What To Do When You Don’t Feel Like Decluttering

You know all the benefits decluttering can bring to your home and life. You long to have a more peaceful home, a home that you love being in. However, you just can’t seem to muster up the desire to get in there and tackle all that clutter. So what do you do when you don’t feel like decluttering?

That is what we are going to look at today!

Let me start by acknowledging that decluttering your home is hard, period! Decluttering even small areas of your home takes time and energy week in and week out to keep moving forward. And if you have limited time or energy for it, it’s even harder.

If I’m being honest, occasionally I still struggle with the “I don’t feel like decluttering” mindset, but because I have experienced the benefits of decluttering, I’m usually able to defeat it pretty quickly. But for sure, it has not always been like that. Sometimes decluttering was just hard!

Reasons Decluttering is Hard

When you understand what is triggering your mindset it helps you to see what’s holding you back and work on them. So before we can look at ways to get over the “I don’t feel like decluttering” mindset it’s helpful to understand some of the reasons decluttering is hard.

Change is Unsettling

I am not a fan of change and never have been. As a child I feel like we moved every other day, that’s an exaggeration but it is how I felt at times. As an adult, I’ve stayed in places and situations way longer than I should have. One of those was being surrounded by clutter.

For most of us, we like the familiar, because it’s comfortable and easy. But it is not always best. This is why decluttering is hard, it requires a change and going outside of our comfort zones.

When you remove the clutter from your home, not only are you creating a physical change, but it can be deeply emotional as well. Getting rid of clutter often brings up feelings that you’ll lose something of value and may not be able to adjust to the changes.

We all want a feeling of certainty, especially when it comes to our home!

But when you focus on the positive aspect of decluttering your home, staying stuck in clutter becomes unappealing.

We Feel Guilty

Guilt is probably one of the biggest triggers to the “I don’t feel like decluttering” mindset. Often we’re not even aware that guilt is what we are feeling. We look at something in our home we know we neither love nor use and should get rid of. However, these negative emotions suddenly rise up and instead of dealing with them, we put decluttering off for another day.

Is it any wonder guilt is one of the reasons we struggle to declutter?

Let’s face it, it’s sad letting go of things that you have some attachment to. It’s also not pleasant to think about how much they all cost. But, I promise you can declutter your home without guilt. 

Start by acknowledging that it’s hard and then focus on what you’re gaining by decluttering. Think about all the space you will gain, the time, money, and peace of mind! After a while, the guilt will begin to fade. 

Decision Fatigue Sets In

Decision fatigue essentially takes place because the more decision we make the worse they become and the quality of decisions diminish. As we deplete our mental resources, we become less productive.

I assure you, decision fatigue is a real thing, it’s not just a buzzword. Decluttering your home often requires making a whole lot of decisions. When all of these decisions begin to diminish your productivity it stands to reason that decluttering is going to get harder and harder.

While some decluttering decisions are easy, some are really tough. The result is, it’s much easier to say “I don’t feel like decluttering” when you’re exhausted. 

Your Identity is Involved

It always amazes me how much of our identity can be tied to our stuff.

Maybe back in the day, you played a lot of sports but now that equipment hasn’t been touched for years. Or perhaps you were an avid crafter and now you don’t have the time or desire. For me, it was a box full of old suits from my corporate days. I found a lot of my identity tied to my career represented by that box of old work suits. Even though I know I will never go back to that line of work, nor do I even want to, letting go of that box of old work clothes took a while. 

For several years, each time I came across that boxed of old suits, stored in the garage, I knew I should get rid of them. However, instead, I would say “I don’t feel like decluttering those right now” and I’d move on to something else.

It is so hard to fight the urge to let go of things tied to our identity even if it’s no longer us. But the truth is we need to find our confidence and joy in who we are now!

Decluttering Didn’t Solve Your Problems

You’ve heard all about the benefits of decluttering. You know it can help you create a peaceful home that you love so you start the decluttering process, but nothing really changed.

You still feel stress, there are still messes all around you, you did some late-night online shopping to relieve your stress and everything feels the same.

When this happens you don’t feel like decluttering because, well what’s the point?

This is totally normal. In the beginning, your decluttering efforts are really only focused on the immediate stuff you see. The stuff that’s overflowing your closets and drawers.

You have to hang in there! If you do, I promise the change will come.

It feels Wasteful

Having a lot of clutter requires getting rid of a lot of stuff. This reminds us of just how much money has been wasted on needless things.
It starts to feel like you’re wasting even more money by just donating or giving away all the stuff you spent your hard-earned cash on.

No doubt decluttering gets hard for anyone when you feel like you’re being wasteful.

But here’s the thing, you’ve already spent the money, and avoiding decluttering won’t bring that money back. Know that you’ve learned a valuable lesson and commit to being more discerning in future purchases.

7 Things to Do When You Don’t Feel Like Decluttering

Now that you know some of the reasons decluttering is hard, the question becomes how do you get over that “I don’t feel like decluttering” mindset?

Here’s the hard truth, you have to stop waiting for the perfect mood to strike where you actually want to declutter. Sometimes you just have to put on your big girl pants and attack that clutter.

It starts with these 7 things!

1. Focus on the Benefits of Decluttering

Decluttering physical clutter is the first step towards simplifying your home and your life!

Clearing space in your home is what allows us to focus on those things that matter most. This is the ultimate benefit of decluttering!

The thing is, there are also many more benefits! I go into detail on some of the benefits of decluttering here and I recommend reading that entire post. For now, I want to just touch on a few things for you to focus on when that “I don’t feel like decluttering” mindset strikes.

Decluttering Reduces Stress and Anxiety

When your home is out of control with clutter it’s nearly impossible to relax and enjoy being there. Everywhere you look stuff needs to be put away, removed, cleaned, or fixed.  You struggle to find the things you need buried under all the stuff you don’t.

When you start removing the clutter, it’s so much easier to maintain your home. Soon, your home becomes a place of order, rather than a place of chaos. When you are no longer focusing on all of your stuff, you’ll be able to focus on creating an environment of peace and comfort.

Decluttering Saves Money

The more stuff we have, the less we’re aware of how much we actually own. If you don’t know what you have or where it is you have to go out and purchase it again.

In addition, you’re far more likely to have late fees and overdue fines thanks to the piles of paper the bills are buried under.

Perhaps the biggest area you’ll save money in is decluttering helps you to stop buying crap you don’t need. Decluttering makes you so much more aware of the things you are buying and bringing into your home.

Because you’ll have a home filled with only things you love and use, the last thing you want to do is add a bunch of stuff that’s nothing more than a random impulse purchase.

Decluttering Saves Time

Cleaning your home will be significantly easier when you declutter the excess from your home. No longer will you have to spend time moving tons of items just to dust or vacuum. Because you own less, tidying will be quicker and easier. You’ll save time looking for stuff when everything can have its own place to live.

Having a clean and orderly home naturally creates a sense of well-being and peace. With all that extra time, you’ll be able to focus on the things that are important to you! In fact, you’ll actually have the time to enjoy the present moments!

Decluttering Helps you Focus

Our environment has such a huge impact on our mindset. When your home is full of clutter, the likelihood is that your mind is full of clutter as well.

On the other hand, when your home is simplified, it carries over to other areas of your life as well. When you begin to eliminate the clutter you are reducing all of the competing stimuli in your home. This helps bring your focus back and allows you to be more present in your home life!

While these changes take time and effort, when you remember you’re decluttering to improve your life you’ll resist that “I don’t feel like decluttering” mindset.

By staying consistent, before you know it, you’ll see the results of your hard work. Less time cleaning, organizing, and maintaining you’re home and more space to do what you love, and more time for fun will become the norm.

2. Commitment Even When You Don’t Feel Like Decluttering

It’s important to understand that the desire or motivation to declutter your home is not going to spontaneously appear. If you keep waiting around for that to happen you’ll stay stuck in that I don’t feel like decluttering mindset forever!

Sometimes the most effective way to declutter is to just start doing it. The funny thing is, the more you actually declutter, the more you will want to declutter.

To truly say goodbye to the “I don’t feel like decluttering” mindset, that keeps you stuck in clutter, you need to commit to having a clutter-free home.

Yes, you will have those days when you give in to the “I don’t feel like decluttering” mindset, however, you don’t allow this to defeat you. You’ve committed and you get back to it the next week.

Spend some time figuring out what was going on in your life that had you feeling that way. Was your schedule over committed? Were the kids causing extra stress? Were you just tired? Show yourself some grace and then come up with a plan of attack so you can get back to decluttering!

3. Create a Decluttering Schedule

I am a big advocate for planning and writing out on my calendar important things to do. Because you know the benefits of decluttering your home and you’ve made a commitment to do it, it is important enough to schedule time for decluttering in your planner!

Forcing yourself to schedule specific decluttering tasks at least once a week, will help you treat decluttering your home the same as any other important appointment you have.

You don’t have to schedule large blocks of time. Taking just 15-20 minutes here and there will, over time, yield big results!

When you are scheduling your decluttering sessions, start by determining how much time you can devote to decluttering each day. How long or short a period of time you choose doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you make the appointment with yourself, and keep it!

By scheduling your decluttering sessions you keep a handle on your home and make sure you’re planning for the things that matter.

4. It’s Okay to Go Slow

One of the biggest contributors to the “I don’t feel like decluttering” mindset is overwhelm. Far too often we look at our homes as one ginormous decluttering task. Overwhelm immediately sets in and of course the “I don’t feel like it” mindset follows.

So it’s okay to be kind to yourself and go slow.

If you find you have some extra time one day and want to spend it decluttering a large space, awesome, go for it!

But realistically, we don’t usually have that kind of time to devote. So, if you are struggling now, start small. Pick one space or room that you will focus on, that’s it.

I usually recommend starting in the bedroom. This is because your bedroom is the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing you see in the evening. Having a clutter-free bedroom is a fantastic way to start and end your days.

It also gives you a place to go that’s peaceful and relaxing! When the “I don’t feel like decluttering” mindset strikes, more often than not, walking into your bedroom, which is clutter-free and peaceful will give you the motivation to declutter other areas of your home.

Just start with decluttering the surfaces in this room. Clear off the nightstand and dresser tops. This will give you immediate visual results. Then slowly start to go through the drawers and closets and work on other items from there.

The key is to avoid overwhelming yourself and taking it just one drawer or small area at a time!

5. Document Your Progress

Another thing that often triggers the “I don’t feel like decluttering” mindset is not feeling like your decluttering efforts to date are making any difference.

To combat this, taking pictures of your space before, during, and after your decluttering sessions can be very powerful. This is because success is a great motivator!

Taking before and after pictures as you declutter allows you to track your progress and see what you are really accomplishing. Even though it may not feel like you are making much of a difference, pictures don’t lie. Before and after pictures will show you the difference your decluttering efforts are making and keep you motivated to continue.

You’d be surprised how simple before and after pictures of a small space you decluttered will get you off the couch and onto the next decluttering assignment.

The transformation that takes place in a space you’ve worked on decluttering will quickly end that “I don’t feel like decluttering” mindset!

6. Tell Everyone You are working on Decluttering Your Home

It’s hard to give in to the “I don’t feel like decluttering” mindset when everyone knows that you’re working on decluttering your home!

Start talking about decluttering your home with your friends and family and get excited about it. Post some of those before and after photos to your Facebook page. Share articles and quotes on decluttering and simplifying your home. I share lots of decluttering and simple living articles, tips, and quotes on my Facebook page, follow me there and share it on your Facebook page.

As you do this, the people will start asking you questions and will ask how it’s going. Knowing these questions are coming will keep you accountable for doing the work!

Who knows, you just may inspire others to simplify their life and home and they will love you for it!

7. Take a Decluttering Break When You Need It

Decluttering your home is one of the best goals you can set for yourself. I firmly believe that! However, there are times we just need a break.

If you’re working outside the home, you don’t hesitate to take a day off if needed. Pushing yourself too hard can be the culprit of the “I don’t feel like decluttering” mindset.

Keeping your expectations realistic is important. Your home did not become cluttered overnight and you’re not going to unclutter it overnight either. When you start to feel overwhelmed or discouraged sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is to give yourself a break. Take the day off, and know that you will get back to it tomorrow.

But here’s a warning, do not use this as an excuse to act on your “I don’t feel like decluttering” mindset. Just like a paid job, you are allowed so many sick days, if you take too many days off there are consequences. It is the same with decluttering your home.

So take a break when you need it, just don’t overdo it!

Overcoming The “I Don’t Feel Like Decluttering” Mindset Is Worth The Effort

Remember, you don’t have to declutter a lot at one time to make it worth your efforts. Consistency and progress over perfection are the keys.

Focus on all that you have to gain, stick to a schedule, and share your efforts with others.

On the days when it feels like too much, give yourself a break and then get back to it.

Simplifying and decluttering your home is guaranteed to improve your life. Enjoy the fruits of your labor, it will produce a home you love to spend time in! You will love your clutter-free space and all the rewards that come with it.