How To Declutter Quickly

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Are you constantly feeling overwhelmed by the mess and the clutter around your home? You aren’t alone I think a lot of us struggle with a messy home from time to time or maybe even all the time. You can get the mess under control though with these ways to declutter your home fast.

1 Don’t try to do it all at once

As tempting as it is to try to get it all done quickly the reality is that if you try to do it all at once you are going to get overwhelmed and either give up or end up taking longer than it would have.

So just do it step by step and stick with the plan and you will be able to get rid of clutter quickly.

Start with one room at a time work your wat through all the spaces in the room and declutter. Then once you’ve decluttered and organized that room then move on to the next space.

Some rooms are going to take longer than others. For instance, the kitchen will probably take you the longest and bedrooms because of the closets.

You can do this though.

You can declutter you home faster than you have before if you just stick to it and don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by the process.

2 have sections for trash and get rid of

Before you even declutter your first item you want to make sure that you gather your supplies. You are going to need trash bags and storage bins. Anything broken or not useable just toss it. We need to get rid of things. Then make one storage bin for donations or things you are going to give away to people you know.

Having a plan for what you are going to do with the stuff you declutter will help you be more successful at it and help you to declutter faster.

3 Remove Trash First

Get the trash out of the way first.  Old mail and magazines, recyclables, and items that are broken beyond repair should be removed and disposed of in trash bags.  Remember to shred any documents containing your personal information.

If you want to really declutter your home fast then doing the trash first will give you a big win by getting rid of a lot at once.

Plus it will be easier to start decluttering the items around the house if the trash is already gone and out of the way.

Be honest with yourself. So many things you think you will use one day you will probably not use so get rid of them.

Old magazines you might “reread” again toss them!

Stuff that’s broken that you will “fix” but probably wont it’s time to get rid of them!

Taking a few minutes at the start of decluttering to deal with trash will help you to accomplish a lot quickly. This will give you a burst of energy to continue because you will feel that you’ve already got a lot done.

Dealing with the trash also helps get you in the decluttering mindset which will help carry you forward to do more.

4 Focus on clutter not cleaning

Right now your focus needs to be on decluttering. The reason you started this decluttering journey is that you have too much stuff and it’s time to purge.

Now is not about wiping down counters, dusting shelves or vacuuming. That can all be done after you have finished decluttering. If you try to do them at the same time it will take much longer.

If you want to declutter your home fast you need to stay focused on what you are working on and not let yourself become distracted with other tasks.

5 Get help decluttering

If you have a lot to declutter and it is an overwhelming process for you to do alone the good news is that you don’t have to do it by yourself.

I think that all people who are old enough in the household should be involved in keeping the house organized and that includes decluttering. So in my house, that’s me, my teenage daughter, and my husband. We all help out because we all make the mess.

If you live alone or with people who are physically unable to help or too young you could always ask a friend to help you declutter. You can even hire a professional organizer to come in and help you out.

related post: chores to give your teenager

How do you start decluttering?

If you are feeling overwhelmed with where to even start decluttering let me share how I have found to start decluttering.

It can sometimes feel so overwhelming to get organized. Especially when it comes to decluttering. We look around our homes and there is just so much to do and things to organize and we want to declutter but where should we start?

If you are ready to finally get your home decluttered, you want to know how to declutter your home fast. That’s why I think it’s so helpful to have a checklist. You can check out my 100 things to declutter list and get a copy of my checklist.

What to do with stuff you’ve decluttered?

Now that you’ve spent some time doing some decluttering you may be wondering what to do with the stuff you’ve decluttered.

Call your local waste management company. Find out what can be recycled in your community, and how you can recycle your stuff. They might be able to steer you to other local resources for donating, recycling, or repurposing your decluttered items. We have a big dumpster in our complex where we can trash or recycle big stuff. Find out where you can take your stuff.

Donate, donate, donate – Don’t get too caught up in trying to find the perfect organization to donate to. Your objective is to get the clutter out of your house, not save the world. I recommend donating to places that make donating items easy! Come up with a list of 2-3 places where you can donate your items locally, and make donation drop-offs part of your regular errand runs. Donating is the easiest, best way to get rid of decluttered items quickly.

Give items away to your friends – Have an extra blender you’re not using? Send out a mass text or email to your local friends, and see if anyone wants it. I’ve had the most success doing this with hand-me-down clothes and kitchen items.

How to remain less cluttered?

Now that you have put in the work on your decluttering journey, set up a plan to keep your home clutter-free. Adopt a cleaning schedule that involves daily pick-up.  With less stuff, daily pick-up only takes a couple of minutes.

Keep your flat surfaces clear! Clutter attracts more clutter, and if you clear flat surfaces before leaving a room, the clutter build-up will slow down dramatically. So make sure those bathroom and kitchen counters are picked up and tables around yourself aren’t collecting clutter.

Keep a decluttering box handy in a closet. If you come across something you don’t need anymore or the kids have outgrown, go ahead and put it straight in the decluttering bag.  Once the bag is full, take it to your local donation center!

Schedule another purging weekend in a month or two. It gets easier with each round.  If you have another decluttering weekend scheduled, you can tackle some areas that may have been too hard this first round!

Learn how to stop shopping so much.  Now that you have gotten rid of the clutter, don’t bring more of it into your home!  You also may need to stop online impulse shopping.  Time to temper the Amazon purchases! When you go to Target really think through what you are buying so that you aren’t buying things that won’t get used and that you really don’t need.

No judgement I’ve been guilty of buying things I don’t really need but that I just want. I use to be much worse at it though and have improved. It’s a work in progress.

Once you start thinking through what you buy more you will end up not only having less clutter but you will be saving money and spending less! Win-Win!

I hope this post gave you ideas for how to declutter your home fast. I know it can seem overwhelming but I know that you can get it done.