If you’ve been struggling to declutter your home, you aren’t alone. It isn’t as easy as some people make it out to be. But you might actually be making it harder for yourself.
Decluttering a room isn’t something you should try and tackle in one day and then expect to maintain for life. You need to implement some habits. Decluttering habits that will enable you to finally get on top (and stay on top) of clutter in your home.
It’s perfectly fine to spend a whole weekend, or week, decluttering your house. However, if you don’t create some habits that will help you support your newly uncluttered spaces, you’ll find yourself overwhelmed and decluttering again very soon.
Here are nine little decluttering habits you can learn that will help make decluttering easier, and long-lasting.
(This year I’m focusing on the last three in this list.)
1. 1 in 1 out rule
This decluttering habit helps you to deal with the excess. I find this one most helpful when it comes to clothes. Sure I might really like that new t-shirt, but I don’t like a drawer jam-packed full of them.
If I need a new pair of jeans, the old pair goes in the donation bag when the new ones get hung up.
If we keep adding without subtraction we wind up drowning in things that no longer serve a purpose.
2. Say no to freebies
After being a student for almost 10 years it’s been hard to break the habit of saying yes to freebies. But the reality is – I don’t need everything I’m offered. And neither do you.
Make it a habit to say no first. If you change your mind later you can always check back in with them to see if they still have it. If it was going to be donated there’s a good chance it’ll still be in their car 😂
3. Make a date with yourself
This is one of the easiest and best decluttering habits you can start. Make a regular date with yourself to spend a few hours clearing the clutter. I find it easy to make this date coincide with the change of season. It becomes a habit easier this way.
Open your calendar now and schedule in the first block. We are about to head into Autumn here and my Autumn declutter is focused on garden and outdoor things.
4. Take pictures of your home
Once a week take a picture of your home after you’ve done a clean/reset. This will be especially helpful if you are at the start of your decluttering journey.
Use the picture to remind yourself of what the new, pared-back space looks like. Over time you’ll be encouraged by how much progress you’ve made.
Sidenote: This is also helpful if you do consider making a decor purchase. You can easily see if it’s going to work or not.
5. Make your bed. Every day.
This is a habit you won’t regret starting. It might seem like it has nothing to do with decluttering but hear me out.
Seeing your bed made and in order primes your brain for wanting more order. This small act that may only take a mere minute (especially if you’ve decluttered all those extra cushions 😉), will likely set you up for keeping your room clutter-free for the entire day.
Go ahead and experiment with me. If you are a naturally messy person who leaves their bed unmade most days and clothes in piles on the floor, try making your bed. Then at the end of the day see if your piles of clothes are still there? I’m willing to bet your room will be at least 50 percent tidier than when you don’t make your bed.
6. Deal with paper clutter ASAP
Paper clutter is my least favorite types of clutter to deal with. I literally put it off as long as I can. But that often ends up going badly. It’s not ideal when the police officer’s wife gets a ticket for not having her car registered 🙄
We have one small filing cabinet and I have an A4 zip-up binder. No extra piles are allowed! I either deal with the paper that day and then recycle it, or it goes in the binder or cabinet. Obviously, this doesn’t happen all the time but when it does it’s pretty damn satisfying!
Read more: How to Simplify and Organize Paperwork in Your Home
7. Deal with fridge clutter every week
Sorting through the fridge fights paper clutter for the top spot in my ‘most hated household chore’. Ick. Nonetheless, it must be done.
If you aim to clean out the fridge each week before a grocery shop it makes it much less likely that it will be a gross job. It also means that that deep clean won’t take so long next time.
8. Deal with laundry in one day
I am a terrible procrastinator when it comes to laundry. Great at getting dirty stuff in the machine, hanging on the line, and er, that’s about it. Case in point – the load from two days ago is still on the line.
One decluttering habit I’m really trying to focus on this season is dealing with a load of laundry in one day. When it comes inside, fold it immediately, and then put it away in drawers, etc straight after.
Thankfully my partner has recently taken up the folding part (the part of laundry I procrastinate on the most), so I’m trying to coax him into finishing the job and putting it all away neatly.
9. Leave nothing in the car!
If I had a dollar for how many times I’ve tried to commit to this habit…
But we just upgraded our vehicle and I am determined to get this one to stick! This is one that every family member needs to be on board with though so I’m expecting it may take a little time.
I’ve decided to employ a ‘leave nothing behind’ policy. Not the empty drink container from takeaways, or the pen and notepad. Not even the jacket that you think you’ll need in half an hour.
2022 might already be looking eerily similar to 2021, but I’ll swear on my Grandmother’s grave – this is the year the Scheib’s will keep a clean car.
I’d love to hear if you have some decluttering habits you want to implement this year. Or if you give one of these a go I’d love to hear how you get on.
As for me, I’m committing to checking in with you at the end of Autumn to see what I’ve managed to make stick in our household.
If you are looking for more in-depth help with decluttering I always recommend the course Uncluttered – and it’s just opened for enrolment!
Uncluttered is a 12-week long course created by Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist, and over 30,000 people have participated in the course over the last 3 years.
The course is broken up into four modules;
Module 1: Know your why’s
Module 2: Change your home
Module 3: Develop new habits
Module 4: Experiment with less
Each module contains a video or interview with a leader in the minimalist movement and a guide to the week’s challenge. It also includes 3 live webinars, where you can ask Joshua some of your more tricky questions.
And possibly the best part – you get access to a private Facebook group of other Uncluttered participants. Here you can get pretty constant access to motivation, tips, and inspiration from current and past participants.
If you are considering taking the course this year, I’m very pleased to be able to offer you a friends and family discount of a huge 25%! (just enter FF25 at the checkout).
If you want to find out more about Uncluttered before signing up visit the webpage. You can also email me at simpleslowlovely@gmail.com, or PM me on Facebook or Instagram.
P.S This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, which goes towards funding Simple Slow & Lovely. Thank you so much for your support!
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Further reading on decluttering
Should I declutter this? Four things to help with hard-to-part-with items
