Does the clutter in your house feel worse at Christmas? It definitely used to in mine. It's not just all the new stuff we give each other, but also the mental overload of being busy, busy all through December.
With so much going on, crazy clutter got to me: I got stressed and shouty and horribly, horribly anxious, deep down, about little tiny things.
In the whirl of crazy chaos, I too often found I struggled to channel the real joy of Christmas.
But over the years I've found a quick super-powered declutter truly helps me enjoy Christmas more.
And in this post I'll show you exactly how to make a pre-Christmas declutter work for you.
3 Big Benefits
A quick declutter helps us enjoy Christmas in 3 big ways because it:
- Gives us our space back
- Calms our anxiety
- And keeps clutter out.
But it's got to be quick - very quick - and very focused. Yanking all our stuff out Marie Kondo style just before Christmas will only make us feel even more crazily out of control!!
So instead, I follow an incredibly simple 7 step declutter plan with each step taking just 30 minutes.
Some steps seem weird but they truly do clear space, ease anxiety and set us up for a big declutter next year.
So let's get started with our quick Christmas Declutter Challenge.
Christmas Declutter Challenge
1. A Power Purge
OK so first up is a power purge.
This declutter trick helps because it burns off angry pent up frustration without making more mess.
All you need is a timer and a trash bag and a recycling bag. Set your timer for 30 minutes and go.
Whizz round your home looking for obvious trash especially paper clutter and day to day junk hiding in plain sight on surfaces all the way around your home. It could be :
- Newspapers
- Magazines
- Catalogues
- Flyers
- Take away menus
- Used travel tickets
- Expired calendars
- Junk mail
- Manuals you don't need
- Invitations
- Time tables
- Puzzle books
Don't agonize over stuff. Move fast. And stop on 30 minutes exactly and get your bag in the outdoor trash.
You're done now until tomorrow because this declutter challenge is all about sticking to the 30 minute rule. We have maximum impact in minimum time without getting lost in mountains of stuff.
But clearing those surfaces also helps rewire our mindset so we don't mindlessly dump stuff and actually put it away or trash it.
2. Blitz The Bathroom
Now onto step two, the bathroom.
You might think there's bigger stuff to shift - and there is - but blitzing our bathroom helps us:
- Chuck out lots of stuff easily
- And see just how many Christmas gifts go to waste!!
Letting these easy things go - whilst recognising the waste - gives us the motivation we need to clear more and to find great clutter free gifts that won't end up in the trash!
It will also be much easier to speed clean the bathroom right before Christmas if you have guests coming.
How To Declutter The Bathroom Quickly
All we do is set the timer for 30 minutes and grab toiletries more than 12 months old:
- Body lotions
- Bubble baths
- Fancy candles
- Smelly soaps
- Perfumes
- Sun cream
- Shaving foam
- Etc etc
Also clear out :
- Random product samples
- Grotty old tooth brushes
- Grotty old nail brushes
- Mouldy bath toys
- Really raggy towels
- Blunt razors
- Unused cleaning products
- Squeezed out toothpaste
- Ancient loofahs & sponges
- Sorry & stained wash bags
- Leaking hot water bottles
- Expired first aid items
- Multiple tooth brush chargers
- Duplicate hair brushes
- Duplicate tweezers etc.
Don't agonise over anything.
Just get what you can in the trash in 30 minutes and feel good about all that clutter you have cleared!
3. Clear A Few Big Things
Clutter is stressful because it steals the space we need for living.
Sadly, we won't totally solve this before Christmas but even a little more space makes life easier.
It gives us the room to make decorations and put up the Christmas tree and play party games and eat Christmas dinner with loved ones without tripping over things every which way we move!!
And that little extra space in drawers and cupboards lets everyone put stuff away fast which is essential when you're speed cleaning before Christmas guests arrive.
So step 3 is: clear a few big things.
It could be any of these :
- Broken chairs no one sits in
- Side table covered in clutter
- Printer that hasn't worked in years
- Ugly lamp you never switch on
- Ancient unused grotty duvets
- Exercise bikes no one rides
- Dilapidated luggage
- Long since kaput vacuum cleaner
- Kitchen gadgets still in box
- Mountains of outgrown kids shoes!
For more inspiration, use this list of 50 big things to let go to find a few big items to give away before Christmas.
4. Empty Your Make Up Bag
Step 3 was all about big stuff. Step 4 is about all the tiny bits of clutter that drive us out of our minds.
It's hard to believe but I've cleared over 3,000 little things from my home over the last few years.
Letting them go helped me see how much all those little things mess with our head. Constantly losing stuff sky rocketed my anxiety.
Again, sadly we can't clear the lot now. But sit down for 20 minutes, with a cup of tea - a must!! - and chuck out old, gunked up mascaras and lipsticks and the rest.
Or if you don't have a bursting full make up bag go through :
- Pots of dried up pens
- Kids craft box
- Your kitchen clutter drawer
- Etc ...
Letting little things go really can ease anxiety right then and there when Christmas is getting hectic.
And letting go of those little things easily helps us believe we really can clear the whole lot next year without much effort because decluttering 10 little things daily will actually clear over 3,000 pieces of clutter in just 12 months. How amazing is that?!!
5. Cook Your Cupboards
All too many of us end up stuffing our kitchen cupboards full of food we don't get round to eating.
Half the time it is just because we can't see what we've got and it's expired before we know it.
Food waste easily gets even worse in the run up to Christmas as we plan Christmas food and start stocking up overloaded shelves with more stuff!
So to cut food waste and save money on Christmas food we will do a super quick pantry declutter.
Again set your timer for 30 minutes and pull out any obviously ancient or expired food from :
- Pantry shelves
- Fridge
- Freezer.
Don't try and clear the lot. Ditch what you can. Just from that effort we will be able to see much more clearly what we've got to eat.
Then for the next week or fortnight try as far as possible to cook from your cupboards. You'll save a heap of cash and actually have the space to see what you've got and what you really need for Christmas.
6. Curb Kitchen Chaos
For step 6 in our Christmas declutter we are going to stay in the kitchen.
Many of us live in our kitchen in December making and baking and entertaining so crazy kitchen clutter can be seriously triggering!!
So again we are going to take just 30 minutes to power purge no regrets clutter hiding in plain sight e.g. :
- Truly horrible mugs
- Cracked glasses
- Recipe books unopened in 5 years
- Broken crockery
- Dismal dish cloths
- Pans with handles missing
- Baking sheets we daren't bake on
- Cleaning products never used
- Piles of old rain boots by the door
- Grotty aprons etc etc.
Focus on the stuff that can go straight in the trash / recycling but if you do have any big items e.g. unused gadgets "mentally declutter" them and stash them in the garage for selling in the New Year.
For more ideas of what to look for in your purge check out this big list of kitchen declutter prompts.
7. Sort Christmas Decorations
Christmas is about the old as well as the new but in all the scurry of shopping for gifts and Christmas food it can be hard to find time to slow down and look back.
But we need to and that connection with Christmas past and old family Christmas traditions can protect us from the frenzied urge to acquire even more clutter at Christmas time.
So put aside an evening for you to cosy up quietly with an old movie and slowly sift through your Christmas decorations cherishing the connection with the past as you gently let go any now unwanted.
Our Christmas memories of love and joy and people gone are worth more than all the gifts in the stores!
I hope this quick declutter helps you enjoy Christmas more. For more simple Christmas ideas try:
- Clutter Free Christmas Gifts
- No Clutter Gifts For Kids
- Best Virtual & Digital Gifts
- Top Experience Gifts
- Lovely Christmas Traditions
- Enjoying Christmas On A Budget
- Minimalist Christmas Decorations
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