Ask the readers: Best tips for decluttering?

Joel Says:

October 10th, 2007, 6:48 am

Wow, two links in one week. You spoil me, Leo! Thanks again. I’ve got to check out the rest of these articles too.

SpiKe Says:

October 10th, 2007, 7:34 am

Woah, where to start… I enjoy de-cluttering. I find it’s one of the best ways to feel like you are actually getting things done: de-cluttering a drawer, optimising the space and juggling stuff around to make everything more efficient… it can actually be quite fun.

What I’m currently experimenting with is a template sheet that covers 31 days and lists each rooms, everything that needs cleaning in them, and - specifically to this post - lists all the areas where stuff gets stored and clutter builds up. As you can imagine it’s a long list but it leaves me with no doubt as to what areas need to be worked on through my home and it’s not as if you need to tick off every item every day. If you have trouble keeping on top of your clutter, this approach may provide a good incentive as I enjoy doing things on the list just so I can tick them off.

BTW, I have an entire section of my blog dedicated to dealing with clutter, called Clutter 101 if anyone is interested :)

Pril Says:

October 10th, 2007, 8:39 am

it’s never ending here is what has worked for me if i’m in a room. i get all the surface trash.
Then i start to put others things away!

once it is clean i can start to declutter!
15 -20 minutes a day. i had a basement that was full of boxes all mine!
for 1 month i went home for lunch as much as possible and decluttered 15 minutes everyday! i thought it would take much longer but i’m amazed at what 15 minutes can get you!!!
Thanks for the post!

Schizohedron Says:

October 10th, 2007, 9:05 am

Don’t allow things into the house in the first place. Whether you’ve begun decluttering the living space, or you’ve just completed it, stop bringing in new crap NOW. Even if that’s ALL you do and don’t start decluttering immediately, if you can only establish one habit at a time, establish the no-more-crap habit first. This way, when you do get to decluttering the existing crap, you’ve already stopped making it worse. Think of bailing out a boat with a hole in it. You can bail and bail, but it won’t do anything for the leak.

Dan Says:

October 10th, 2007, 9:15 am

I started getting disoriented from my recent move so my wife and I started purging. If it was a project I’ve been working on for a year, and won’t finish soon, I tossed it. If it was seasonal, I boxed it and if I kept it out but didn’t use it for more than six months I got rid of it.

My biggest hangup during the process was feeling bad that I was wasting it, so most of the clothes, small appliances and other repurposables were donated. The electronics where tossed or salvaged. I ended up selling back a handful of college books for $200+ and donating the rest to my public library. Now I have all this free space, a pocket full of spare cash and a warm fuzzy knowing that someone else will get use out my unsused items.

Bluemarch Says:

October 10th, 2007, 9:16 am

I’ve just started decluttering my apartment within the last month, and one thing I’ve done is add 30 minutes of decluttering, organizing, or cleaning, three times a week, to my Joe’s Goals-type chart that I keep next to my desk. I also have a running list of things that I would like to get accomplished, broken down into 30-minute tasks. This way I avoid the obstacle of not knowing where to start and I also get the motivation of checking something off my list so I know I’ve made some progress.

One of my biggest problems is that when I decide I don’t need or want something around anymore, it often just ends up cluttering a new closet or corner because I can’t bring myself to just throw perfectly usable things out. I donate as much as I can to local thrift stores, etc, but what do you do with things that don’t have any resale value but aren’t trash, either? I guess I’ll just have to have a timeline: two weeks on Kijiji or Freecycle, then throw it away. At least the thought of throwing something out in a year keeps me thinking twice about buying new crap!

Kate Says:

October 10th, 2007, 9:27 am

1. Start at the corner by the door and move your way around the room, doing the superficial stuff first - surfaces, empy the bin etc.

Repeat, but do more the 2nd time around - ie. open the cupboards.

2. When ever you’re boiling the kettle for tea, tidy up the kitchen. If the kitchen is tidy, tidy up the next room - it’s only 3 minutes but it keeps you on top of everything (helps if you have an Englishman’s obsession with Tea as well!)

Tamlyn Says:

October 10th, 2007, 9:56 am

The “one in-two out” rule works well for me. Whenever I bring in an item, I have to throw away two other items. First you cheat, by throwing out two pieces of paper, but soon you will have to move to big stuff.

Another thing that works for me is taking 15 minutes per room. I enter with a garbage bag and a box. Garbage gets thrown in the bag, the box is for all stuff that doesn’t belong in that room. I seal off the boxes, and put them in the garage. Once a week I open the boxes, and then sort through the contents. Whatever can go, goes into either a thriftstore box in the garage, or in the to sell box, the rest gets stored in its appropriate place.

Nick Says:

October 10th, 2007, 10:23 am

Lovely post, but, umm…, it could use some decluttering. You’ve got about very high ratio of outbound links to actual content.

I know you’re looking for user feedback, but it looks like maybe this topic isn’t as important to you as it once was?

Denise Says:

October 10th, 2007, 10:26 am

From my experience it’s a process:

1) realize two things: ( a ) emotional attachment to inanimate objects is foolish. ( b ) what you really need or want in you life and home.
2) Declutter slowly, a bit every day or once a week.
3) Make your storage space smaller and more minimal
4) Stop bringing things you don’t want or need into your home.

When you’re finished revisit step 2 once in a while.

Dimitar Nikolov Says:

October 10th, 2007, 10:49 am

For me, decluttering is a three-step process.

1) Reduce. Decluttering is all about reducing. Because things just tend to pile up every now and then. So often we have too many things, don’t we?

2) Categorize. Make the difference between essential and unimportant things. All of the essentials should be easily accessible when needed. The others (like old but important documents, for example) can be put in piles and drawers.

3) Keep decluttering. You can’t declutter once and keep your home, office or desk clean. You have to constantly declutter. It usually takes 5 minutes before you leave the room - just put everything in its place and get rid of the unneeded.

That’s what I do to keep my house and office clean and tidy.

With regards,
Dimitar Nikolov
Life & Business Ramblings

Pam Says:

October 10th, 2007, 11:50 am

eBay or tag sales

I am trying to wean myself from an exaggerated (clothing and shoes) shopping habit. Everything else I have is simple and minimal, but my closet suffers from being overstuffed and often disorganized. If I didn’t have this habit, even if I only bought 1/4 the amount of stuff I have purchased over the past 5 years, I could probably have paid for a new home in cash. Scary.

Anyways, if I have not worn an item for a year, it goes. A lot of items go to charity, but there are some items I have not gotten rid of because they were expensive.

So, this past weekend was rainy. I got my digital camera, established an assembly-line-type system, and posted a bunch of this stuff on eBay. The auctions haven’t even ended yet but the bids look to be recuperating a few hundred dollars.

Going forward, If I really want something, I’ll try the 30 day rule. When I see something, I wait 30 days. If i still remember and want it, i go back to the store. if it’s still there, then and only then do i buy it and that means that something else in my closet must go to charity or eBay.

Luciano Passuello Says:

October 10th, 2007, 12:08 pm

Take all your items that you unsure about getting rid of (eg. “I might need this someday…”), put them in a box, seal it and date it for 1 year in the future.
When the date comes, and you still didn’t need to open it to get anything, donate the box WITHOUT OPENING IT. You probably won’t even remember what there was in the box…

It really works.

TechTalk Says:

October 10th, 2007, 12:39 pm

We just started decluttering our office at home, which had piles of the kids projects, folders and bills that needed filing, books that should have been put in the bookshelves, etc.

The main thing that helped is that my wife wants to sort through these things piece by piece - which takes enormous amounts of time and by the time you get there you’ve built up just as much stuff if not more than what you have now decluttered!

So my solution was - a bunch of boxes and a garbage can. One box for kids projects, 2006, one for ‘needs to be filed’, one for possible junk/misc. These all went into the garage, and then we’re pulling one box a night to work on, and put whatever’s left back in the garage when we’re done.

not elegant, not pretty, but it works, and we actually have an office that we can use to do things in now - like deal with all those boxes in the garage!

Pra Says:

October 10th, 2007, 13:22 pm

I have 3 categories: keep, trash, donate (whatever’s left - trash!). Everything must fall in one of the three.

TechTalk Says:

October 10th, 2007, 13:56 pm

@pra - that’s OK, but when you’ve got 5 boxes full of ‘keep’ you need to start granularizing that system a bit … that’s where the clutter comes in. It doesn’t do any good to have a giant box of ‘keep’ to go through when you really need to find that medical savings account receipt from 6 months ago! :)

Amol Says:

October 10th, 2007, 14:04 pm

Leo - what are your thoughts on how not to clutter in the first place (more preventive than corrective in nature?). E.g. take that coffee cup with you when you leave the table. A place for everything and everything in place ??

Naomi Says:

October 10th, 2007, 14:05 pm

The biggest thing that helps me is remembering that I’m now at a point where I can afford to replace anything I mistakenly get rid of. For a lot of people, myself included until recently, the poverty mentality was so pervasive that it was almost impossible to throw anything out.

I just got rid of my toaster oven yesterday after months of indecision. I haven’t made toast in the toaster for months - we’ve been using the stove top instead - and yet I was terrified to get rid of it in case I regretted it later. I’m finally starting to realilze that if I really want another toaster oven, I’m perfectly capable of going out and buying a new one.

Becky Says:

October 10th, 2007, 14:55 pm

Declutter one room (including any closets, desks, cabinets, etc.) before starting on the next one. Spending time in that room will feel *so* good, and it will be so easy to keep clean, that it will motivate you to do more!

Freddy Bob Says:

October 10th, 2007, 15:19 pm

Throw out everything that you don’t need.

insidemybrain Says:

October 10th, 2007, 15:30 pm

Cleaning up in “burst” mode works well for me.

Natalie Says:

October 10th, 2007, 15:37 pm

I find the hard part is refining your own goals & activities. I have a lot of stuff from various ‘good ideas’ I’ve had e.g. books for learning shorthand, spanish, sewing projects, boxes of health foods, research projects, things that need fixing…
I don’t want to give up on any of these, but in the meantime I’m living in a tiny apartment and it feels crowded. Anyone got any tips on getting ‘good ideas’ under control??

Jen B. Says:

October 10th, 2007, 16:40 pm

Freecycle helps me a lot. I am happier getting rid of stuff that was expensive or useful to someone who wants it. And, they come pick it up, so it’s easy.

Becky Says:

October 10th, 2007, 17:01 pm

RE: “Good ideas” - what I find works is to assess each individual project realistically. Is that dress I was sewing still in style? Will it fit when I finish it? Do I have an idea of when, exactly, I’m going to finish it? (This is a big one for me. If there is no time for sewing on my calendar in the next six months, what are the chances that skirt will still be in style when I finish it?) Getting rid of a project doesn’t mean I’m giving up on sewing - it just means I’ll have better uses for my sewing time than that old thing.

Do I like each particular Spanish book enough that if I get interested in Spanish again, this is a book I’m actually going to use? If so, will it be at the library, or the secondhand bookstore, or in the used books section on Amazon? If so, is it really worth saving $6 or a trip to the library to store it, and all its friends, in my tiny apartment for the next three years?

Realize that getting rid of clutter does not mean giving up on your aspirations. You can throw out those five pounds of two-year-old lentils and still work on eating healthier day by day. You may even find it easier to eat healthier if it doesn’t involve chowing your way through piles of dusty old lentils. :-) Maybe the Spanish books and tapes you have don’t inspire you. Take them to a secondhand bookstore and sell them. You don’t even need a dictionary anymore with the online resources we have. Then get one Spanish kid’s book or tape or CD from the library and swap it out every time you go. Your inspiration will stay fresh, and you won’t have those old books and tapes sitting on your shelves.

The trick is to keep in mind that the *whole world* is your resource room and inspiration. Your love of research, fixing things, Spanish, etc. is *in you.* It’s not in the stuff in your apartment. Getting rid of the dusty stuff you imagine you’ll “get back to someday” frees up space for the creativity and ingenuity within you to blossom in the here and now.

Dream Mom Says:

October 10th, 2007, 18:24 pm

Decluttering can be done in a few simple steps:

1) Sort all items. If you are working in one room, sort all of the items that belong in that room and put anything else that belongs in another room in a separate box.

2) Get rid of the excess. You can donate, toss, recycle, etc. but get rid of all of the duplicate items.

3) Assign a home for each item. Group items by task. If you are organizing a desk, put all of the items used for “mailing” together such as envelopes, stamps, return address stickers, etc. When assigning a home, be sure to label. In this example, create a label that says, “Mailing Supplies.”

4) Put items into a container. Never buy a container before you start a project. It would be like buying an outfit before you know who you are buying it for and where they are going. Measure the space and buy a container to fit the contents.

5) Now that you are organized, you need to put things away when you are done. That means every time. Also, it’s helpful to create a routine to keep things decluttered. For example, when I come home from work, I unpack my bag and pack it for the next day.

Many people do the first four and then don’t put things away when they are done.

Kim Says:

October 10th, 2007, 18:31 pm

Once the initial declutter is done it gets hard. I couldn’t find anything I “didn’t want” in one room, so went somewhere else and made a list of everything I would go out and buy if I started again. I then went back and if it wasn’t on the list I thought hard about getting rid of it. It worked quite well.

I give my books to the local library if I won’t read them again.

I have been meaning to paint more but don’t have time, and the paints won’t last too much longer - so soon I’ll have to replace them. So I gave them to an artist who teaches night classes, for her students to use. I feel really good about giving them away, and don’t have them “nagging” me from the shelf any more.

Christa Says:

October 10th, 2007, 21:59 pm

A good trash bag helps, especially when the kids aren’t around. hehehe

sunny Says:

October 10th, 2007, 22:12 pm

Spike - go to Flylady’s website - she already done what you’re working on. I’ve been a subscriber (it’s free) for a little over a year and I can’t say enough about how great it has been. I have time to get to the little details I never seemed to have time for before and following their methods takes less time.

Today I reorganized my husbands closet and my dresser (this is what I to for fun while on vacation:-)

need help bad Says:

October 10th, 2007, 23:10 pm

I love this blog. I love all of the advice readers have. I also desperately need help decluttering my apartment and my desk at work. I am a newspaper/magazine hoarder. I have issues from 2001 stacked and piled all over the place. I am drowning in paper. Naturally, I am loathe to throw them away because I haven’t had a chance to look through them yet (the next question: how do I make time to do this? It’s so overwhelming!) I would love to know what the psychology behind all this hoarding is. We have all read those stories of old people being found dead and trapped in their cluttered houses full of junk. I don’t want to end up like that! If I knew what my issues (ha!) were, then maybe I’d have an easier time throwing stuff away. Help!!!

need help bad Says:

October 10th, 2007, 23:13 pm

My other question is: how do I go about getting rid of broken or unwanted electronic items and gadgets such as TVs, VCRs, computers, cell phones, air conditioners, etc. I don’t want these going in landfills so I’d rather recycle them. Is there anybody with a truck who can just come by and take this stuff away???

Tina Says:

October 10th, 2007, 23:41 pm

I rent out my home for a couple months of the year so I store a lot of clothes and personal items in a storage area in my garage during the time I’m gone. After I move back into my house, I only bring in things as I need them.

After 6 months or so it becomes very apparent which items are no longer needed or missed, and I give them away or donate them to charity.

sam Says:

October 11th, 2007, 0:08 am

1. Get laid off, then get new job halfway across the country.
2. Have only enough money to move what you can carry in a trailer you tow behind your car.
Guaranteed way to drastically declutter your life. And you know what? I don’t miss most of the stuff I got rid of!

GG Says:

October 11th, 2007, 5:31 am

I recently saw this rule somewhere and it’s helping me a lot:

Don’t just put it down, put it away.

It I follow this all the time, it will prevent a lot of clutter.

Shell Says:

October 11th, 2007, 7:02 am

Solution to paper clutter

I have about 5 piles of paperwork containing items that seem too important to throw away, eg. interesting articles, receipts, instructions, bills.. I’ve decided that the best way to manage them is to scan them in, create PDF’s and either keep them on my Mac/PC or archive to disk. This way I can always reference them if I need them, but I don’t have to keep a physical hardcopy.

LivSimpl Says:

October 11th, 2007, 11:12 am

Something that was grating on my nerves for a long time was all the cable clutter behind my desk (yes, I’m that OCD).

I finally got everything tidied up and wrote an article about it (complete with before and after pics) if anyone’s interested.

cynthia Says:

October 11th, 2007, 11:38 am

I always ask myself why I have 2 (or more than 2) of anything. It’s a start…

Rob Says:

October 11th, 2007, 12:14 pm

I’ve gotten rid of lots of clutter by following Flylady’s techniques. http://www.flylady.net. The next step is not to bring in new clutter. For that I keep a list in my planner, which goes with me everywhere. The list is labeled “Don’t Need It - Don’t Want It.” When I’m out shopping and I run across some kind of gadget that I crave, I note it down on the list. This slows me down long enough so that I have time to reconsider. Also, seeing the OTHER things on the list that I nearly bought on impulse really helps. Almost always, I don’t buy the gadget.

Kim Says:

October 11th, 2007, 17:50 pm

@need help bad - you might find Psychology of Clutter useful: http://psychologyofclutter.wordpress.com/

Katie Says:

October 11th, 2007, 22:19 pm

OMG! I love Dr. Ragan at Psychology of Clutter. She’s hilarious and informative at the same time. I always feel smarter after reader her blog. Kind of like reading this one :)

grace Says:

October 16th, 2007, 20:42 pm

I agree that the first step is to stop buying , or accepting “stuff”.
The second step is to internalize that your value is not in your “stuff”. It is just “stuff”.
The third is to realize that your value grows when you share your “stuff”. Hoarding is a selfish act.
Now you can start culling and making good use of your “stuff” by donating.
It can be liberating.

Ann M. Says:

October 17th, 2007, 0:04 am

I find one of the best ways to declutter is have someone else (who you trust!) help you go through things. They don’t have the (sometime’s irrational) emotional attachment that you might have, but can still recognize if something should be kept.

A relative of mine was helping me move out of my apartment last spring, and I was trying to see up to the far back corner of a closet shelf to make sure that I hadn’t forgotten anything. My relative said, “If it’s that far back and you don’t know it’s there then you won’t miss it.” I said “good point” and that was that.

Holly Says:

October 22nd, 2007, 8:41 am

Clutterbugs tend to live with minimalists — it’s a fact of life. Here’s what I do to minimize clutter that can’t be eliminated:

1. Find your deal breaker and focus your attention there. If the whole house can’t be a Pottery Barn display? Then at least the kitchen has to be clutter-free. If you keep your favorite spots clean, you’ll feel better and won’t drive everyone else crazy.

2. Gift everything. Books I’ve read immediately get recycled among friends, family or local libraries. When I bought a new gaming system, my old one –and all the games — was donated to the Children’s wing at the local hospital. They were thrilled.

3. Follow the “handful” principle. Grab a handful of magazines and take them to the recycling center. Take a couple of boxes. I used to create a national holiday over recycling, filling my car Beverly Hillbillies style. It became such a bear of a job it seldom got done. Now, when I’m heading in that direction I grab 2 Amazon boxes and 6″ of catalogs/magazines from the coffee table and make a quick side trip. Amazingly, this works better.

4. No schedule. I love schedules and tried many of the “room a day” ideas presented here. They work great when you live alone. When you live with others you just begin to feel like the maid. It can be discouraging. Keeping the house clean is nice — not my life’s work. But it could be if I let it. I stopped spending time trying to plot more effective de-cluttering and instead took a handful of stuff to the recycling center.

5. Vacuum. Any room looks 37% better once it’s been vacuumed. Clutter got you down? Vacuuming burns calories and makes even the most cluttered room look better.

crafty momma Says:

March 25th, 2008, 2:17 am

Sell it on EBAY!! Sell your items and make cash. It works. When ever I declutter I have a Put away hamper. Toss hamper and a sell hamper and a thrift store box. The sell pile is my favorite. Once the hamper is full it gets filled again and once I have enough to fill a large tote the fun begins. I then create my listings in my spare time and once they are all made upload them to ebay using auctiva. Anything that I don’t wish to sell thats in great condition goes to the local thrift store. Selling on ebay can get you more cash for your unwanted items or hard to part with items than a garage sale could. Think about it. If you have one item thats unused why sell it in a garage sale for 2.00 when you could sell it for more?

daisy Says:

April 15th, 2008, 16:35 pm

See it as “stuff”, all of it. Remove the sentimental feelings, the emotions, the memories, the value our mind places on things, and see it all just as collections of molecules arranged in different ways, but still just molecules. People and feelings are more than molecules, yet so often we allocate less time and value to them, than we do to our “stuff”. This concept was the greatest help to me in getting rid of things I saw as lovely, but that served no purpose except to clutter my house.
Also I read somewhere, You can admire and enjoy a waterfall without having to own it and display it in your lounge room, and it’s the same with “stuff”. That really set me on the road to living simple and uncluttered home.

Ms. Home Organization Says:

May 13th, 2009, 8:50 am

I actually enjoy de-cluttering my home, well most of the time:) I usually get a few boxes (my favorite tunes are blasting) and start tossing things I haven’t used or worn, in so many years, into it. I then donate the boxes which is so rewarding.