It’s amazing how clutter piles up! If you’re ready to clear your house and regain your living space, developing a decluttering schedule you can stick to will be exactly what you need.
This post is part of my collection of declutter tips and simple ideas to get your clutter under control so you can reduce life’s daily overwhelm.
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Let’s discuss:
- Why you need a home decluttering schedule
- What to consider when creating your declutter schedule
- How often you should declutter
- How to schedule your decluttering
- Tips for decluttering success so you can stick to your schedule
Ready? Let’s start clearing that clutter!
Why You Need a Home Decluttering Schedule
A home decluttering schedule might seem restrictive. Wouldn’t it make more sense to spend a weekend — or maybe even a week — doing a big cleanout? Do the hard work all at once and be done with it?
In theory, that’s a great idea!
But tell me this… how’s that been working for you?
Let’s be honest. How many times have you managed to do a complete decluttering job over a long weekend? Or during your vacation week? Or during a pandemic when you were at home for weeks at a time?
Great ideas and ‘things that make sense’ don’t always work out in the real world. We think and plan and wait for exactly the right time… which just never seems to happen exactly the way we think it should.
So even though a decluttering schedule might seem like a silly idea, it works. But how do you make it work for you and your unique situation?
Things to Consider When Creating a Declutter Schedule
You will need to account for the things that have thrown you off-track in the past. You should also think about how you want your personal decluttering journey to look and feel.
Do you feel super-busy? This is something only you can answer… and not by comparing your daily schedule to anyone else’s. If you FEEL busy, then you ARE in your mind… and you need to work within that feeling.
Is it important to you that the entire family works together to make a clutter-free home? If so, then you may need to tweak the suggestions I give later in this post.
Should you coordinating decluttering with your daily productivity peak? If you never feel productive, then it doesn’t really matter. 😉 But if there’s a certain time of the day when you feel more energetic, you can try putting that to use.
Does decluttering help you de-stress or cause more stress? This is very important. If making decisions about whether to keep or toss objects is so difficult that you’ll do anything to avoid it, then you will want to work on your decluttering mindset before you begin doing anything else.
How Often Should You Declutter?
Well, we’re kind of talking about two separate things here. There’s the main initial decluttering, and then there’s maintaining an uncluttered space.
Once you’ve completed the initial declutter job, you’re not done forever. Maintenance can be a daily task, the way I recommend as part of keeping a clean and tidy home. At the most, take care of things weekly in the way Abby Lawson teaches.
But this post is more about the big, main decluttering that may feel completely overwhelming.
Here’s the thing… what you’ll notice about all of these tips to declutter is that consistency is the key. The more you remind yourself to get rid of items, the more you’re going to WANT to make that happen… and then the more you WILL make it happen.
Every person will find a different happy medium when it comes to finding that balance of decluttering.
If all you can manage is 20 minutes a week with the family to do a mad sweep decluttering competition, then that’s what you can do. Just be sure you’re uncovering a slightly deeper layer of clutter every week, otherwise you’re just maintaining or possibly falling behind.
There are also people who like to declutter one item daily from their home and they love how it makes them feel.
For overwhelmed overthinkers who have a difficult time creating their own schedule of what to declutter or remembering to ACTUALLY spend time clearing junk every week, I will ALWAYS recommend decluttering every single day.
This is why my printable 30-Day Declutter Challenge is perfect. Every day there is already a portion of your home listed for you to declutter with ease. You don’t even have to plan anything out – it’s all done for you!
How to Schedule Your Decluttering
If you’re ready to start decluttering your home daily, there are a few easy tips to keep in mind!
However you decide to work this time into your schedule, you need to try to make it become a habit as quickly as possible. And there are actually several different ways that you can go about doing this.
Start simple with just 10 minutes per day. Write it in your planner and set an alarm on your phone to remind you, and schedule your decluttering task to happen right before an enjoyable thing you already do every day.
James Clear describes this process better in his book Atomic Habits, but basically you’re making a positive brain connection to the decluttering process.
As you get more comfortable with the decluttering process, you can work your way up to 30 minutes per day over time. You’ll start to notice that after a while, it’s just going to be natural for you to declutter something in your home daily.
This means that you’ve created a decluttering habit for yourself – and that’s a good thing! Give yourself grace if you miss a day due to unexpected events, but you really must make it a priority to declutter every day if you want to succeed.
Tips For Decluttering your home
Don’t let the thoughts of decluttering overwhelm you. Break it down into easy categories and allow yourself to go from there — or just follow the printable 30 Day Declutter Challenge. Once you do that, you’ll be amazed at how simple and easy it can be to declutter daily without worry.
Make certain that you focus on one area of your house at a time. If not, you’ll be bouncing all around the house and might not ever get an area finished. Staying focused on one area until you’re done with it is key for finding success when decluttering.
Decide what to keep and what you don’t need quickly. The longer you sit and think about an item and whether or not it’s valuable to you or has to be kept, the longer you’re going to struggle. These rules for decluttering can be a HUGE help.
Get the discarded clutter out of your home after every session. If you don’t, then there’s a high probability those items will eventually be re-absorbed into the mess. You’ve done the hard work… now take those extra couple of minutes to carry a box of donations to your vehicle or a bag of trash to the outdoor receptacle.
Don’t let excuses get in your way. Remember, your goal is to clear out items in your home that you no longer need. These are just ‘things’ — inanimate objects that are taking up space in your home — which means they’re taking up space in your brain as well.
Last but not least, do your best to not let the clutter happen over and over again. This might be the hardest part of decluttering your home. You’re going to love the joy that it brings you once it’s done but it will have to be a conscious effort to keep it that way moving forward.
‘Where do I start decluttering when overwhelmed?’
This is a really common question… and also really valid! If you’re feeling overwhelmed, start with an ‘easy win.’ Get rid of something that you know you’re ready to part with or start with small items first.
I always recommend that you start with the area that bothers you the most OR the place that would make the biggest positive difference in your life if it were clutter-free.
Those baby steps will be just what you need to move into more rooms of your home and other objects and items.
And make certain to pay attention to your mental health, too. If you need a break, take a break.
Don’t make the decluttering process something that you dread, because then it’s not going to be something that you stick with for very long.
More Decluttering Tips and Resources
- Where To Donate Your Stuff After Decluttering
- 62 Things To Declutter That You Won’t Miss At All
- The Slow Declutter – A Lower-Stress Way To Clear Your Home
Now that you know it’s possible to set up a decluttering schedule, it’s time to take action! You’ll be amazed that once you start to remove items and objects from your home, your mind will become clear and positive as well!
You’ve got this!
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