getting overwhelmed by it?
Pacing yourself, working in small chunks, and setting mini goals can keep decluttering manageable. Gather boxes and bags for your unwanted items and set a timer to help you stay focused. As you get something new, let something go to minimize clutter in the future
When you’re shopping or searching for items for your home, choose carefully. Being thoughtful and intentional about what you bring into your house will help minimize your clutter risk. It’s about finding pieces that bring joy, show off your personality, and often serve a function. But what do you do about the clutter that’s already there?
6 Tips for Kicking Out the Clutter (and the Stress)
Take a breath and tell yourself you don’t have to get rid of all your clutter in one day. After all, it took you more than a day to acquire it. Therefore, check out these tips to tackle your clutter one step at a time.
1. Work in Small Chunks
You know what they say about the best way to eat an elephant -- one bite at a time. That’s the same way it is with removing unnecessary items from your home. Don’t look at your whole house and think you must go through everything immediately.
Instead, start with small areas and work your way through the clutter in tiny chunks. Going room by room is ideal, but break it up even more. For example, if you start in your bedroom, pick one thing to focus on first. It might be your clothing, jewelry, shoes, or miscellaneous items like books, blankets, etc.
2. Have Boxes and Bags Ready
If you gather items to toss, sell, or donate but have nowhere to put them, you end up with the same clutter piled up near your door. Have boxes and bags ready for the things you plan to send out of your home.
Make sure the containers you use are ones that you are fine tossing or donating as well. You don’t want to load all your donate items up into your laundry basket if you plan to keep the basket.
3. Start an “Elsewhere Box”
You know how it goes; as you clean and tidy, you come across random items that belong elsewhere. If you leave the room to return these items to their rightful place every time you find one, you won’t get far on your decluttering project.
Avoid getting sidetracked by making a box for all of these items. As you come across them, simply dump them in the bin and continue your task. Later, you can spend a few minutes returning the things in the box to where they belong.
4. Use a Timer
It can be easy to underestimate and overestimate how long it takes to eliminate clutter. Set a timer to remind you to take breaks and pace yourself to avoid getting overwhelmed.
You can set it for 10, 15, 20 minutes, or even an hour, depending on how much you want to do that day. When the timer goes off, stretch, grab a snack and some water, and do something else for a while.
5. Set Mini Goals
If you have a competitive spirit, make decluttering a game and challenge yourself. You can set mini goals that you need to accomplish. Some examples are:
- Get rid of 15 items in 15 minutes (change up the item amount and time limit)
- Fill three boxes with things to donate
- Get rid of 10 items a day for a month
You can set goals based on the overall scope of your project and choose ones that will motivate you to stick to the plan.
6. One In, One Out
Follow the one in, one out rule to keep clutter at bay. As you get something new, choose an equivalent item to toss or donate. For example, if you purchase a pair of jeans, go home and choose a pair to donate.
Living in an organized, peaceful house doesn’t have to be a fantasy. With a bit of patience, consistency, and effort, you can tackle your clutter and see amazing results. Your house can be your home again.
