If you could really use some effective decluttering tips, you are not alone! When you have too much clutter in your home it’s overwhelming. The very thought of decluttering can cause you to freeze in your tracks.
The good news is I do have some effective decluttering tips that will help you build momentum to make real decluttering progress no matter how much clutter you have.
What Happens When You Have Too Much Clutter
Before we get into the decluttering tips it’s important to understand why you’re struggling to clear the clutter from your home. No decluttering tips will ever make a difference if you don’t understand the problem or the effect clutter is having on both your home and your life.
Having too much clutter in your home means:
You can’t find things when you need them.
This results in wasting precious time looking for things. You probably are also wasting hard-earned money having to buy new items because you can’t find what you already own.
You feel overwhelmed by your home.
When your home has too much clutter doing the simplest tasks can feel overwhelming. Your home takes much longer to clean and maintain. This is in part because you have to move a bunch of things just to get to what you need.
There are extra decisions to make such as where to put something away or what clothes to wear.
All of this causes a sense of overwhelm when you walk into your home.
Feel stressed and can’t relax in your home.
It’s well documented that clutter increases stress. When you have too much clutter your senses are assaulted everywhere you look. Your home can feel like one giant to-do list. All of these things make it impossible to sit and relax.
Have trouble focusing.
Something people don’t often realize is that clutter actually interferes with your ability to focus. According to a recent study, “…constant visual reminders of disorganisation drain our cognitive resources, reducing our ability to focus. The visual distraction of clutter increases cognitive overload and can reduce our working memory.”
Embarrassed by the state of your home.
When your home is in a constant state of disarray it can be embarrassing to have unexpected guest drop by. You may be reluctant to invite others over or feel the need to apologize for the state of your home.
These are just a few of the warning signs of too much clutter. When we look at the impact of having too much clutter is it really any wonder why you feel overwhelmed at the mere thought of decluttering your home?
Here’s the good news, recognizing your home has too much clutter is the first step in decluttering and simplifying your home.
4 Effective Decluttering Tips to Help Quickly Clear The Clutter
These tips are not about doing a complete declutter of your entire home. They are intended to help you build momentum and start clearing clutter.
Because when you get rid of that first layer of clutter, you’ll see progress and know that decluttering is possible. When you start to see progress, you build momentum to declutter some more. The more you declutter the more you will fall in love with your home and you’ll be motivated to continue decluttering.
These are effective decluttering tips because they are simple enough to help you get started no matter how much clutter you have or how overwhelmed you feel.
These tips will help you find ways to make real decluttering progress so that it’s less overwhelming. You’ll see the benefits to your home and build that momentum to keep going!
So let’s get started with some easy and effective decluttering tips!
1. Start With a Quick Sweep of Your Entire Home
Don’t get nervous when I say do a quick sweep of your entire home. I promise this is one of the easiest and most effective decluttering tips to help you build momentum. This is because it’s all about taking action to eliminate that overwhelm!
All you need to do is grab a large laundry basket, box, or bag and walk from room to room looking for things you want to declutter. These are easy and quick decisions, don’t spend a lot of time thinking about them. Just grab those things you know you want to get rid of.
Having a trash bag with you at this time is helpful so you can immediately get rid of any trash.
Give yourself a set time to do this, whether it’s 15 minutes or an hour. Set a timer and find as many things as you can within the time you have given yourself.
Remember you’re not making any real decisions here, you’re just grabbing all the stuff you know you want to declutter.
My guess is you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how much clutter you are able to find and eliminate in this one quick sweep. Seeing fast results like this builds your momentum to keep going rather than being overwhelmed.
With this momentum going, let’s move on to the next effective decluttering tip!
2. Clear Off All Flat Surfaces
When we talked about the impact of too much clutter the list involved:
- Feeling overwhelmed at home
- Unable to relax because you feel stress
- Have trouble focusing
- Embarrassed by the state of your home
Each and every one of those impacts is exacerbated by things being piled on the flat surfaces in your home. When your countertops, tabletops, and other flat surfaces are covered with clutter it’s a constant visual assault on your senses. It also increases overwhelm.
Not only will clearing these surfaces immediately make your home look and feel less cluttered but will allow you to use and enjoy that space. This is the best and most effective decluttering tip to build momentum. This in turn will give you the desire to continue decluttering.
It doesn’t matter which surface you start with, whether it’s a large surface like your kitchen countertops, a small surface like a nightstand, or a clutter hotspot such as the dining room table. The goal is to clear everything off of it.
Once you clear the surface, you want to be very selective about what you put back. The goal is to keep these surfaces as clear as possible. Do your best to store items in drawers and cabinets and keep only what is essential or used daily on your flat surfaces.
You will need to stay focused on keeping these surfaces clear for a while. As you do it will eventually become a habit to put things away when you’re done using them instead of leaving them out on your flat surfaces.
If you’re concerned about being able to keep your flat surfaces clear, trust me when I say the benefits you will immediately see in having a clean and beautiful home will motivate you to be a little more disciplined!
3. Pick Your Biggest Problem Area
At this point, you should be seeing some noticeable progress. But as we move through the effective decluttering tips we’re going to spend a little more time addressing your clutter. But don’t worry we are also going to eliminate that overwhelm.
It’s time to move on to that area of your home that is causing you the most stress. This is the biggest problem area that every time you see it, it makes you immediately turn around and move on to something else.
But if you want to have a home you love, you’ve got to start tackling it!
The reason you’re going to start decluttering your biggest problem area is so you can start to immediately feel happier in your home. That is the whole purpose of these effective decluttering tips!
Are the kids’ toys all over the house? Does it feel like the kitchen sink is constantly full of dishes? What about your closet or the size of your laundry pile?
Whatever the category is that’s causing you the most stress let’s clear that clutter and give you some breathing room.
Begin with taking everything out and putting it in one spot. This allows you to really see how much you have.
Now, start thinking about how much you actually need. For example, if you’re a family of 4 do you need 56 coffee mugs? No, you do not! Do you have 15 pairs of jeans? Chances are you have favorites and know you don’t need 15 pairs.
Start whittling down all the extras until you feel comfortable with what you are keeping. You don’t have to make difficult decisions here or do a complete declutter. It’s about getting rid of all those extras you know you don’t need.
The goal is to eliminate the overwhelm that comes with having too much clutter. That’s what makes this an effective declutter tip to help you build up that momentum to keep going.
4. Move Onto Smaller Tasks
These effective decluttering tips will help you build momentum and defeat overwhelm when you focus on making small changes. By starting small it’s much easier to make decisions. At the same time, you will see real progress if you follow these tips!
It’s up to you whether you want to start in a small space, with a small category, or for a small amount of time. By starting small your decluttering tasks will be manageable and successful!
Decluttering your home in small increments will take a little longer to complete. But it is better than trying to do it all at once, feeling overwhelmed, and then giving up.
One, helpful thing to keep in mind is having a pre-set plan for what you’ll do with the items you are decluttering. You don’t want to run to the donation center with just a few items.
Consider storing the items in a box you can store in a closet. You can also use a cute decorative basket to hold the items you want to declutter (this is what I do). When the box or basket is full, donate the contents.
Another effective declutter tip here is to start with an area that does not have things with a lot of sentimental attachment. You want to pick areas with things easy to let go of. This will let you make a lot of progress quickly.
Use these effective decluttering tips to help you build momentum in decluttering your home.
As you keep going with these decluttering tips, you’ll build the momentum and just keep decluttering until you create a home you absolutely love being in!
Following these tips will help you start seeing true success. You’ll eliminate the overwhelm and make the process easier.
As you see these results you will begin falling in love with your newly decluttered spaces and be motivated and inspired to continue your decluttering journey!
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