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The living room lay flooded with toy food pieces, legos just waiting to be stepped on, baby doll blankets, and about a dozen other random items. This was a common scene for us, even by 10 in the morning.
We were frustrated by the amount of “things” that always seemed to make their way onto the floors of our home. How can 5 humans (some obviously more messy than others) create this much clutter and mess?
For Mike, the answer came more simply and easily. “We have too much stuff”.
Too many toy options for the kids, too many items without a home, too many belongings to get tossed all around the house.
We had created so much visual clutter that we knew something had to change. If we wanted to live with less clutter, we didn’t need another organization system to store all of our possessions. What we needed was to reduce our possessions drastically.
Creating decluttering habits that last
Compared to many other minimalist bloggers, Mike and I are relatively new on our simplicity journey. But as parents and homeowners, we see how much effort it takes to keep up with kids, run a home, and allow it to look semi-presentable on a regular basis.
Over the past year, we’ve developed certain habits and rules for ourselves that’s greatly helped us reduce the clutter for good and maintain a home that contains more of what we use, and less of what just takes up space.
These habits have made decluttering much easier to do, less time consuming, and have most importantly trained us how to manage clutter as it comes into our home.
In this post, I’m sharing 5 of our favorite tips to make decluttering easier and quicker! Whether you’re doing a giant whole-house decluttering or just maintaining the clutter on a weekly basis, these tips are simple, helpful, and will teach you how to be more mindful about what you own.
5 tips to make decluttering easier and faster
If you’re unsure, it’s a “no”.
This may seem like a hard one to start with, but you can’t simplify your home if you can’t part with items you only use occasionally.
When we declutter, Mike constantly reminds me to be tough when making decisions. Don’t spend time wavering back and forth about those “just in case” items. If you haven’t used it recently, forgot you even owned it until now, or can make due without it in your home, it’s time to let it go.
Consider eliminating some of those kitchen gadgets that you use occasionally, but the task can still be accomplished with a more useful tool.
Last year, I got rid of my garlic press and now use a knife to mince garlic. I got rid of my fancy meat chopper and use a wooden spoon instead. I donated my large wok and now make my stir fry in my stock pot. A quesadilla maker that took ages to get clean was removed and I manage just fine by using a frying pan or grill.
Create a “just in case” bin.
If parting with items that aren’t a clear yes or no is too overwhelming for you, one tip that really helped me get past this hurdle was to create a “just in case” bin. Place all the items you want to hang onto (just in case) in a labeled bin. Then, put that bin out of sight! If you can go a certain amount of time (I recommend 6 months) and haven’t needed to grab the item out of the bin, it’s time to let it go.
This allows quicker decision making and is a great way to part with items you’re unsure about, because you’re not completely getting rid of them, just placing them out of sight to see if you actually need them.
Set a timer.
Decluttering doesn’t have to be an all day event to be successful. One way that motivates me is to set a timer when my kids are down for their afternoon quiet time. For that chunk of time, I know I have to stay focused on this single task. Keep it reasonable (30-60 minutes) so you don’t get overwhelmed or fatigued.
It’s amazing what you can accomplish in short, focused bits of time!
Donate right away.
After I have a full box of items that I’ve decluttered, it’s most helpful to get that box out of the house. If it stays within eyesight, chances are someone (ahem….the kids!) will start pulling items out and try to convince me that they really love and use it. The box goes in my trunk and within the next few days, I drop it off at my local donation center.
If you’re selling items instead of donating them, aim to list it the same day while your momentum is high. We have a rule that if there’s no interest in the item for 2 weeks, it gets donated.
Get rid of broken items.
Many times I’d put a broken toy or piece of clothing that needs mended aside and think, “I’ll just fix it later”. But later usually doesn’t come, so it would end up sitting on the counter or in the closet taking up space.
If you can fix the item right away, keep it. Otherwise, get rid of it and move on. There’s no point in keeping a toy that’s broken just because your child once loved it. It had its time in your home, but learn to let go of broken items that were once enjoyed and keep only items that work.
I’d encourage you to give these quick decluttering tips a try! Decluttering your possessions isn’t always easy, but once you’ve trained yourself to not accumulate so much, spend within your means, and get rid of items that don’t serve a purpose in your home, decluttering goes much quicker and takes less time overall.
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