Decluttering your home makes it much easier to organise, tidy, clean, and maintain it.
But there’s already so much going on in our lives as parents that the idea of taking on a decluttering project can be really overwhelming and feel like it will take ages.
Maybe you’d like to:
- Go through your linen cupboard and declutter the extra towels and bedsheets that are crammed in there, making it hard to put things away neatly
- Clear out your kitchen drawers so you only have the utensils you really need and can get them out and put them away again easily when you cook
- Get rid of a bunch of broken or never-played-with kids toys now so you don’t end up with overflowing bedrooms at Christmas
- Finally tackle the garage so that camping gear, car stuff, tools, and seasonal decorations all have a place to belong and don’t get lost or damaged
But who has a big chunk of time to commit to a project like that? How can you get it done when the kids are home with you? How do you stop it from becoming a huge mess halfway through that just makes you want to give up again?
The easiest way to declutter any part of your home is to do it one TINY step at a time.
Don’t do the whole garage.
Start with one thing in the garage and break that down into smaller steps.
Try something like this:
- Decide to do the seasonal decorations first
- Set your phone timer for 10 minutes and during that time, just throw away anything broken
- Come back another time, set your timer for 10 minutes, and sort into occasions (Halloween, Birthday, Christmas, etc)
- Come back another time, set your timer for 10 minutes, and declutter the Halloween decorations - put unwanted stuff in a garbage bag or box and put it in the boot of your car to donate on your way to your next errand.
- Repeat the above step when you have another 10 minutes until the Halloween decorations are done.
- Do the same steps for each occasion.
Now the seasonal decos are done, and when you’re ready to tackle another part of the garage (or a different part of your home), you can start again.
Does it take longer to declutter one tiny step at a time?
If you add up every 10 minutes, it takes around the same time in total as it would if you did it all in one big day.
But it’s not overwhelming, you can do it around the kids, there’s no huge mess, and your timer gives you permission to stop without feeling guilty about it.
It’s much easier, and when it’s easier, you’re more likely to do it regularly, so you’ll end up getting more decluttering done in a year with tiny steps than you would with big projects.
Every small step really does make a difference.
I hope you found this helpful! If you’re ready for next steps in taking care of your home, you might want to check out my free Simple Spring Clean checklist. It’s an easy way to do a little Spring Cleaning without feeling overwhelmed!
x Marissa
