“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:
Debbie says
I tried selling or even posting free stuff on Craigslist. The part I have no patience for is when people make an appointment with you and then change their mind without telling you. Instead, I chose a program that helps women with kids transition out of homelessness and donate everything to them. They sort out what the families can use from what they can sell. Even old towels, clothes that aren’t in good enough shape to sell etc. they can get money for and they are happy to have it.
Didi says
What is the name of this organization?
Debbie says
It called Vision House. They are in Seattle but tell me that any charity drop box has the same needs. Even useless cloths and other textiles can be donated and they will get money for it. The textiles get recycled and stay out of he landfills. It’s a win in so many ways.
Bonnie Heltibrand says
In St. Louis, Missouri, we have an organization called “Women, Another Chance”, which distributes our donations to battered, newly single mothers, homeless, etc. They pick up donations from your porch.
Nate says
I disagree with a statement in #1. I actually find that it gets easier. As I notice the impact, the momentum builds, and my feeling of lightness increases. That feeling makes me hungry to clear the next space.
Ranjana says
This is a tip from Apartment Therapy that really worked for me. I keep a paper shopping bag(you can use a bin/basket) in the front hallway. Anytime we spot something we do not need anymore we put it in the bag. When the bag is full, I start a new one. When a few bags are full, I drop them off at the Salvation Army. This has been a good way to give away books, clean toys, clothes and shoes that no longer fit, knick knacks, kitchen extras.
Seeker says
This is a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
Anne P says
Regarding #3 – someone who is financially successful spoke to a small group and stated that the tax write off you can get from donating most usually outweighs anything you would make from selling your items and involves far less effort! His suggestion was to donate every time unless you really need the cash.
Anne P says
Let me add that he is probably the most financially successful person in our community of 65,000…. So a good source.
Friendly tax auditor says
Just a little FYI regarding tax deductions for donations:
From a tax stand point, you can only take a deduction for items that are at least in “good” condition.
Also, be sure to take detailed notes (I even take pictures) on what you donate and get receipts made that state what the items are and their current fair market value (not what YOU think they should be worth) and have them signed by a worker at the organization you donate to.
Stacey says
I use to try to keep up with the tax thing on donations and figuring out the “cost” of everything began to slow me down, a LOT. There is also the idea of what is the bigger benefit, a tax write off or getting rid of stuff. We no longer use the tax write off for what we get rid of and I have found it MUCH easier to get rid of stuff. All the figuring, it took a lot of energy – didn’t realize that until I stopped doing that.
Laura MG says
It’s true! And a lot of places will just give you the receipt and have you fill it out or tell them what the worth is for each piece! Be careful over estimating though a too high of a donation raises a tax red flag ????
Lucy says
Hi Joshua,
Just wondering if you’ve any plans to release more of your books in paperback? I’m really keen to read them after reading (and loving) ‘Living with less, an unexpected key to happiness’ but don’t own a kindle or similar to read e-books (and in the name of minimalism dont intend on buying one!).
Many thanks
Katrina Wilson says
A kindle or similar device reduces clutter massively. No need for books cluttering up your life and you can keep all your books without creating clutter. Just a thought. :)
lauraann says
hi! I have my local library store mine. I know the librarian. There is a really goid section of Art books because of me! lol I visited and got to see them again.
Laura MG says
Genius! Free storage!
Cheryl says
What do you do when:
1 you live in a really small place
2 you are trying to run a business from home that requires you keep some materials and reference books to hand
and
3 no matter how much you throw things away there is still more clutter!!!
I am quite frankly running out of steam and am ready to give up (not meaning to be negative) as I have been selling, donating and throwing more than a few things out each day for the last three month and no matter how much i get rid of there is still more clutter.
I am now really tired…i feel as though i will never be clutter free and, if i didnt need to get some money back for some of the stuff or need it for business purposes, id just throw everything out and refunish my house with just one or two things from scratch rather than spend another 3 months decluttering only to find i am getting no where regardless of how much i discard.
If only i had spare cash…
I think that just emptying your place out and starting from scratch with a few well choosen items would be a better appraoch.
Unfortunately i can’t afford it.
Cheryl says
How in the hell can a person throw things out continuously each day for 3 months and still have clutter?
On the bright side its put me off shopping. Today i was in a store and saw a movie I liked (the karate kid) on sale for 1.99 on dvd. I didnt bother buying it.
I really dont need more stuff in my house when i cant seem to get rid of what is in there already.
Im sick of falling over stuff and not being able to find anything now…
How long does this process take and can a person ever be clutter free?
Em says
That depends how much clutter you have, how fast you get rid of it, and how much new clutter you import during the process. If you’re tired of picking off a few items at a time, maybe you should try a more drastic method… And quit shopping for nonessentials until you’re done!
becca kestner says
I work with the eldery. When one passes on, you would not believe how quick the dumpster is filled by family! If you have pieces you want to pass on to family, tell them to come get them in the next month. Or they go. I was saving some things for my girls. Told them, and their reply was”I don’t want that!”I had hung on to these “treasures” for numerous years and moves. The things now have all been donated or sold. I wish I had asked them earlier!!!!
ren says
isn’t that the truth, been trying to drill it through my mom’s head that she doesn’t need to save many treasures for me. what cracks me up, is she knows what few treasures I would like to have, but yet refuses to give them to me…as I type this, I am realizing how
there are plenty of treasure for us all to have some, but yet, she holds on to them all….and at same time, speaks of her clutter…
I have come to realize that cycle is OVER starting with me….I actually don’t know if there is ANYTHING here that my own kids actually want, but if they do, they can have it!!
Suzanne Pontius says
When I saw the firework photo, I thought you were going to suggest burning down the house. Hmmm…I have on occasion thought about torching the garage.
Patty says
I dove in too deep and now all rooms are in disarray! I want to take a match to it all. My husband is very happy about this but all the stuff is mine so he cannot help except to move the full boxes out of my way. I have stopped because I am overwhelmed! My motivator is my mother-in-law is coming in 4 days. I want this part done.
Ralf says
Try the vacation declutter. I take old socks, underwear, shirts and t-shirts for vacation. After use I discard them. No dirty laundry after vacation.
Michele says
If you have a place to put things you want to get rid of in the normal course of life, that helps, too. Taking hold of something you don’t want, but have no place to put it to get rid of it, can cause you to just put it back where you got it, and there it will stay. Have a box or bag ready for unwanted *stuff*. Also, if you’re not sure you really want to get rid of an item, keep it in the garage in a box or bag….and a year later when you run across it, you will have either forgotten about it, or you’re very glad to see it……if you’ve forgotten about it, chunk it.