Best Way to Declutter
If you’ve ever stood in the middle of a messy room, wondering where to even begin, you’re not alone. The best way to declutter isn’t some magical weekend marathon or a perfectly color-coded Pinterest board, it’s breaking things down into tiny, doable steps. Think 10 to 20-minute bursts of focused action, not hours of overwhelm.
This post is your no-fluff, no-tears guide to getting started. We’re talking real-life advice for how to declutter without getting derailed by emotions, distractions, or decision fatigue. One drawer, one corner, one shelf at a time. Whether it’s your closet, kitchen, or that one terrifying junk drawer, you’ll learn how to declutter in a way that actually sticks.
My Turning Point: From Chaos to Progress, One Bite at a Time
When I was a young mom, I liked to call our home “lived in.” Translation? Counters cluttered, couch cushions buried under backpacks and laundry, and the floor? Let’s just say, you needed to navigate it like an obstacle course, whether your hands were full or not.
At the time, I chalked it up to the busyness of life. I figured every family lived like this. A little chaos here, a forgotten library book there. Totally normal, right?
Wrong.
Turns out, most families had systems. They didn’t misplace their car keys daily or forget a child at the baseball fields (yes, that actually happened). They didn’t have to scramble at 7:00 a.m. looking for a crumpled permission slip for a field trip that was today.
It took a long time for me to see it, but eventually it realized this wasn’t working. I needed to do something, but how do you fix a house that feels like a moving avalanche of stuff?
I had no idea where to begin.
Then I remembered that old saying: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Cheesy? Maybe. But also, exactly the shift I needed. Once I stopped trying to fix everything all at once and just focused on one small thing at a time, I started to see real progress. And the best part? It didn’t feel overwhelming anymore.
Best Way to Declutter Your Home
Before you start decluttering your home, let’s give you a plan. One that will guide you from the first item all the way to the finished result.
1. Choose One Room to Start
Trying to declutter your entire home all at once is overwhelming, and honestly, it sets you up for burnout. Instead, focus your energy on just one room and work your way from there. When you finish it, you’ll have a real sense of accomplishment and an anchor proving to yourself that you can do this.
Action Step: Pick an easy room. Skip the worst of the worst (for now). We’re aiming for a quick win to build momentum.
Easy Rooms to Declutter First:
- Guest bathroom
- Entryway or mudroom
- Linen closet
These spaces are usually small and less emotionally charged, which means you can finish them faster without getting tripped up on decisions.
Bonus Tip: Thinking about downsizing someday? These quick rooms are great practice areas to test your decluttering rhythm before taking on bigger projects.
2. Break It Down Into Mini Projects
When you look at an entire room, it’s easy to feel stuck. But when you zoom in, say, just one drawer or shelf, it becomes a bit more manageable. This is how we outsmart the overwhelm: we focus on the little things.
Action Step: Break the space into smaller pieces, like one drawer, one shelf, or one cabinet, and fully declutter that before moving to the next.
Write it down if it helps: “Today I’m doing the left drawer of the bathroom vanity.” That’s it. Keep it focused. Keep it small.
Progress is still progress, even if it’s just one shelf.
3. Set Up Your Sorting Bins
This is the prep work that makes decluttering faster and less stressful. Without bins, we get caught making decisions we’re not ready for. With bins, those decisions are made in the moment, and the clutter doesn’t spread across the floor.
Action Step: Gather five containers and label them:
- Toss – Trash, broken items, anything that no longer works
- Donate – Gently used items to pass along
- Put Away – Things that belong elsewhere in your home
- Keep – What stays in the space you are working on
- Give Away – Items you’re passing to a specific person
Pro Tip: Use laundry baskets, boxes, or paper bags, whatever you have. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just functional.
4. Sort Like a Pro (No Delaying!)
This is where most decluttering sessions go off track. We start reminiscing, doubting, or shuffling things into a maybe pile. Let’s skip all that. When you commit to sorting with clearly named bins and a firm decision for each item, you’ll move faster and more confidently.
Action Step: Pick up one item. Decide immediately which bin it belongs in. Do not set it down until it’s sorted. Then move onto the next and repeat.
Sort everything in the area you are working. If it will stay in this space, put it into the keep bin. By touching everything and deciding where it will go you will strengthen your sorting muscle and decisions will get easier and come more quickly.
5. Use a Timer to Stay Focused
We all tend to avoid projects that seem impossible. The secret? Make it short and focused. Knowing you only need to work for 10 or 20 minutes helps you start, and starting is the hardest part.
Action Step: Set a timer for 10 or 20 minutes and work on just the area you picked. When the timer goes off, you can walk away or reset it and keep going.
This makes decluttering bite-sized and less overwhelming, so you’re more likely to stick with it.
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6. Clean the Space
Once the area is empty, take advantage of the blank canvas. This is your chance to wipe away the dust (literally and emotionally) and start fresh. A clean space just feels better, it invites calm.
Action Step: Wipe down shelves, vacuum the floor, or clean the inside of a drawer.
It’s faster than you think, and it feels SO good to start fresh.
7. Use Containers to Stay Organized
Let’s be honest, containers can be a total game changer. They’re not just pretty, they help you with clutter. They give your things a place to live, which makes it way easier to put things away when you are finished using them.
When everything has a home, you’re less likely to toss it onto the nearest surface just for now. Containers also create boundaries and give structure, which helps you know when you’ve got enough of something.
Action Step: Start grouping like-items together and assign them a spot. Use bins, baskets, drawer organizers, whatever works in your space and with your budget.
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Label them if that helps your family (or just yourself!) remember where things go. The easier it is to return stuff to its home, the less likely it is to pile up again.
You’ve Got This
Decluttering doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing, and it definitely doesn’t have to be perfect. The best way to declutter is by taking small, focused steps that fit into your real life, not some idealized version of it.
Whether you’re clearing out a drawer or an entire room, each step you take brings more peace, space, and freedom into your home. And as you begin to declutter intentionally, you’ll also start to see the gentle beginnings of downsizing, letting go of the things that no longer fit your life today so you can make room for what truly matters.
Remember to be kind to yourself in this process. Celebrate the little wins, no matter how small. You’re not just decluttering and organizing, you’re creating a home that supports your life today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Start with just 10 to 20 minutes a day. Use a timer, focus on one small space (like a drawer or shelf), and have your sorting bins ready. Set a goal to do one quick project every day for a week. This will help you make progress without getting overwhelmed.
Pick an easy win first, like the silverware tray in your kitchen or the closet in your entryway, and give yourself credit for every bit of progress. Focus on progress instead of complete perfection. Each area you finish, no matter how small, makes it much easier to tackle the next.
Yes! Decluttering always comes first. Organizing items you don’t need or use just moves the clutter around. Once you’ve downsized the excess, then use containers to hold what will stay. Keep only what fits so your things don’t spill out creating clutter all over again.
More Decluttering Resources:
This is how I tackle decluttering to. My home is a wreak right now. It’s been a hard year on my home. So I have resovled to spend no more than 15 minutes at a time, it do no good ro burn out now. I declutter then clean what ever space I need to be in at that time. I hope that i have the house under controll again by the end of the year.
I know how hard it can be sometimes, Diane! I love your plan and I do think it is one you can make progress with!
All the best,
Tracy Lynn