Decluttering a home is no easy task, especially if things have gotten out of control over the years and you don’t know where to start. Or, perhaps you want to help a family or friend declutter their home. If you’ve ever seen a show like “Hoarders,” you understand how quickly a badly organized home—coupled with a few bad habits—can get out of control.
In addition to having a clean home, there are plenty of other benefits to decluttering, too. For instance, 67% of people say they would save a half an hour each day if they were more organized. Furthermore, being unorganized can decrease productivity, happiness, and motivation.
Whether you’re decluttering your home to make your life easier, or are moving into a new home and want to sell your current one, there are many reasons why you’d want to clean up. Here’s how to declutter your home and get organized the right way:
Commit To a Routine
This might seem like an obvious tip, but it’s one that’s often ignored. Chances are, you won’t be able to completely declutter and organize your home in one day. As you begin researching organization tips, stick to a routine. This means that whenever you change clothes, you’re putting them away properly and preventing yourself from making a mess as you simultaneously progress.
Do Your Research
The Internet is a great resource for finding creative ways to organize your mess. This is all the more true if you have a small space. For example, if you live in a small, cramped room, you might research the best organization tips for tiny spaces.
You’ll quickly find that there are plenty of creative, effective ways to maximize your space and keep everything flowing smoothly from one shelf to the next, and one closet to the next. You may have to invest in some products that boost organization, but think of these as a long-term investment towards a sound mind and clean home.
Try Different Strategies
Think of each room in your home as a project, and explore different methods that you manage this. There are then several strategies you can use to help you clean and organize each room. There’s the four box strategy, for example. With this method, you’ll arrive at each room with four boxes, each designated to: keep items, relocate items, give away items, and trash items. This not only motivates you to take action with each item in the room, but helps you stay somewhat organized.
Another option is the 12-12-12 Challenge, which encourages you to locate 12 items to trash, 12 to donate, and 12 items that can be returned to their proper place. The idea is to repeat this process each day, and slowly but surely, you’ll have much more space than you might imagine.
Use a Professional Service
Sometimes, it’s necessary to enlist some professional services to really get your home decluttered—especially if you don’t have anyone to help you. For instance, you might turn to a junk removal service to help you properly dispose of your garbage, particularly if there’s plenty to throw out and you want to save yourself a trip to the landfill.
You can also reach out for the help of a professional cleaning service who can deep clean your home after you’ve gotten rid of all the clutter. Lastly, you might want to consider investing in a storage vault if you have trouble parting with certain items but aren’t sure what to do with them just yet, or if you need those items but simply don’t have the space for them.
Work On Your Closet
Your closet can easily become one of the most crowded areas of the home. It’s important that you tackle this particular area, because it’s a spot that affects your day-to-day life pretty heavily. To do so, try Oprah Winfrey Closet Hanger Experiment, a a closet decluttering method that she helped bring popular attention to. With this method, you’ll be able to easily understand which clothes you can get rid of.
Here’s how it works: turn all your clothes hangers in the opposite direction, and once you use a particular item of clothing, you can turn it to face the other direction. Over the next few months, it will be easier to notice when it’s time for certain clothes to be tossed aside.
Take It Slow
If you find that decluttering your home is a bit too overwhelming, understand that it’s okay to take your time. A full days-long overhaul isn’t the best method for everyone. Colleen Madison, the blogger behind 365 Less Things, was able to transform her life when she got rid of one thing per year (take a look at her before and after pictures for inspiration).
According to writer Leo Babauta, baby steps are of critical importance. In one blog post, he described the “5-Minute Method” which encouraged people to spend just five minutes each day decluttering their homes. He also listed 18 steps to help manage each of those five minutes. For example, one tip advised readers to take care of one counter at a time, decluttering it as they see fit. Rather than crowd kitchen counters with too many appliances and other items, take your time removing items you don’t use as much and keeping things clear.
