“Get rid of the trash to make room for the treasures. Let the things that are important take center stage.” —Peter Walsh
Decluttering can be tough work.
We spend years and years collecting and accumulating more and more things. We should not be surprised then, if it takes considerable time to make decisions about what to keep and what to remove.
But it’s always worth the effort. Possessions weigh us down and add extra burden to our lives. Owning less results in more freedom.
If you are feeling overwhelmed about where to start or experiencing frustration with your progress, consider some of the ideas on this list to jumpstart your decluttering process.
7 Helpful Tips to Speed Up the Decluttering Process
1. Start easy with a clean sweep. Rather than attempting to declutter your home room-by-room, try going in “waves” instead. You will find this method to be far more impactful—especially at the beginning. Grab a box and walk around your home room-by-room. Fill your box with anything you find that you no longer need. No hard decisions, just noticeable impact. Once completed, try a second wave. But be advised, it gets a little more difficult each time through.
2. Find motivation with built-in deadlines. When we first began the process of minimizing our possessions, I did a lot of the work in the early morning. My kids usually got out of bed at 7am, so I would begin at 6am. Because I wanted to be there when they got up, I knew I had 1 short hour to get as much done as I could. This helped me find extra motivation to accomplish as much as I could during that hour. I also found some extra motivation the night before garbage pick-up.
3. Donate more. If you don’t need the money, you can declutter your home much quicker by deciding just to donate everything. The extra income from reselling your possessions can be nice, especially if you need the money. But selling items can really slow down the process and add extra burden to the journey. If quick impact is more important to you, dropping a few boxes off at Goodwill is far more efficient.
4. Include some help. Contrary to what you may think, you don’t need to do all the work yourself. In fact, if you have a family, you’ve got extra help built right in. You might not be able to convince them to declutter an entire room with you all-day on Saturday, but you can surely find some creative opportunities for them to help. For example, ask everyone in your family to find four things from their room that can be donated. Try again in a few days. The work adds up quickly with 3+ people involved.
5. Find freedom in temporary storage. I know a lot of people get hung up on hard-to-remove items. These vary from person-to-person, but common examples include sentimental items, books, kitchen gadgets, or toys. To keep from getting slowed down by these things, try an intermediate step of packing a box, labeling it with a date, and storing it out of sight. It will be easier emotionally. Six months later, revisit the box. You may be surprised how much easier it is to part with these items after not seeing them for six months.
6. Tell a friend and invite them over. Telling others about your decision to declutter/minimize is an important step. In our book, Simplify, we even included it as one of the most helpful principles in the simplifying process. Sharing your desire brings accountability and forces you to articulate why you made the decision. To add extra urgency to your decluttering progress, invite your friend over for dinner or coffee. Give yourself a few days to prepare the house before their arrival. Trust me… you’ll find motivation real quick.
7. Don’t confuse intent with action. With all things in life, it is important to not confuse a desire to change with actual change. Thinking about decluttering or talking about decluttering won’t result in any positive benefits. These benefits can only be experienced when the excess clutter has been removed. Remind yourself today that talking about change is not the same as implementing change. And take one small step in the right direction because of it.
Decluttering can be tough work. But it’s always worth the effort. If you have been struggling to find momentum, I hope these ideas will encourage you to find some today.
Additional Resources:
Jiillii says
Hi guys, great stories here. I just wondered if anyone has went a bit too far with this and got rid of things they regretted? Do you think you need to be in a particular state of mind to do this? I know if I’m feeling emotional it’s hard to let things go but equally when I’m feeling ruthless then I might get rid of something and regret it. I got rid of a lovely dress a few weeks ago. I hadn’t worn it for ages and then last weekend I went looking for it and remembered it had gone. I felt quite upset. Paradoxically by sorting through things I think you remind yourself again that you have them – and then you make a point in your mind to use something. It’s all a learning curve I suppose. I’m trying now to only let go what I feel absolutely comfortable letting go. And if there are any doubts, leave it till another day.
Kristina says
I used to do rummage sales every year, selling all the clothes the kids had outgrown, but that just resulted in saving boxes of clothes and things for almost a year at a time. Now I take the whole lot to a kids’ consignment shop every time I purge clothes that are too small. Much less clutter!
shaun says
I like this concept as I’m about 3/4 of the way there without even starting the process. Advantageously poor, superb.
Sandy @Modern-Simplicity says
Fantastic reminders Joshua. I admit I’ve stalled out on decluttering, and these reminders are just the push I need to get unstuck. Off to do a wave of decluttering now :)
Freedom | Rethinking the Dream says
Great list of tips. I’ve done all of these at some point along the way. I found donating to be one of the best for us. Selling stuff takes much time and energy.
We had two garage sales as part of our Big Purge, and while we made a bit of money, they were a lot of work. Craigslist is the same, a lot of work plus dealing with no-shows.
We donate most everything now. If you itemize deductions on your taxes, donations might even be worth more when donated. Now that we sold our house and downsized to an apartment we can no longer deduct our donations, but we still find it much better to donate. It gets items out of our home very quickly and with no hassle at all.
Steve says
I don’t think deducting donations has anything to do with owning or renting where you live.
Amy says
Yes, you typically cannot deduct itemized donations if you don’t own your current residence. I get MUCH LESS back from our tax refund when I itemize while we are living in a rental than in a house we purchased. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t donate, just that you need to check with your tax preparer to see if it is worth it for you to itemize your donations.
Kelli says
If you want to become militant in getting rid of stuff, try moving twice. In three months! We are at that point where it’s a little harder, but still necessary to downsize. Keep the 16-year old anniversary present crockpot, or the newer one with more settings? Out goes the older one, but not without a little cringe of regret. We know we will be moving again soon, and we don’t want to keep carting all of our “stuff” with is. We have given away BOATLOADS of the suff, and yet there is still too much! I do like the idea of putting it in a box and labeling it with a future date. We’ve done that with our kids’ toys, so this might be the next step for us!
Mom of six says
I totally agree, when my husband went to seminary, we got rid of amazing amounts of stuff. We lived near the seminary for 2 years in a very small house. Then we moved to another house for vicarage, we got rid of a lot more stuff, then the landlord needed to sell the house so we moved 10 mo. later to a 3 bedroom townhouse. Two months later we moved again to our current parsonage. Our formerly collect all son was cured! I’m working on down sizing once again. How it collects. Sigh.
Annie says
I agree about setting deadlines. My most successful decluttering mission was the time my husband wanted to donate our old TV to a charity that also took any household items that worked or were in salable condition. Our kitchen is tiny and was so cluttered as to be hazardous. I wanted to get rid of all of the items that were duplicates, never used, or those dreadful uni-taskers we received as wedding gifts years ago. Knowing I had to get it done before the truck arrived pushed me to get off my duff and do it.
The other thing I realized is that decluttering is always a work in progress and I’m okay with that. Since the “big donation” our kitchen is much easier to work in, but I’m still finding more items I can let go of. I put them aside in a box and when the box is full we donate or recycle as appropriate.
sarah says
May I suggest donating to Salvation army or another deserving non-profit? Goodwill is a for-profit company whose coffers benefit from YOUR goodwill, hence the name :)
Connie says
I agree. Some thrift shops use their profits for HOSPICE or help animal shelters. Look around.
Molly says
Thanks for this! Posting on the fridge today! :)
Gaylene says
Thanks for the great path to follow. I have been decluttering since January and have made good progress but still have a ways to go. I slowed down for the past month or so while 2 kids moved out but were not able to take all their “stuff” as one moved into a furnished apartment and one is staying with a friend until he decides where he wants to purchase a house. But I’m back on it this weekend! So true…the first time you go through the house it is pretty easy to get rid of stuff. I’m starting second and third time through some areas and it is getting harder but I Will Succeed!