Some people love to declutter and some don’t but almost everyone can spend 15 minutes a day to declutter their home! And every single day your home will be more free of mess and clutter and that feels so so good! Let’s set our timers and declutter!
Does everything in your house have a home? A place it belongs preferably near its site of intended use? Or do you have “piles” of things? Maybe in baskets or dish pans (guilty) or tote bags or trash bags or boxes… all conveniently hidden away? Or maybe you have piles of paper and mail and magazines and shoes and books.
Or odds and ends or do-dads and clothes, and things you need to put away and they are piled up in plain site! Let’s talk about the best and easiest way to declutter your home!
But who has time to dig through all the mess and clean it up?
YOU DO! Yes, you do, my friend!
If you have 15 minutes in your day you can start to declutter. This is not an overnight, bring in the forklift and dig out decluttering. It’s gentler and kinder and actually works much better in the long run!
After decades of reading every kind of home organizing and cleaning book you can imagine I know the strategies that have worked best for me. I’d like to share one of the best with you…
This is a 15 minute declutter that you religiously do every day (5 days a week)! You can have a clutter-free home and keep it that way!
There are a few guidelines you need to follow for this declutter plan to work.
Ready?
JUST START!
Right now, today. Not tomorrow! And commit! Create time on your calendar to declutter!
The more committed you are to keeping a 15 minute date with your home to declutter it the better this plan will work.
You can certainly declutter your home longer than 15 minutes IF YOU HAVE TIME. But your goal is 15 minutes!
When 15 minutes is up feel fabulous! You have achieved something wonderful for you and your home!
EVERYTHING IN YOUR HOME NEEDS A HOME
When we don’t have a “home” or purposeful place for everything in our home we start that downward spiral to clutterland. And clutter begets stress and stress most of the time stress beget twins called inertia and apathy!
Dealing with our clutter is just too stressful! And so more clutter accumulates. This is a vicious cycle, for sure!
The best way to destress our homes is to dig in and start clutter busting! Cleaning out and decluttering and finding places for EVERYTHING in our homes.
I often hear, I just don’t have a place for (fill in the blank)!
Then, seriously you have too much stuff!
Our homes can get bloated and busting at the seams!
It’s time to let “stuff” go so we have room for everything! And maybe even have a bit of breathing room for our homes too!
Too much stuff can psychologically weight us down and make us tired.
THROW AWAY, GIVE AWAY, PUT AWAY
NOW here’s how to take action on your clutter!
Your goal is to declutter your home 15 minutes at a time! Do this quickly and efficiently and don’t get caught up in the nostalgia of a “thing”.
Grab a big trash bag and two laundry baskets (or boxes). Throw all the things that are not in good shape that you don’t use often in the trash bag.
Put anything that does not belong in the room/closet/drawer/cubby/spot you are working on in one of the laundry baskets. This is your “put-away” basket. And everything that is in good shape that you no longer want or need goes in the “give-away” basket. Right now you are working as fast as you can to declutter.
Everything that stays in the room/closet/drawer/cubby/spot must have a home. Put things away neatly.
From now on, you will know where everything in that room is and you will always put it away after you use it! If something new comes into that room, something else must be taken out. It does not take long for clutter to start accumulating. We all must be on our guard!
You might like to read DO THIS ONE THING FOR A MORE ORGANIZED HOME. In it, I explain the “put it away” plan!
When the trash bag gets full, throw it out immediately!
I empty the “give away” box into a box in my car and when I’m out and about I take it to Goodwill or other charitable organizations.
Hmmmm, what to do with the put-away box? Well, put it all away! Don’t let your put-away box become another pile of clutter. I try to keep my put away box down to a minimum. This motivates me to give almost everything in it away!
BE RUTHLESS WHEN YOU DECLUTTER
This is my mantra! BE RUTHLESS!!!
We don’t need three lemon zesters. Two need to go!
We should not have 10 extra bed pillows. Only enough for each bed and maybe one or two extra for a guest.
Those extra and duplicate items we have in our homes cause clutter. And clutter is literally stressing us to death.
You don’t need to show your clutter love or send it off gratefully! NO! You don’t need to hold it in your hand and get all the memories from it.
NO!
This clutter is causing you and me lots of time, money, and angst! Just get rid of it and don’t give it another thought!!!!!
WHERE IN YOUR HOME TO START YOUR DECLUTTER PLAN
Pick a room, any room and set a timer for 15 minutes. Now start straightening up and organizing. When the timer dings, you are done for the day… until tomorrow. Work a little every day. Some days you may have more time to give than others and that’s okay.
The key is consistency. Make organizing a part of your life!
I like to start in my foyer because it is where people enter my home. Then I work around the room in a clockwise direction picking everything up. I don’t go into another room until the room I am working on is totally straightened up and everything in it has a well ordered “home”.
We are not talking about cleaning it… we are talking about organizing it.
So now you pick a room. Go through every drawer, cabinet, and surface.
Use the trash bag and 2 laundry baskets or boxes to get rid of everything that does not belong in that room!
BE RUTHLESS about what you keep.
Most of us tend to keep so much more than we can ever really use. Get rid of it… this is so freeing!
When one room is organized and decluttered, move to the next and dig in!
I like to work on organizing five days a week.
NEXT STEP ON THE DECLUTTER PLAN- MAINTENANCE
Once a room or drawer or closet or ANYTHING is decluttered you must be vigilant and RUTHLESS and keep it that way!
Everything if left to its own devices will gradually slide into disorder. This is entropy. It’s not YOU! It’s just how thing are!
But you have to guard against entropy!
No more stashing and squeezing and dumping ANYTHING in any place!
As you bring something new into a space it MUST…
- be useful or bring beauty to your home
- have a home
- fit in its home – be contained
- replace something else of its kind
Thinking about this EVERY SINGLE TIME you bring something new into your home is the key to staying organized! And this mindset is freeing and will save you tons of time trying to find things!
And the big added bonus is that it will also save you lots of $$$!
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU HAVE DECLUTTERED YOUR HOME
This is an ongoing process. You are never really done.
Use those 15 minutes declutter minutes to start all over again and refine, edit, and organize what you have.
The 15 minute declutter plan is the easiest way to organize a home. It might take longer than spending a week or two doing nothing but nose-to-the-grindstone decluttering and organizing, but every little step is a step in the right direction!
Get a free printable of the 15 MINUTE DECLUTTER PLAN and a helpful list of things to give away and throw away below…
Make sure you also read THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CLEAN AND ORGANIZE YOUR HOME.
This post has tons of tips and amazingly savvy ideas for getting your home sparkling clean and oh, so tidy!!!
Here are more cleaning and organizing posts for you…
- THE BIG SECRET FOR A MORE ORGANIZED HOME
- CLEAN YOUR HOME IN 30 MINUTES A DAY
- HOW TO FAKE CLEAN YOUR HOME
- 8 SMART THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU GO TO BED EVERY NIGHT
- 12 HEALTHY MORNING HABITS TO CULTIVATE
Great idea! Decluttering often feels so overwhelming. My biggest problem is that, like you, I have home decor and accessories that I rotate and change often. I would love ideas for how you store the things that are not in use. Do you have a system? I would love to see/hear your ideas! Thanks!
HAPPY NEW YEAR?
I would also appreciate if you would show
Where and how you store seasonal decor
in your home. I use clear plastic containers but where and how to store the containers
I’m planning a post to show where I keep things in the basement. First, I need to put away all the Christmas decor!
Great tips! I did smile at the ‘don’t need so many pillows’…unless 5 of your local grandkids sleep over regularly at the same time!
A good reminder to go through my filing cabinet and shred 2020 bills. I find shredding quite cathartic. The only other spot I get “stuff” is one drawer in my kitchen where I keep business cards, take out flyers, note paper, etc. Time to toss!
A 15 minute system is a good idea for those that have a lot and might get overwhelmed by the process. When I downsized into my great room house, I used a box system. I delivered any good items to the thrift store that very day. I ended up with one small box of items that I stored. It felt good!
This is such a great post, Yvonne. I’ve felt overwhelmed with the decluttering that needs tackling in our home. I usually do a better job of staying on top of it, but I’m behind because of life circumstances and chronic health issues. We’ve “inherited” some of my in-law’s stuff, as well, since we emptied their house and still need to sort through papers, etc. Your post has given me the boost I needed to get started. Thank you!
I know, it does not take long for things to get out of hand! I’m so glad this post has helped.
Great ideas Yvonne! I love the three bin approach too. Thanks for getting me back on track!
Thank you! I tried your declutter tip today! Awesome!❤️
I really enjoy organizing posts like this one. During this stay at home time, I went through every drawer, cabinet & closet. There wasn’t so much to discard but I fixed everthing back in such a pretty way. It’s so nice opening drawers now. I like your idea of using lemon essential oil in the kitchen sink. I also sprinkle some in the kitchen trash can. I have a stainless steel sink and it always shows water splatters. Thinking along your lines today, I wiped it down with dishwasher rinse aid. I think that might work because it does look better.
I try to give myself a few minutes at a time to declutter SOMETHING in my home. And sometimes I’m successful! I loved your comment about not worrying about showing clutter love or gratitude, or holding it to get all the memories from it. If it works for some that’s great. For me, it would be a silly waste of time! Besides, our memories are in our hearts and minds, right?
I love your method. I will try it tonight x
http://www.serenbird.com
Thanks, Serena!
Yvonne, you are so helpful in your decluttering suggestions! They are great! Thanks, so much!
I am going to go through all my dishes as we certainly don’t need all we have! I love dishes and have put off going through these until now! My three nieces are looking forward to being on the “receiving end”! They love dishes as much as I do so it won’t be so hard getting rid of these. Then, I will go through all my tablecloths, napkins, runners, etc. You have been so encouraging and this is exactly the post I needed to get me going through all of this. My dear hubby will thank you, Yvonne, as he just doesn’t see why I have a closet full of all my linen — and we won’t even talk about all my dishes!
Blessings! Thanks, again, for always giving us such helpful suggestions! You are such a special lady! You are always thinking of things to help us in our homes. It’s so much work for you even though you love doing all your posts for us! We appreciate you so much!
Hi Mary Ann, I look forward to hearing from you! I am so thrilled you are finding this post helpful. Not too long ago I did what you are doing now and it was so freeing! Thank you again for being a faithful member of our StoneGable family! xo