Clutter can be one of the most frustrating parts of home ownership. You might spend an entire Saturday dusting, vacuuming, and straightening up, but your home still doesn’t feel clean simply because there is just so much stuff.
The start of a new season is a great time start fresh, so here are our top three tips for decluttering your home this fall:
Divide and Conquer
Thinking “I want to declutter my home” can be really overwhelming, but saying “I want to clean out my bathroom cabinets” or “I want to go through my Tupperware drawers to make sure each one has a lid” is not.
Pick a room, to declutter and then divide that room up into parts.
For example, you might want to declutter your bedroom. So, you would start with under your bed, then the dresser drawers, your desk, and finally the infamous “storage chair” that many of us seem to have. Only when you’ve finished each of these “zones” will you move on to your closet.
Use the Pomodoro Method
Now that you’ve picked your “zone,” you need to set a timeframe. It’s easy to get distracted by the memories of the items you are sorting, or mere procrastination because you are overwhelmed by the task at hand.
To prevent this and help you acquire laser focus, you need to use the Pomodoro Method.
It goes like this:
- 25 minutes of work
- 5 minute break
- X4
Then, after your 4th 25 minutes of work, take a 25 minute break. You can focus on anything for just 25 minutes, so you’ll be way more productive than if you just wing it.
Make Three Bins
This is a tried and true decluttering method. Create three bins, or piles if you’re in a pinch, mentally or physically labeled:
- Keep
- Give Away
- Throw Away
Sometimes you won’t be able to decide an item’s fate right away and that’s okay. If you need to make an honorary, “Not Sure, Decide Later” pile and dedicate one of your upcoming Pomodoro’s to sorting through it, that’s fine.
But for the most part, having your items physically separated will go a long way towards making you feel more productive and moving your decluttering project along.
BONUS TIP
Any easy way to prevent clutter before it happens is to get rid of something every time you bring something new in. Bought a new shirt? Get rid of a few older clothing items. Have a report due? Throw away or scan the notes from your last project before making new ones.
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