Do you want to declutter your home but feel like you just don’t have the time? Are you drowning in useless things? I felt too busy for to declutter but eventually found a rhythm that worked for me. Hopefully it will help you too!
We Americans own a lot of stuff – oftentimes, too much stuff. This is a reality that I wasn’t willing to accept in my life until recently, and I certain had not made any serious efforts to declutter our home. As a military family, we’ve accumulated lots of trinkets and souvenirs over the years and our many duty stations. Having children definitely makes the stuff accumulate even faster.
Chances are you’re an overwhelmed mom that is tired of picking up so many toys every night. Do you feel like you have nothing to wear even though your closet is full? Perhaps the Tupperware in the cupboard has fallen out one too many times and you’ve had it.
In another post we’ll address the fears about and reasons behind decluttering, and I’ll also unpack it from the Catholic perspective of detachment. But this post is going to be a practical post on how to declutter your home when you don’t have enough time. Ironically, once your home is decluttered you will actually have more time because you won’t be dealing with excess stuff!
Declutter Your Home Daily
I had the hardest time starting the process of decluttering, but once I started I didn’t want to stop. During my first decluttering session, I was up till 4am! That’s how into it I was, after putting it off for months.
But eventually this tactic will burn you out. Soon after I started decluttering, I became pregnant with our third baby. Pregnancy nausea and exhaustion set in, and I didn’t restart decluttering until one month postpartum.
At that point I used a different tactic. I set a goal of decluttering for just 15 minutes per day, Monday through Saturday. I always took Sundays off. On Saturdays as a “treat,” I could declutter for 30 minutes if I wanted. But I was not allowed to go past 15 minutes on the other days. This guarded me against going overboard, but it also kept me accountable so that I’d stick to my daily goal. I accomplished much more by taking small daily steps than doing hours at a time sporadically.
So set a goal of anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes of decluttering per day, taking Sundays off.
Be Realistic With Your Goals
It’s better to underpromise and overdeliver when decluttering your home. Take a specific area or room to work on. In my case, it was our basement storage area. (An absolute disaster!) My “push goal” was to have everything decluttered and organized by the time my husband returned from deployment – that was 9 months. But my “realistic goal” was to have it completed by the end of 2023.
I underpromised and overdelivered for myself, because I was basically done way before my husband returned! I then started on other areas of the house.
Declutter Your Home Several Times
Keep in mind when you’re setting your decluttering goals that you will do several passes of your house. This means that you do not have to declutter “perfectly” on the first try! For me, I’ve lost track of how many decluttering passes of the kitchen I’ve done. You could create a schedule for this, or you could do it whenever you notice that things are starting to get messy again. You will also be more aware of the things that you are not using regularly.
Knowing that you have another pass coming up in the near future will help you with those things that you’re on the fence about. Maybe there’s an item that you occasionally use but you could get by just fine without it. If you’re reticent to let it go on the first pass, leave it and make your final decision on the next pass. If you haven’t used it by the time you do your next pass, let it go.
Do Not Organize While Decluttering
A big mistake that people make is trying to organize your possessions while decluttering. There are two problems with this: 1) organizing clutter is like trying to organize trash, and 2) organizing while decluttering slows down the decluttering process.
When I began to declutter our basement storage area, it desperately needed organization too. But I remained focused on simply deciding what to keep, what to donate, and what to throw out. After I got rid of the necessary items, I organized. (During this organization pass, I did sometimes get rid of items that I glossed over before.) It made both processes – decluttering and organizing – less stressful and easier to accomplish.
Declutter Your Home When You Can Concentrate
I do the vast majority of my decluttering after our children are in bed. Also keep in mind that for most of last year, my husband was deployed, so at night was best time I could concentrate on decluttering.
But maybe you can declutter after your husband comes home from work and is having dad time with the kids. Decluttering during nap time is another option – although for me I prefer to do blog work during nap time because I need more brain power for writing than for decluttering.
Even if you’re tired at night after the kids are in bed, remember that it’s only 10-20 minutes of work. And I’m telling you, it is satisfying work to see those boxes and bags fill up for the donation center and trash!
Create a Rule of Thumb for Decluttering
What does this mean? It means setting boundaries on how you decide what to keep and what to let go. Are you waffling on something? Then probably it’s something you don’t actually need. Another thing I think about, especially with sentimental items, is: will my children care about this item when they’re older or after I’m dead?
That is what’s called “Swedish death cleaning.” Think about the burden that unnecessary “stuff” will cause your loved ones after you die. It may seem like a morbid thought, but it’s actually a great gift for your posterity. They can instead focus on celebrating your life and praying for your soul instead of being weighed down by material goods.
Accept Decluttering as a Way of Life
Even the most organized person is never done decluttering. We are constantly bringing new things into our homes, thanks to our consumerist culture. It’s just too easy! So don’t stress yourself out about if you have “totally” decluttered your house or not. You will always have more to do.
I don’t mean that in a depressing way. It’s just that we can constantly improve. We come to new realizations that, “I’m not actually using that thing I thought I was. I’m not wearing that shirt like I thought I would. I can get by without that gadget and use something else that does double duty.”
It excites me to look around and think, What else can I get rid of? With our seventh military move (PCS) coming up soon, this is a perfect time to get rid of more stuff, both on the front end and the back end. As we are setting up our new home, I’m sure I’ll be purging more stuff. I can’t wait!
Are these tips helpful to you? Where are you in your decluttering journey?
