5 Overlooked Decluttering Tips to Help You Stay Motivated

by Susan McCarthy​

These five decluttering tips help you create a plan of action. Because let’s face it, when you’re decluttering your home, you need to stay motivated for months. If you can get these details in line, then you have a better chance of successfully organizing your home.​

Here’s a secret about decluttering…it’s not about the technique you use to sort through your stuff.  Whether you’re just getting started decluttering your home or you’re returning to the task, you want to focus on the framework for how you’ll declutter as opposed to the actual act of emptying drawers and cabinets.

This means that you want to know a bit more about things like why you’re decluttering and when you plan to do this work.

Decluttering tips that tell you to get rid of clothing that doesn’t fit or to toss expired food are useful, but chances are you don’t need to hear that advice again. Instead, you need to know how to stay inspired and motivated for months.

5 Overlooked Decluttering Tips and the Problems They Solve
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How to Get Started Decluttering

Schedule the time to declutter. Really. Too often we think that we’ll fit decluttering into our day. And while, yes, doing spontaneous decluttering is useful, it’s not something to rely upon if you want to see consistent results.

You can put decluttering into your calendar, you can set an alarm or notification to prompt you into action. When your cue kicks in, declutter. It also helps to set an end time, so this doesn’t feel like a never-ending task.

Another way to encourage action is to link the space you want to declutter to another action that already occurs in that area.

For example, if you want to declutter your kitchen, you could plan to start when you turn on the dishwasher. And if you don’t like the rigidity of working for a particular number of minutes, make it your goal to declutter and organize a drawer or shelf or cabinet during your session.

Setting a time or linking to an action eliminates the “now or later” and “today or tomorrow” debates that can arise when you think you’ll fit decluttering into your day.​

Where to Begin Decluttering

Forget what books, courses, and videos on decluttering tell you about where you must begin your decluttering journey…you want to begin decluttering the space that is bothering you the most.

Maybe that’s your kitchen or bedroom or living room. Starting here means that you’ll lift a major source of stress from your shoulders. And you’ll feel inspired to continue decluttering.

And if you want to declutter everywhere, then focus on picking up things from the floor. This is an essential action that will make a big visible difference throughout your home and make it safer for you to move around your home.

After that, if every room still feels equally important, it doesn’t matter where you start. However, after you choose a room, stick with it until you’re done.

Why Set Decluttering Goals

Scheduling time to declutter and focusing on one room at a time are steps that can help you achieve your decluttering goals. What else do you need to set your decluttering goal? A deadline.

Why? A deadline helps to keep you on track…and it helps you to notice when you’ve taken a detour. How many Decembers have rolled around with you realizing that there’s no way you can declutter your home, lose weight, read 30 books, and do any of the other things that you wanted to accomplish during the year.

A deadline is what turns a wish into a goal. You could “get organized” ten years from now, but that’s probably not what you mean by that phrase. “Declutter and organize one room a month and be done by September 30” keeps you honest.
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Your deadline connects to why you are decluttering. What will you be able to do by meeting your goal? (Host a family gathering, start a craft business, set boundaries when family moves into your home, invite friends over for coffee without feeling stressed or embarrassed.)
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And that deadline may help eliminate those feelings of overwhelm because you know decluttering is a finite task. Just don’t set a deadline that provokes anxiety.

How to Declutter Your Home Fast

Stay focused on the area you’re decluttering. It is all too easy when decluttering to encounter something that belongs somewhere else and feel compelled to carry it there right away. Unfortunately, now you’re in another area of your home where, chances are, you could declutter or organize.

Too often I have clients describe zigzagging throughout their home with the intention of putting something away that ends up becoming full-fledged decluttering of an entirely different area of the house.

No matter how fast you physically work during these zigzagging sessions, you might not feel as if anything is getting accomplished. Why? Because with your efforts here and there it’s more difficult to see progress.

One of the rare instances when I suggest decluttering throughout your home is to pick up and clear your floor as a way to jumpstart your decluttering efforts. Clearing the floor first means that you won’t be stepping over and around stuff as you move through the room.

So, if you want to declutter your home fast, focus your efforts in one room at a time. If you find items that belong elsewhere, put them in a bin or laundry basket and then plan time to carry things to their place. BUT don’t start tidying the area where you’re putting the item. Make your effort good enough, but not perfect.

How to Finish Decluttering

Stay accountable to your goal. This could mean using a habit tracker, checking off each day you declutter, or tallying the number of items that you’re decluttering.

You could tell a friend about your goal and then check in with your progress.

Or, if you’re feeling bold, post your goal on social media and then put-up photos that track your progress. However, you don’t want to get distracted by the advice of well-meaning folks. And don’t let responding to comments get in the way of actually decluttering!​

How to Motivate Yourself to Declutter

The best way to get and stay motivated when you’re decluttering is to see results. There’s nothing as motivating as seeing a cleared dining table or other tidy spaces in your home.
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To see inspiring results –

• Set a goal with a deadline that you can achieve.
• Plan when you’ll declutter.
• Start in the space that bothers you the most.
• Focus on one area at a time.
• Be accountable to yourself, a friend, or a social platform.​

More Resources to Help You Stay Motivated while Decluttering

• ​How to Create a Personalized House Decluttering Plan  
• Set Intentions for Decluttering Your Home   
• 11 Quick Decluttering Projects to Do so You Can Get Organized Fast   
• Decluttering Mistakes to Avoid so You Stop Wasting Your Time and Energy
• Jumpstart Your Decluttering Journey