“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:
Karen says
Joshua,
I would really love to be able to read your book “Simplfy” but I don’t have a Kindle. Of course I don’t want to go buy one due to budget. Can you please put it in a book form? Surely I’m not the only one who would benefit from this request.
Karen
joshua becker says
If you’d like, you can download the free Kindle software for almost any tech device and read it that way.
Margo Doll says
Goodwill is for Profit. Please donate to Non-Profits like Salvation Army or independents that donate back to homeless shelters, etc.
Luci Best says
Salvation Army is a religious faith. Research that faith before donating to them.
Kate says
Absolutely incorrect. Goodwill is a nonprofit charity organized and operated under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Cathy says
The goodwill may be nonprofit but they still walk away with a rather large paycheck which eithers do not. Please look into a true non profit there’s a veterans donation bin in our area.
Sylvia says
This is hard work. It’s such a freeing experience though. Everything serves a purpose. Wether it’s a need or a want. When you no longer need it or simply do not receive happiness from it, let it go. Owning less clutter is so freeing. I never realized that how much relaxed and clearer my thoughts would be. It’s mid May and I started in February. I’m almost done and I live alone in a one bedroom apartment. Things I thought I never would release are gone. One if the best experiences of my life.
Samantha says
I just found your website the other day and it has helped in my process of declutter and organizing. I agree with getting rid of the possessions quickly by donating them instead of selling. I figure I would save time and money to not post things for sale and then have to deliver items (yard sales In my meighborhood only come twice a year and it’s not worth the space to have boxes lying around for another 4 months!). I took pictures of everything, donated them to goodwill, collected the receipt and recorded the items. At least I’ll be getting a little return in my taxes ?
Susan says
I love all your articles! I have a stay at home friend who wants to make some money & I want to get rid of a lot of stuff. I am giving it to her, she is selling it and we are splitting the money – win/win for both of us. I also have taken some of my best items and will use them as gifts. A lot of items just go straight to Goodwill or places that can use items (dog shelters, homeless shelters, etc). I have been on a year of buying nothing except food & necessary items which has really helped with my goal toward decluttering & minimalism. To have a home/yard/life free of “too much” has & is freeing-liberating. The less I have the easier it is to live!
Rebecca Fisher says
Just a suggestion…I have read that not one penny garnered from donations to Goodwill helps ANYONE. The CEO liquidates the donations, and every cent goes INTO HIS POCKET! Disabled Veterans operate thrift stores that obviously benefit our disabled military veterans. You can deliver items to their stores, or they will send a truck to you if you call them. And what a worthy cause! The Salvation Army is also a very worthy organization to use to liquidate your clutter.
Em says
Rebecca, Facebook memes are not “reading about.” That bs about Goodwill is at least 10 years old and completely false. http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/charities.asp
Goodwill is a nonprofit highly rated by Charity Navigator that uses donations to provide job training to folks in need.
ren says
Tonight I will be loading up atleast two charity boxes. Will replace ummediately with empty box because I grab any empty paper boxes at work. It’s my constant t visual reminder to keep decluttering.
ren says
went to book shelf and in ten minutes’ time, I filled a box with books, this is second sweep I have done of bookshelf, love the uncluttered look. two boxes ready for charity.
just was thinking how much I appreciate my clean and organized hallway closet. so easy to find stuff and replenish when things run low.
told kids and boyfriend- this is not a phase, this is a new lifestyle, more leaving, than what is coming in, so will keep gaining ground eventually. older kids will be getting about 4 boxes of childhood treasures to do with as they please. have to remember these are their treasures, not mine.
ren says
Needed this PRACTICAL REMINDER, step by step list, more of these type of posts PLEASE.
Christine says
Excellent post!! The only comment is I would look for a non-profit thrift store run by volunteers to donate to. That way all the proceeds go to charity and not to CEOs who make large salaries.
Olivia Sherwin says
These are some fantastic tips, and I love your advice to start with an simple sweep. This is a great way to get started, because it doesn’t require a lot of effort, but it also gives you a sense of progress, which can be great motivation. My house is starting to collect some clutter, and it really needs a good cleaning, so I’ll definitely try this out!
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