How To Declutter Your House In One Day

If you’re like the rest of us, your house contains a lot of stuff you don’t need. We live in an age of consumption where many items are cheap and disposable, which we purchase without a second thought, until our once uncluttered home becomes a stressful, chaotic mess.

The benefits of decluttering your house are astonishing. It can reduce your stress and anxiety, create a sense of confidence, energise you, enhance your creativity, and improve your relationships¹. Who knew that getting rid of stuff and having a tidy, organised home could be good for your mental health?  

If you’ve finally decided that enough is enough, here’s some help with how to declutter your house in one day, so that you can reap the awesome benefits.

Make a decluttering checklist and plan

First things first—make yourself a solid plan of attack. How many rooms are you going to declutter? Write down the rooms, starting with the messiest first so that you can complete the hard stuff while you’re energised.

Create a sorting system as part of your plan, and get plenty of boxes (or baskets) beforehand so that you can quickly throw the stuff in them. Some good options for a sorting system include:

• Keep
• Toss
• Sell
• Donate
• Put in self-storage

Remove distractions

Young kids are wonderful, but they’re the most distracting thing on earth. If you can, arrange for your kids to sleep over at their friend’s house, or have them stay with a relative. This will help you to focus throughout the entire day.

The second most distracting thing on earth is the internet, so lock your phone, tablet, and laptop in a drawer, and vow not to access them unless necessary.

Be ruthless

Decluttering can be tough, especially when it comes to sentimental items. While you’re going through your items, you’ll need to be as ruthless as possible to avoid keeping anything you don’t need. If you’re stuck with a particular item, try asking yourself these questions:

• How often do I use this? Do I really use it enough?
• Do I have something else that serves the same purpose? (e.g. the same colour sweater)
• Would I buy this again?
• Would a family member or friend find this useful?

If you’re really stuck on a particular item, you can sleep on it and have another go tomorrow. A good night’s sleep does wonders for decision making.

Group similar things

Another decluttering hack is to group and store similar things together. Some of us have a tendency to throw unused items in the nearest available drawer, adding to the mess until it becomes an outrageous shambles. You can help to avoid this by grouping similar items, for example, keeping all sewing bits in the same cupboard, all electronic accessories in the same container, etc.

Play uplifting music

There’s a reason that gyms pump out racing, synth-heavy EDM music—it creates a sense of energy and spurs you on. You can use the same trick by putting on our favourite fast-paced music, and watch yourself in awe as you temporarily become the Usain Bolt of decluttering.

Need a storage unit?

If you’ve finished decluttering your entire home, and you have a lot of items that you can’t bring yourself to throw away, you may want to consider hiring a small self storage unit. That way, you still have access to the items if you need them while keeping your house nice and organised.

References

1. Alice Boyes Ph.D, 2018, 6 Benefits of an Uncluttered Space, Psychology Today