Last updated:
“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” —Dale Carnegie
The idea of living a simple life with less stuff sounds attractive to many.
But often, they begin to feel overwhelmed,
Learning how to declutter your home and (and as a result, decluttering your life) doesn’t need to be as painful as some make it out to be. And the benefits are numerous.
The Benefits of Decluttering Your Life
There are many benefits to owning fewer possessions. Even then, it’s tough to move into action. That is… until the many benefits of getting rid of clutter reveal themselves:
Less to clean. Cleaning is already enough of a chore, but having to clean around things you have zero emotional attachment to (or worse, actively dislike) makes cleaning the house much more stressful.
Less to organize. Finding things suddenly become easier. Things don’t just “disappear” anymore. You can actually move around your home and enjoy the space, instead of moving around things that are in the way.
Less stress. Looking around at the clutter is a nausea-inducing sight once your home becomes cluttered enough. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to look around and see a home you love?
Less debt. Spending less time shopping for material possessions and adding to the clutter means your wallet and bank accounts remain fuller, your credit cards’ statements are lower, and your home doesn’t get filled with costly things you don’t need.
More financial freedom. Most American households live paycheck to paycheck (59% according to a recent survey done by Charles Schwab back in May 2019.) Nearly half of those surveyed carry credit card debt. Decluttering, paired with minimalism, will help you build up savings to keep you protected in case of unexpected emergencies.
More energy for your greatest passions. With less debt, more financial freedom, and
Ok, so now you know the benefits of decluttering your life, but you may be getting tripped up by the very next question… where in the world do you begin?
10 Creative Decluttering Tips
If you’re struggling and need guidance on how to declutter, you’ll need to get creative with your plans. Here are several interesting decluttering tips to get you started on decluttering your home:
- Start with 5 minutes at a time. If you’re new to decluttering, you can slowly build momentum with just five minutes a day.
- Give one item away each day. This would remove 365 items every single year from your home. If you increased this to 2 per day, you would have given away 730 items you no longer needed. Increase this number once it gets too easy.
- Fill an entire trash bag. Get a trash bag and fill it as fast as you can with things you can donate at Goodwill.
- Donate clothes you never wear. To identify them, simply hang all your clothes with hangers in the reverse direction. After wearing an item, face the hanger in the correct direction. Discard the clothes you never touched after a few months.
- Create a decluttering checklist. It’s a lot easier to declutter when you have a visual representation of where you need to get started. You can use our decluttering checklist.
- Take the 12-12-12 challenge. Locate 12 items to throw away, 12 to donate, and 12 to be returned to their proper home.
- View your home as a first-time visitor. It’s easy to “forget” what your home looks like to a new visitor. Enter your home as if you’re visiting the home of a friend. Write down your first impression on how clean and organized the home is and make changes.
- Take before and after photos of a small area. Choose one part of your home, like your kitchen counter, and take a photo of a small area. Quickly clean off the items in the photo and take an after photo. Once you see how your home could look, it becomes easier to start decluttering more of your home.
- Get help from a friend. Have a friend or family member go through your home and suggest a handful of big items to throw away or give to someone else. If you defend the item and want to keep it, your friend has to agree with your reason. If they don’t agree, it’s time to get rid of it.
- Use the Four-Box Method. Get four boxes and label them: trash, give away, keep, or re-locate. Enter any room in your home and place each item into one of the following boxes. Don’t skip a single item, no matter how insignificant you may think it is. This may take days, weeks, or months, but it will help you see how many items you really own and you’ll know exactly what to do with each item.
No matter which decluttering tip you choose to get started – whether it be one of these ten or one of countless others – the goal is to take your first step in decluttering your life with excitement behind it.
There is a beautiful world of freedom and fresh breath hiding behind that clutter. Deciding how to declutter your home is up to you.
For more decluttering tips, watch this short video we put together. In it, I provide 10 quick decluttering projects, each completable in just 5 minutes or less:
***
General FAQ About Decluttering Your Home:
How do I create a decluttering checklist?
Creating a checklist is one of the easiest ways to keep track of what can and still needs to be reduced from your home. We’ve put together a Declutter Your Home Checklist you can use to instantly make a noticeable difference.
Just pick any 5-10 items from the list to start and you will be amazed with how quickly momentum builds up.
Do I need a professional organizer to help me get rid of clutter?
Absolutely not. Getting rid of the clutter in your home can be done by yourself. It can even be a fun family activity when using the decluttering tips found in this article.
How can I declutter quickly? Can it be done in a day?
Removing clutter from our homes and our lives doesn’t need to be rushed or done in a single day. It’s something that can be done over time and may even need to be done on a semi-regular basis. As long as you start the process today, you’re further along than you were yesterday.
Will owning less make my home look empty or boring?
Simple doesn’t mean sparse or boring. The opposite is true. With fewer mess and distractions, your home can become more peaceful. You can view your home as a space for rest and comfort, instead of a source of stress.
What’s the difference between declutter and unclutter?
They’re both interchangeable, though I prefer using “declutter.” The “de-” hints at being complete and permanent. I like to think of decluttering as something that solves the problem forever.
When should I declutter?
This is a personal question. When you find yourself overwhelmed by your possessions and tied down, it usually means you’re ready to start making a change. Note that this feeling is just a broad litmus test. The feeling of overwhelm can be different for everyone.
Samuel Owen says
Fantastic website. Lots of helpful information here! It helps a lot in giving me ideas on how to declutter my home! I especially like #6 and #9! All in all, I very much like your article. Thank you for sharing
Wolfgang says
Love the four-box method, I can’t wait to try that one. When I first read it i read it as the fox-box method, so that’s what I will probably always think of it as, haha
Billy says
I started pairing down my stuff years ago and it’s been the best, most awesome thing I ever did ever. I don’t know if I’m a minimalist but I live clutter free, I’m organised now and no longer mindlessly consume. It’s a way better way to live. This goes as far as freeing your mind up too. For example, books, I donated all of them, gone except 2 reference books I still refer too, kept em because I use them. Oh and I had a copy of the bible and Koran, they went straight in the trash(recycle bin). No point in cluttering up other peoples minds with fantasy. Another form of minimalism, freeing your mind of all those stories other people want you to believe. This includes other stories like ” commercials”!! Be free people.
CJ says
Just so you know, this is what faith in what the Bible says has done for me:
1. Comforted me when I overheard my eye doctor tell my mother I’d need an eye transplant at 14 years old. I didn’t have surgery, and I see 20/30 without glasses, praise God!
2. I had gallbladder disease – 5 surgeons in 2 states said I’d need to have it removed. I was INSTANTANEOUSLY healed, during a gallbladder attack, when I was prayed over in the glorious name of Jesus. I had gallbladder attacks 3-4 times a week for nearly a year. Since the moment I was prayed over, I haven’t had another gallbladder attack. That was 5 years ago.
3. I have joy and peace. I’ve had childhood issues and adult heartaches, but God healed my broken heart.
The Bible may be to you a fantasty, but to me, it is the power of God to save. God IS so awesome! :-)
Celt says
To all those throwing away perfectly good stuff. Some charity shops will pick up. Worth a try before adding to landfill?
joseph says
Donate. It’s not that hard.
But don’t donate trash, we see that a bit.
Grampa's Trash Service says
It’s really amazing, the 10 creative ways to declutter your home. These ways are quite good enough to clean one’s house. However, one’s must have the patient as well as determination to clean the house. In reality putting trash and throw it away first is a bit disturbing. Now you can get friendly trash services in Black foot for cleaning your home accordingly.
Ashley says
History and experience has proven that moving house forces people to declutter, whether they like it on not. It even is a good way to keep the mind away from hoarding… for some. So, if you want to declutter – move :D Here are a few more ideas for decluttering http://www.fantastic-removals.co.uk/blog/we-are3-ways-execute-big-moving-purge/
Sydney says
You couldn’t be more right, Ashley! I’m from a military family. We moved often. As Shannon above said: “overseas” — even better! … as motivation to declutter by necessity. The only problem I see is this: people who move from rental houses and apartments and who don’t care if they get their security deposit back often leave their clutter (trash) and worse behind. It sort of defeats the kharmic purpose.
Julia says
Wow, I never even heard of the Oprah Winfrey Closet Hanger Experiment before! Because your clothes all appear wearable in the heat of the moment, it’s hard to tell which items haven’t adorned your beautiful body for a while. My method is to go through each item and ask two simple questions: 1) Is this still my style? 2) If I saw this in the mall right now, would I still buy it? Your method seems better since we all know action speaks louder than anything.
Tina says
I have been giving away a bag a week for quite a while now. I realized I had enough art and craft supplies for the rest of my life so I donated a big bag to the park district and a preschool and still have plenty left. I was given 3 big bags of buttons which I will wash and pass on to the preschool. I think the idea is not even to let the objects settle in and get comfortable.
Irene says
Getting rid of clothes is a problem for me, as my life is in a period of transition. I used to wear pretty much everything I had, even if it was only once a year. For now I don’t have the income I used to have so I hardly go out thus don’t wear the fancy clothes and shoes, but believe it won’t always be that way. So I am loathe to get rid of them.
I already took two boxes of books to my local library who said they’d use them or sell them. I knew I didn’t need them so I don’t mind what they do with them and I don’t want to know!
However my biggest problem is my boyfriend’s clutter. I rented out my house and moved to his small place (to save his bacon financially) and he hadn’t made any room for me, in fact he barely had room to house his own clutter. Yes, I am angry about this. He’s not bad at throwing out junk once he gets started, but getting him on the case is like pulling teeth. Smothering him with a pillow is tempting but not a humane option, so any practical suggestions are welcome.
Tracey says
Re: ANNETTE-Books. Whilst on holiday in NZ I saw a ‘street library’ that a home owner had set up near their front gate. A weatherproof box with a clear front, that people could take or leave books for others. Pretty cool idea I thought, helps to foster a sense of community.
Glenda Herdman says
I have already applied some of these. I regularly tidy out my drawers and from time to time I get rid of old and worn out clothing and underwear. T shirts and sheets are good for cutting up into cleaning rags and also for using with varnishing and painting. I still have a way to go but every day I like to pick up at least one object or piece of clothing and decide whether to get rid of it or keep it.
Shannon says
I do not like clutter! I have found 2 things, okay 3 things, help me de-clutter and stay that way (nope, make that 4):
1. Move. Across country or overseas. You don’t want to lug all that stuff around!
2. Move – into a smaller space.
3. After a trip and you’ve collected “more,” get rid of some of your old junk (especially if visiting mom and dad’s house, and sadly, you still have stuff there).
4. Knowing people who need it or are less fortunate than you. This keeps your life and stuff in perspective. Plus, you can bless someone with something you do not need but they do.
Thanks for the blog!