The Closet Purge That Finally Worked

If you’ve ever gone on a decluttering spree, you know the thrill of seeing your closet (or any area) neat and orderly. It’s an instant motivation boost that makes you want to declutter more and more. Unfortunately, in a matter of weeks, the clutter often returns to its original state or slightly better. But over time, most people find their progress keeps returning to baseline, and so they give up.

Why is it so hard to make progress when it comes to clutter

Like many areas of life, it’s the messy middle that’s hardest to push through. The initial thrill eventually wears off, and at some point you’ve thrown all the easy stuff out, leaving you with a bunch of hard choices. It’s much easier to stop and say you’ll take care of it later.

I’ve been there, but thankfully, I’ve managed to persevere thanks to a few simple rules I’m about to share (and some guidance from my wife, who’s better at this than I am). The most important thing I learned is to focus on progress, not perfection. Even if you only toss out or donate one thing each day, that adds up to a ton of progress over the course of the year. Once I internalized that lesson, it became a lot easier to beat back the clutter and enjoy a decluttered home.

As a result, I’m less stressed when I look around my house, and I find it much easier to locate the items in my life that I still value. If you’d like to achieve similar progress in your own battle, consider the following tips.

Take everything out of your closet at once

If you’re going to make a real dent, you’ve got to make a bit of a mess. That means taking everything out and making a big pile. The advantage of this approach is that you force the action. You now know that you can’t leave your closet that way indefinitely, and a neat stack is preferable to a messy one. Make it a personal rule that you cannot stop until everything is put back or taken away for good.

Don’t keep anything you haven’t used in the past year

This might be the most important rule: anything you haven’t used in the past year is probably not worth keeping. You may fear that you’ll need it the day after you toss it, but that’s highly unlikely. And even if it happens, you’ll probably be able to manage without it, borrow one from a friend, or buy a new one. It may sound a bit extreme, but it’s the only way to break through your irrational attachment to nearly everything you own and prevent it from controlling your life.

Separate, categorize, and label everything you’re keeping

For the items that make the cut, be ruthless about putting them in distinct categories. It’s fine if some items are left over and don’t seem to fit any category—just put those in a miscellaneous bin and clearly label it. There’s no amount of decluttering in the short-term that will completely wipe out clutter forever, but if you know what you have, where it goes, and a place to put new things that don’t have a place, your chances of success are much improved.

Have a designated place for all items to go in between uses

You can’t expect your house to stay perfect at all times, and there will be plenty of instances when you don’t have time to properly put something away. If you don’t decide what to do with those things, they’ll end up all over your house without a permanent home. I recommend a nice woven basket for each member of your household in which to deposit random items you haven’t had a chance to put back or that belong to someone else. This way, your home stays neat, and you have a clear plan to empty these baskets on a regular basis.

Store each item with the ones you used it with

One of the keys to decluttering is to not only make progress but ensure that the clutter doesn’t simply return in a matter of days or weeks. This is usually the result of being unsure what to do with something and where it belongs, so you leave it out for now. One solution I’ve found helpful is that if you’re going to categorize things, make sure they’re stored in the context of their use. That way, you’ll never forget where you put them. For example, in our house, we don’t file receipts away in an accordion folder; instead, we throw them in the draw with our checkbook and stamps that we use to mail bills.

Make a plan to purge one item per day

What if you do all this work and pull everything out only to find that your decluttering efforts only got you so far? If that happens, I wouldn’t be surprised to find your initial progress has you motivated to keep going. My number one piece of advice is to make a plan to do a little bit each day and stick to it. The only thing that matters is sticking to the plan for multiple days in a row.

Take a picture of what a neat closet looks like

One tip I came across a few years ago from cognitive behavioral therapy is that sometimes our brains forget what it’s like to think a certain way or feel a certain way. I apply that insight to the world of decluttering by recommending that you take a picture of what your closet looks like after it’s organized. The picture will serve as a visual reminder for the standard you’re trying to maintain, and with the help of your daily practice, you’ll never slip so far as to be embarrassed by that picture.

Put a regular decluttering session on your calendar

In addition to your daily practice, I recommend setting aside a larger chunk of time once a year in your calendar to do a more thorough job. It’s only through removing everything, really considering whether to toss an object, and thoughtfully putting things back that you’ll make deeper progress than merely scratching the surface. Your daily practice is necessary to prevent backsliding, but it’s the annual effort that’s like adding a yearly investment to your bank account.

Take pride in the progress you’ve made

The only thing I find more frustrating than clutter is clutter that has returned after I’ve expended effort trying to make progress. For this reason, I feel compelled to offer a final tip that has to do with mindset. When you engage in decluttering, it’s easy to recognize the progress you’ve made, but then, on a day-to-day basis, you become frustrated by any amount of clutter. Instead, I recommend focusing on and taking pride in the progress you’ve made. The best way to do that is to take pictures of your before and after and remember where you came from.

Conclusion

In recent years, I’ve made huge strides in decluttering our home. It hasn’t been easy, but I truly believe I have more freedom now than I did before. The phrase “burden of ownership” is a pretty accurate way of describing my feelings. Just the other day, I had a bout of nostalgia about some old high school stuff I tossed during one particularly ruthless purge. I felt a bit of regret, but then I remembered all the good memories I still have in my heart and mind. I realized that throwing away those items didn’t cause me to forget but, if anything, made those memories even sweeter.