You're desperate to declutter right? But feel utterly overwhelmed.
How can you possibly tackle all your clutter when you're so busy?
And where on earth do you start?
Well the good news is we can declutter easily and thoroughly whilst getting on with our lives!
I have cleared over 200 bags of clutter without any big declutter sessions that take over the weekend and make more mess.
The big secret for me has been the just 10 things declutter method.
It got me started quickly and easily but critically also kept me going.
So what on earth is it?
Just 10 Things
Just 10 things is a super simple but super powerful way to declutter.
You just let go of 10 things everyday.
It can be any 10 things at all you feel you will be happier without.
It sounds trivial doesn't it?
But 10 fewer things daily is 3,000 fewer things by the end of the year!!
That has some wow factor doesn't it?
And there's another benefit. Letting go of just 10 things daily turns decluttering into a power habit.
By doing it everyday, we become brilliant at letting go of stuff so we can whizz through chunkier declutter projects in a spare 15 minutes or half hour weekly.
But then the big question everyone asks is "What should I tackle first?"
This is my - hard won - advice ...
What Should I Declutter First?
The most important thing when we start decluttering is to succeed.
"Er, yeah??!!" I hear you cry.
But gurus like Marie Kondo claim decluttering will be hard and if it's not hard, we're not doing it right & are clinging onto too much.
This is officially - I can now reveal - complete and utter nonsense!!
We need to start decluttering with the easiest things we possibly can.
If we make it hard - and messy - right at the start, there's not a cat in hell's chance most of us will carry on.
Starting with easy wins creates a positive feedback mechanism whilst we learn to let go.
By practising on easy stuff, we get ourselves ready for the trickier stuff to come. It's common sense.
However, what is easy for me may not be easy for you because we are all different - hurrah - with different interests, obsessions and hang ups.
But typically the easiest things to declutter first are:
- Low financial value - not stuff we hope will bag a fortune on eBay
- Easily disposable - stuff charity shops take or recyclable
- Accessible - not a pile of boxes trapped at the back of the garage
- Unsentimental - nothing with bitter-sweet complicated emotions
- Unquestionably expired - whether food, toiletries, tickets or stuff beyond repair.
You know your home best so these pointers may be enough to identify easy projects to start decluttering.
But if not follow the 10 project plan below. From my experience, these are all easy wins for very little effort.
Complete one project weekly for 10 weeks to fly through your clutter!
Just remember to let go of 10 little things every day, as well.
The daily habit PLUS a small weekly project can together declutter your whole home easily. By year end you will be hundreds of bags lighter.
10 Quick Declutter Projects
These 10 quick declutter projects can all be done in 15 to 30 minutes without making a mess :
Bathroom Cupboard
Our bathroom cupboards are full of stuff that NEEDS to go. Ancient toiletries and mouldy bath toys are a health hazard. Use this list to quickly ditch stuff.
Under Kitchen Sink
Most of us don't use half the dodgy chemicals under our kitchen sink! With this list quickly get rid of stuff you will never use and stop wasting money on it.
Food Cupboards
We're all horribly guilty of wasting food. But if you create space by chucking out expired stuff and donating unopened stuff you'll never eat to a food bank, you'll find it easier to stop buying so much. Strangely, the more we hoard, the more we buy!
Mugs, Cups & Glasses
Get all those unloved ones to the charity shop. Keep enough for the family and small scale entertaining. Remember you can always borrow stuff for parties!
Make Up Bag
Come on now! Be honest! How long have you had some of the stuff in there? If it's over a year it probably needs to go. And over two definitely.
Children's Shoes
Anything smaller than the feet of your youngest child can go! Charity shops will take them as will lots of local recycling places.
Pens, Pencils & Crayons
How is it possible to have thousands and never find one when you need one? Have an "amnesty box" for a week and get the whole family to fill with any they find round the house. At the end of the week, chuck those that don't work and donate surplus to a playgroup, school or youth group.
Bed Linen
Do your homework and find out where you can take textiles for recycling. Schools and playgroups and even your local theatre group may be able to reuse them.
Cookery Books
All the cookery books in the world won't get dinner on the table! Most of us have got shelf loads we've never or rarely cooked from. If there are one or two recipes you love, copy them out. Then get those books to the charity shop. Tackling cookery books early will also help us let go other books and tackle our food hoarding, later.
Small Kitchen Gadgets
Alongside those cookery books we also all have lots of small kitchen gadgets we don't use, everything from multiple corkscrews to fancy peelers and slicers and zesters. Because we see them every day, we stop noticing them but they're there cluttering up the drawers and the counters and adding stress to the kitchen. Food and cooking and the kitchen actually plays a massive role in our crazy clutter psychology. Food is at the the heart of the human instinct to hoard. Being honest with ourselves about what we really need to prepare food can seriously help us fight that hoarding instinct all through the house. Yay!!
So there you go.
10 truly easy quick declutter projects you WILL be successful at in less than 30 minutes a week.
Remember, you don't have to ditch everything. Just what you are ready to let go, right there, right then.
By succeeding at these simply you will have the confidence to tackle the big stuff :
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