It’s all too easy to get completely overwhelmed with the idea of decluttering your home. When there’s stuff covering every flat surface and the cupboards are full to bursting it can feel impossible to know where to start.
If you know you need to do something about it though, there are 2 ways you could go.
You can take a whole weekend and just go for it. Put your head down, make quick decisions, and tackle the whole house, one room at a time.
Or, you can do it slowly. Bit by bit.
Of course the second way will take longer, but it’s much easier to get started with. And if you do a little bit each day you really will start to notice a difference quite quickly and be motivated to do just a little more next time.
So if you don’t have a whole weekend to dedicate to decluttering, try and tackle one of these quick wins each day and see the difference it makes.
Quick digital decluttering wins
Digital clutter might not be as obvious as the pile of junk mail sitting on the coffee table, but it can still leave us feeling just as frustrated and drained. So when you have a 5 minute window do one of these things:
- Delete apps you don’t use on your phone
- Delete old text messages
- Look through the photos on your phone and delete duplicates
- Unsubscribe from email newsletters you never open or read
- Delete books from your Kindle that you didn’t like or won’t read again
- Unfollow someone on social media who makes you feel any kind of negative emotion when you see their posts
- Spend 5 minutes deleting emails that you’ve dealt with from your inbox
- Clean up your phone homescreen – sort apps into folders and put the ones you use the most often on the homescreen
- Clean up your computer desktop – delete files that don’t need to be there and put the rest into organised folders
- Sort out your phone notifications – do you really need your phone to ding each time someone posts something on Twitter?
Quick decluttering wins in the bedroom
You might need to be a bit brutal in the bedroom and let go of things you’ve been holding on to for various reasons, but don’t think too much about it and get rid of:
- Socks that are too small, have holes in, or are hanging around without a partner
- Underwear and bras that are tired or uncomfortable
- Clothes that are stained or that have holes in them
- Clothes that don’t fit quite right and are uncomfortable
- Clothes that just don’t make you feel good when you try them on
- Shoes that are worn out or that hurt your feet when you wear them
- Any clothes or shoes that you’ve not worn in the last year or two
- Jewellery that isn’t your style any more
- Broken jewellery that you know you’ll never get round to repairing
- Bags that are broken, worn out, or that just don’t fit with your current lifestyle
- Swimming costumes that are getting thin or faded
- Seasonal hats and accessories that you haven’t worn or used in the last year
- Old chargers and cables for electronics you don’t have any more
- Old, empty boxes
- Books that you didn’t enjoy or won’t read again
Quick decluttering wins in the bathroom
Spend 5 minutes in the bathroom getting rid of a few of these things:
- Old, worn out towels
- Bath toys that your children have grown out of or that are past their best
- Medicines that are past their use-by date
- Nail varnish that you haven’t used in the last year
- Make up that you don’t use or that has been open past its shelf life
- Bottles of shampoo, conditioner, shower gel that you’ve tried and don’t like or use
- Things you have duplicates of like nail clippers, tweezers, or nail files
- Samples of products you’ll never use – like the sachets of face cream that come in magazines
- Make up brushes and hairdryer attachments you don’t use
- Products that don’t suit your skin or hair type
Quick decluttering wins in the kitchen
Go through your kitchen cupboards, drawers, fridge, and freezer and get rid of:
- Any food that’s past its use by date
- Food that you’ve tried and don’t like
- Kitchen gadgets and small appliances you never actually use
- Plates, bowls, or mugs that are chipped
- Mugs you never use
- Tupperware containers with no lids
- Duplicates of utensils that you don’t need, like corkscrews, bottle openers, and potato peelers
- Herbs and spices that are way past their best before date
- Sauces and condiments that have been open way longer than the use by window
- Tea towels that are thinning, worn out, or stained
- Cleaning products you don’t like and don’t ever use
Quick decluttering wins in your car
Next time you go somewhere in the car, take a few minutes when you get home and declutter one of these things:
- Any bits of rubbish
- Old water bottles
- Random jumpers and accessories that have ended up living in the car
- Anything that doesn’t need to be in the glove box
- Books and toys
Other quick decluttering wins
This is all the ‘stuff’ that doesn’t quite fit into a neat category. It’s all the miscellaneous things you can declutter from your home and your life:
- Get rid of any coppers, receipts, unused loyalty cards, old bank cards etc from your wallet/purse
- Go through your handbag and throw away any rubbish, put ‘treasures’ that your children have handed to you to keep safe somewhere other than your bag, and clear out anything else that doesn’t belong in your bag
- Throw away old diaries
- Rummage through the junk drawer and various pen holders in your home and throw out old pens that don’t work
- Throw away any old lanyards, ID cards, paperwork etc from old jobs
- Re-gift or recycle things you’ve been given that you know you’ll never use
- Let go of an unfinished project that you know you won’t complete and that makes you feel guilty every time you see it
- Go through your children’s craft materials and get rid of broken crayons, dried up pens and glue, and any unnecessary duplicates
- Pass on toys that your children have grown out of and don’t play with any more (or put them away in storage if you can’t bear to part with them)
- Get rid of games and jigsaws with missing pieces
- Cut up and throw away any old or expired bank/credit cards, loyalty cards, and membership cards that are sitting on a shelf or stashed in the junk drawer
- Get rid of any keys that you don’t need or even know which door they lock
- Recycle the pile of junk mail that’s sitting on the side
- Recycle old magazines that you’ve finished reading
- Throw away any coupons that have past their useable date
- Check that your favourite takeaway places have their full menu online and then throw away the paper copy you have in a drawer
- Donate any ornaments, candles, photo frames, etc that you don’t really love or have a sentimental attachment to
- Pass on any board games that no one in the family enjoys playing or that always end in someone getting upset!
- Get rid of any DVDs (or videos if you still have them!) that you never watch
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