You are on the right track! You’ve experienced the benefits of decluttering.

You are committed to living a simple life with less, but you’re looking for ways to refine and improve the decluttering process so it’s sustainable.

Read this article from Forbes by Joshua Becker: The Top 9 Expert Strategies To Declutter Your Home

How can you crack the code of clutter-free living?

Are there ways to personalize or customize the process to make it easier, more manageable, and more flexible?

Great question! When you start integrating these 7 Proven Decluttering Hacks into your existing decluttering process, you’ll discover how surprisingly simple clutter-free living can be.

Best of all, you can personalize these tips and tricks to suit your schedule, your personality, and your lifestyle, so you can avoid the problem of re-cluttering after decluttering!

1.    Create habits that stick

Habits that work for you and help solve your daily clutter problems.

  • Making your bed as soon as you wake up.
  • Picking up your clothes, hanging them up.
  • Doing the dishes as soon as you finish eating.

Good habits are essential to maintaining a clutter-free home. Even small habits are powerful.

  • Putting the toothpaste back in the cabinet as soon as you finish brushing your teeth.
  • Unpacking your suitcase as soon as you return home from a trip.

When you start to see the impact that good habits have on your life, you’ll be motivated to address the bad habits too!

2.    Have a plan to overcome the roadblocks.

  • You will get stopped.
  • You will get stuck.
  • You might even want to quit.

Knowing that you will ultimately face roadblocks that could sideline your progress, have a plan in place for dealing with them. You must develop your own plan because you are the one who’s going to have to deal with it.

Here are a few suggestions about how to anticipate and deal with roadblocks when decluttering:

OVERWHELM

“There’s so much stuff.”

“It’s going to take so much time.”

“It’s exhausting!”

How to overcome overwhelm

  • Take a break, take a walk, clear your head.
  • Start on one small area, celebrate the fact, that you did something!
  • Be realistic about how much you can accomplish each decluttering session.

SENTIMENTAL ITEMS

You never know what item might trigger tears, sadness, joy, or upset.

How to overcome the emotions related to sentimental items

  • Hold it in your hand, feel the emotions flow through you.
  • Recall the memories associated with that item.
  • Take a picture of it.
  • Tell a story about it so you’ll be able to appreciate the memory of that person or thing later on.

GUILT

We have all experienced guilt over buying something very expensive, not using it, and feeling guilty over wasting money.

We may have also experienced the guilt over receiving a gift from a loved one that we don’t like and have never used.

This goes for inherited items and furniture you don’t want, like, or have a need for.

How to overcome guilt when decluttering

  • Remember, it was a gift.
  • Since it’s a gift you can do what you wish.
  • Give it to someone who wants it and will appreciate it.
  • Donate it to someone who might need it.

3.    The time of day and week that works best for you, your schedule, your personality

If you’re a morning person: Get up 30 minutes early on your decluttering day to work on a pre-designated area.

If you’re a night owl: Use some of that time to declutter after everyone else is in bed.

If you like a rainy day: Plan a decluttering blitz.

4.    If you feel the urge to declutter and get organized, don’t resist.

Sometimes the urge to clutter comes unexpectedly. Go with the flow.

Use that energy and motivation to declutter and organize an area you might have been putting off.

5.    If you like checklists, use a checklist to help you declutter.

Some people thrive on checking things off their list. I know I do. It makes them feel motivated and accomplished seeing that checkmark.

Check out my home decluttering checklist on my website or request your free PDF download at ritawilkins@ritawilkins.com with the subject line, Home Decluttering Checklist.

6.    If you like deadlines, create deadlines for decluttering certain areas of your home.

If the project is large:

  • Set a realistic deadline of 30 days.
  • Create weekly goals and milestones.
  • Celebrate and acknowledge your wins.

If your project is small:

  • Set a timer for 10, 15, or 30 minutes.
  • Then, GO for it!
  • Take “before and after” pictures to show progress, regardless of how small.

7.    Establish rituals for decluttering.

Set a time and place each week or each month that you will declutter certain areas.

  • Declutter and clean out your car every Friday.
  • Declutter and organize your pantry once a week.
  • Declutter and arrange in your closet seasonally or once a quarter.
  • Delete photos on your phone or unused apps once a month.

These routines or rituals help maintain areas that could easily build up and become overwhelming. Establish your own ritual for decluttering certain areas of your home or life.

Try these proven decluttering hacks and create some of your own to make the process of decluttering more manageable, flexible, and sustainable.

Good luck on your decluttering journey. I’d love to hear back from you about which ones were most effective.

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