7 Steps to Declutter Your Home in 15 Minutes a Day
 I've lost more than 100 pounds and transformed my cluttered home into a haven of peace -- click here for my story and pictures. Ready to take action? Start turning your life around today with the free Tweaks system. Looking for personal support and mentoring? Click here to find out about our safe and private Member Forum. |
The key to the daily declutter Tweak is to build a habit of spending a little time each day clearing the clutter OUT of the house, without burning yourself out or punishing yourself with hours of work.
Believe me, if you do this every day you will eventually be free of clutter — faster than you think. Remember, your house did not get cluttered overnight, and it doesn’t need to get cleared out overnight either. Start today and steadily get rid of the clutter in little chunks one day at a time.
It’s easy to declutter — just follow these seven steps:
- Pick a room. Many people find that it’s easiest to focus on decluttering one room at a time. I suggest starting with the kitchen — chances are, it has the least clutter, and a decluttered kitchen makes it easier to prepare nutritious food for you and your family. Or you could start with your bedroom to create a haven of peace for yourself! Just choose a room and move on to the next step.
- Start with the obvious garbage, if there is any. Go around with a trash bag and load it up. As you fill a bag, immediately put it next to your door or in the garage, ready to go out at the curb on your next garbage day. The sooner it’s out the door and out of your life, the better!
- Get your baskets. Once the obvious garbage is gone from the room, you’re ready to declutter. Get three boxes or baskets and label them Trash, Donate and Relocate (for anything that belongs in a room other than the one you’re decluttering).
- Choose a spot in the room to start decluttering. You can pick the spot that bugs you the most, or just start at the door and work your way around the room clockwise or counterclockwise. Maybe you would like to start decluttering the areas where cluttering is getting in the way of the purpose of the room (e.g. clear the clutter from the bed or from the diningroom table). It’s not important where you start — just start.
- Start decluttering (remember, only 15 minutes a day!). Start at the top of the pile of clutter, and as you pick up each item, if you don’t need or love the item, or if it doesn’t belong in that room, toss it in a basket — Trash, Donate or Relocate.
- At the end of 15 minutes, stop decluttering! Dump your Trash basket into one of your garbage bags and put it with the rest of the trash for garbage pickup. Put your Donate items into a box for Goodwill and put it by the door. As soon as this box is full, you’ll be putting it in your car to drop off or arranging for someone to pick it up. Finally, go around your house with the Relocate basket and put those items in the room they belong (don’t worry about perfect placement, just get them into the right room for now). Put your baskets away for tomorrow.
- Now, reward yourself for a job well done! Have a bubble bath or put your feet up and enjoy some time with a book, a favorite TV show. Great work!
Remember, spend only 15 minutes a day decluttering. You can get accomplish a LOT in 15 minutes — a couple of bags of trash gone, a bag of clothing or a box of books to donate or a refrigerator or cupboard cleared of out-of-date or unwanted stuff.
The idea behind decluttering is to get as much of the clutter as possible out of your house without unnecessary delay. Beware of the temptation to churn the clutter.
We have hoarding and clutter issues in part because of perfectionism. While you are decluttering, it’s natural to have feelings of indecision and anxiety when deciding what to do with an item. Remember, we all make mistakes. If you throw away or give away a few items that you later wish you hadn’t, it’s a small price to pay for a peaceful, clutter-free home. Keep your focus on clearing the clutter out the door and remember that you are creating space for the abundance and wellbeing to flow into your life.
Read all the posts about decluttering here.
Click here to get updates and information about the NurturingHope.com Tweaks System by email, FREE.
Click here to find out more about our private, supportive Member Forum.
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluecinderellee/
Related posts:
- How to Declutter Your Kitchen – Part I
- Tweak: Declutter Daily
- How to Declutter Your Kitchen – Part II
- Anti-Hoarding Strategies from a Hoarding Therapist
- Are You Churning or Decluttering?
Comments
One Response to “7 Steps to Declutter Your Home in 15 Minutes a Day”
Leave a Reply
Fantastic way to breakdown what can be an overwhelming project. We had committed ourselves to an hour or two a week but I think I like 15 minutes a day better. Thank-you!