How to Deal Effectively with Clutter

The quicker you are at dealing with clutter, the less likely it is to build up. Once you are over the emotional hurdle of clutter, it becomes much easier to deal with. The next big hurdle is the sunk costs associated with the clutter. The value it once had is gone, and in some cases, can be recuperated when you sell that item, but the lesson should be to be more wary of future clutter that may make its way into your home and know how to deal with that.

Everything should have a place in your space. If you found a plate in the bedroom, you would immediately return it to its home without a second thought because you know it’s not where it belongs. That should be the case with all of your belongings. If you have trouble deciding where something goes, it may be clutter that you need to let go of — and do it fast.

Be proactive versus reactive

You’ve probably heard the term “proactive” in business settings and about your health or your studies. By dealing with things proactively, you can achieve higher results than by simply waiting to react when things come to you. This concept relates directly to decluttering as well.

Being proactive instead of reactive means that instead of waiting to let clutter build up or until everything is a mess, you take constant steps toward decluttering, especially the bottleneck areas that you identify.

I am a big fan of the Franklin Covey group and the late author Dr. Stephen Covey who wrote 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The number-one habit is being proactive. As the book states, “Reactive people believe they are not responsible for what they say and do — they have no choice. Instead of reacting to or worrying about conditions over which they have little or no control, proactive people focus their time and energy on things they can control.” And I know that we are responsible for controlling our own clutter.

Keeping a proactive mindset and creating a routine and systems can make decluttering an automatic part of your life.

Create a system that you stick to

Creating systems and routines that are an organic part of your life makes decluttering not only sustainable but also something you don’t have to think about because it’s just an organic part of your routine.

If you’re in an emergency situation or having trouble dealing with clutter, have a look at the following figure to help you get started. Take a photo of the card and keep it on your phone or print and it post it somewhere visible. These simple questions can help you stick to your decluttering goals, and you will soon be asking them of yourself without even looking at the card!

Maximize efficiency

Regardless of how much you have to declutter, you want to be as efficient as possible when dealing with it. You want to feel in control of the process as much as the result. Here are a few tips to maximize your decluttering efficiency:

• Start with one area. This is advice that I give everyone who starts on any organizing challenge, especially since at the beginning you will not find decluttering pleasant. You may even find it stressful; therefore, you should start small. Start with one area. It should be your highest priority or the area that causes you the most stress or is the least efficient area of your home or workplace.
• Give yourself a timeline. As with any goal, you need to have an attainable date to finish so you don’t get frustrated and give up.
• Plan time. In addition to completion dates, you need to plan the time you will declutter. Shorter time spans actually can increase your chances of tackling the project. It’s amazing what you can accomplish in a set 15-minute declutter challenge. It also will feel more like a game or challenge, and all of us usually have a bit of a competitive edge, even when decluttering. Experiment with different amounts of time that work for you and then stay consistent!
• Use time cubes to keep you on track. Maximizing your time is so important that I sell time cubes on my website to promote efficiency. And I use them every day. Today, we are so distracted by social media, emails, Netflix, kids, and so forth. Our lives are fast and busy, and distractions are always lingering.

The following figure is an image of this simple time cube gadget that can help keep you on track for many tasks, including decluttering. The time cube is a very straightforward tool to keep you on task and better than a phone time as you won’t be distracted with texts, emails, or other notifications coming through. The primary task of the time cube is to countdown the time. The cube has the numbers 15, 30, 45, and 60 on it, and when you place the number side up it starts to countdown and blink red. For some reason, when this timer is blinking at you it keeps your mind focused. Like I said, it can take less than 15 minutes a day to declutter. Use a timer to keep focused on only decluttering efficiently, and don’t leave the room or area during that time until the timer goes off. You will be amazed at the results!

• Have your Donate, Sell, Toss, and Repurpose boxes ready. Buy or repurpose boxes with these labels on them. Yes, I am telling you to get some stuff; these boxes continually will remind you to Donate, Sell, Toss, and Repurpose. They will also aid in creating a decluttering sorting system that you can keep going. See the following figure for an example of boxes are that are beautiful and could remain even in the smallest of dwellings for decluttering purposes. You may think you need big, ugly boxes to sit in your living room to declutter, but I am here to debunk that myth! (These boxes are available for purchase on my website)

• Get rid of clutter. Do this immediately, because the longer clutter stays in your house, the more it may just work its way back into your home and never leave. Arrange a pickup from a local charity if you’re worried you won’t be able to actually get rid of the items. Remember, getting rid of stuff is difficult for everyone, and you can keep the memories without keeping the stuff.

Avoid the all-or-nothing approach

The all-or-nothing decluttering approach can be intimidating, overwhelming, and may even make you bitter. Here’s how:

Intimidating

Choose a point of attack and then start with one item when you enter a room and decide on it as quickly as possible. Then move onto the next item. I know that many of us, myself included, are sometimes intimidated when we even hear the word “decluttering,” and that is what I want to avoid. If you truly think of it in terms of “I have to do it all today,” then, yes, decluttering will be intimidating. To avoid this, be kind to yourself and those around you and start small in sections or categories.

Overwhelming

Along with being intimidated, feeling overwhelmed is probably the most well-known emotion when we hear the word “decluttering.” And that feeling of being overwhelmed — in many things in life, not only decluttering — is what causes us to not start something. We are overwhelmed with the amount of work it takes to start our own business, so we don’t do it. We are overwhelmed with how hard the newest boot camp exercise class is, so we simply don’t go. And we are overwhelmed just thinking about where to start decluttering, so we don’t.

All of these examples are proof that something great could come if you started and were not held back by being overwhelmed. So, again, you don’t have to declutter your life in one day, just as you don’t have to start a business or start with the craziest exercise routines right off the bat. Ease into decluttering the same way you would any of these tasks. Schedule daily and/or weekly decluttering into your calendar to hold yourself accountable and beat the overwhelming feelings.

Getting sick of it and feeling bitter

I promise you that if you stick to decluttering, you will get better at it, just like you will get in better shape once you start exercising. I always say start small and stick to it, and before you know it you will be decluttering without even thinking about it.

And back to the old saying, “Rome was not built in a day.” You can’t lose 20 pounds in one day, and the same is true of decluttering. Small steps and lifestyle adaptions and changes will bring you to your goal.

The all-or-nothing approach is not sustainable for most people because it doesn’t actually foster new habits.

Busting through the “I might” syndrome

Going back to the decluttering mindset, operating with scarcity beliefs not only holds you back from getting rid of clutter, but it also produces lingering stress because it makes you think of what could happen. You may be this type of clutterbug, or a different type, or several, or in an odd case, you may be none and not need any help decluttering.

Regardless of your clutter personality, you need to bust through the “I might use it someday” belief today — this very second — because if you have this mentality forever, you will be holding onto unnecessary clutter.

I am not going to lie; this is the hardest problem that most of us have when it comes to clutter. And it is often linked with emotional reasons. For example, if you grew up not having a lot of money, perhaps you were conditioned to keep everything. Therefore, you hold onto things that may one day come in handy, even though they never do. No matter how much money you have or don’t have, if you’re not going to use an item in your current lifestyle, then discard it swiftly.

Much of this stuff may be unusable anyway: unidentifiable cords, manuals, gadgets that you don’t know what they are for. There is no use holding onto these.

Having random items also is touché for this syndrome. Maybe you look at that laminated hand painting an artist got you and think, “I can never buy it again, and what if someday I want to frame it and hang it in my house?” Chances are if you haven’t hung it up yet, you won’t.

And that’s not to mention sentimental items, which are also tough as you really may never need them, but you want them to hold on to memories. But think hard about those broken eyeglasses your grandmother wore that bring you memories. Are they worth keeping, or can you look at old photos of the two of you together where she is wearing the glasses instead?

So, bust through this and get rid of clutter. Have you used it in a year? Do you have an actual recent memory of the item that brings you so much joy that you want to permanently put the item on display in your home? Ask yourself the difficult questions and then make some decisions.

Moms usually are known for having a “someday stash.” If you’re a mom reading this, now is the perfect time to make the change. If you’re looking to help your mom declutter, then use the techniques her to ease her into the idea and help her get over the “I might need it someday” syndrome.

Less clutter, less stress.