Decluttering Re-Imagined—How To Reset Your Space The Easy Way

If you only ever did one thing to take care of your space, let it be decluttering. Decluttering is the first and most important step to getting organized, and its job is never really done. Maintaining an organized space requires continual decluttering. I know that it’s not fun (for most people, at least), but the truth of the matter is that you’re going to accumulate stuff as you live your life. And if you don’t get rid of stuff at the same rate as you gain stuff, you’re going to get disorganized.

a decluttered drawer — Decluttering alone can make a space look so much cleaner and more organized!
(Side note: This rug is from Ruggable; it’s washable and thus perfect for the kitchen.)

January is the perfect time to take on a decluttering project because it helps you reset your space. As your priorities and goals change, so does your stuff. Now is the time to get rid of what is no longer useful to you and make room for what is.

If you’re with me, here are 4 tips to make your decluttering project faster, easier, and more successful.

Decluttering The Easy Way

Get In The Decluttering Mindset

Your space has limits. Think about it like money: You only have so much money. You can spend it on whatever you want, but you have to consider your overall budget. Similarly, you need to budget your space. You can keep anything, but you can’t keep everything. You can use your space however you want to, but you have to consider that it ultimately has limits. The more intentional you can be about setting limits in small spaces, the more space you’ll have overall.

Start Small

Decluttering is not the same thing as organizing. Decluttering is not the same thing as cleaning. Decluttering is not even the same thing as donating… Decluttering is simply removing unnecessary items from the space.

Sometimes I think that people get overwhelmed with a decluttering or organization project because they think it needs to be everything at once, but that’s not true. You can remove unnecessary items from a space but not clean or organize it. You can remove unnecessary items from a space and not throw them away or donate them immediately.

Now, it is good to throw away trash daily and drop off donations regularly. I know a lot of people would say to just do it right away! But I actually don’t think that’s necessary. I think it’s fine if donation items sit in a box in your closet or in the trunk of your car for awhile. If the items are out of the way of your day-to-day life, it’s better that they are there than in a place that is cluttering up a commonly used space. It’s more functional to let decluttering be the smallest task it can possibly be and to declutter often than it is to continually procrastinate it because the job has gotten too big.

Start Easy

Momentum is a beautiful thing. To get some initial momentum decluttering, you want to also start EASY. I recommend you start with actual trash. Go around your house and find anything that you’ve been meaning to throw away or recycle. There should be no anxiety on whether or not you should keep those items.

Then, move to whatever you care the least about. This should be easier to declutter, because you should be more willing to get rid of it. Continue with the easiest categories you can think of… small, insignificant, already-halfway-done, whatever!

If a category feels challenging or overwhelming, then skip it and come back to it later. There is likely an easier thing to get rid of somewhere else in your house.

Don’t Let Yourself Get Stuck

Decide quickly, but be gracious with yourself. Use the 3-second rule: If you can’t decide whether to keep something or get rid of it in 3 seconds, then it’s an automatic KEEP. Keep it, and keep moving. Remember, we want to maintain momentum!

If you’re an indecisive person and the 3-second rule is letting you keep too much, then consider creating a box for items your unsure about. Then stash the box away for a time (1 month? 6 months? whatever feels reasonable…). If you want something from the box while it’s stashed away, then go get it back out. But if not, then leave it be. At the end of your set amount of time, donate or toss anything that is still in the box.

As you get more confident in your decluttering, I would recommend that you try to do this less and less. Your experience will help to teach you what you care about keeping versus what you can easily get rid of. But if you’re not there yet, create your “maybe” box, and keep moving. Momentum is usually more important.

However you decide to go about it, the most important things is that you simply start. You’ll be so happy that you did.

Happy decluttering!

Decluttering Re-Imagined—How To Reset Your Space The Easy Way