If you are new to the process of decluttering and organizing, this post is for you. Today, we will discuss the initial tips to remove clutter in your home. After many years of organizing, I realized several similar issues from my different clientele. When my clients come to me, they have dealt with the clutter for an average of 5-10 years. That's a long time! Many similarities happened to these people due to the clutter in their homes. Below are some ways that clutter affected them.
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Side Effects of a Cluttered Home
There are many side effects of having a cluttered home. My clients experience all or some of the following.
- Anger toward themselves, the situation, and their family about the clutter. Visit our Overcoming Negative Talk to Clear the Clutter.
- Stressed about the clutter itself.
- Physically sick from the amount of pressure they put on themselves to get rid of the clutter.
- Depressed and helpless that they can't get out of their situation.
- Worried they will not be able to get rid of the clutter.
- Ashamed and embarrassed to show anyone else the clutter in their home.
- They feel alone. They are afraid to invite people over because their home is so messy, resulting in feeling disconnected from family and friends.
These cluttered spaces became an issue in their lives. Their clutter created a physical and emotional barrier between them and their loved ones. Don’t believe it, read more here about 5 reasons to clear the clutter out of your life by Psychology Today. Are you convinced?
Where to Start when Decluttering?
To remove the clutter and change this pattern, the individuals who created the clutter needed to motivate themselves to get rid of the mess. They had to realize the importance of organizing first and foremost. They needed to recognize that change is not a “bad” thing and they could do it. Everyone got to the point where they drew a line in the sand and said, “No more, I am going to change my habits and my space. I value myself and my space more than the way I am valuing it now.” This will always be the starting point for breaking the habit of cluttering their home. Removing this pattern will help repair their torn relationships because of the unwanted habit.
Need help finding the clutter in your home? Check out my Clutter Blindness Series, where I will share an ebook to help you go through your home and determine YOUR cluttered spaces.
What is a goal for the home?
After they decide that they are done being stuck, they move to the next step. They need to determine precisely what their goals for their home are. Below are some goals they may have for their entire home:
- Make the home an oasis so they can relax, rejuvenate, and spend time with family and friends.
- Have company spend the night to take advantage of day trips together.
- Make the home a balance between work and home life.
- Have a home that allows for education (homeschooling) and a relaxing space to nurture growth and creativity.
What is a goal for each room?
The next step is determining the specific goals for each room. Creating the specific goals for each room helps figure out the purpose of each room and the strategy steps to get to that purpose before taking any action. The rooms in a home that will most likely have goals are:
- Living Room
- Family Room
- Kitchen
- Dining Room
- Bathroom (Primary / Other)
- Bedroom (Primary / Other)
- Guest Room
- Home Office
- Foyer
- Garage (Affiliate Link)
- Basement
- Attic
- Laundry Room (Affiliate Link)
The goals for each room need to be as accurate as possible and written down on a piece of paper. Each room in their home would have one sheet of paper with a list of goals just for that room. To help create these Room Goal Sheets, ask yourself these questions to determine the room's purpose.
Five Questions to Ask to Determine the Purpose of a Room
- What do I want to change in this ______ room?
- How do I want to use this room or area of a room? Family area, other family member space, etc...
- What works in the room? What does not operate in this area?
- Where will I hold this ______ group? Where will I place my ________?
- Will this item be most effective in this area? Or, does another area work better?
What to do after you determine a room's purpose?
After they defogged their minds and had a clearer picture of the goals for each room, they then needed to write a to-do list to reach their goals for each space.
Try this: Place each task on a sticky note and stick them on a large piece of paper or bulletin board labeled the space name. Be as accurate as possible on each task sticky note. After you have all the tasks on the sticky notes (Affiliate Link), rearrange them to put them in the most effective order. Then, create realistic “due dates” to complete each task. Add these tasks to the weekly calendar to make sure they are completed.
Now it's time to start and declutter.
At this point, they start purging and sorting to remove clutter. Start with one task (one sticky note) and complete it. They only need to be focused on one task at a time. As a result, it reduced the stress of completing the entire project all at once.
Tip to remove clutter: For tasks that are unpleasant, allocate enough time to complete it and do it first. Completing this task first helps the process because you are not thinking about what unpleasant task is coming next.
Remember: It took a long time to create this clutter, it will most likely take some time to clear it. Usually, it doesn't take as long as it did to create the clutter if you plan on working through the room on a weekly basis.
Be strong, stay positive, look at the progress you made, not the incomplete tasks. Taking before and after pictures of the room would give them a victory that will motivate them to do more.
How did clients feel after they removed their clutter?
After the client went through this process, I saw (Affiliate Link) similar results as well. Below are just some of them.
- Happy with themselves and others.
- Proud of what they accomplished.
- Focused on new tasks at hand.
- Stronger in themselves.
- Peace of mind in their home.
- Secure in their space.
- An overall order and control in their life.
- They could spend more time with their loved ones.
I hope this post motivates you to start your journey to declutter. If you have specific goals that you are struggling with, check out my virtual organizing services where I offer three types of consulting services. I would love to help you virtually through this process.
Do you want to feel this way after you remove clutter in your home? Visit our “Organizing Solutions” section for specific areas of the home.
Linda Samuels says
Overwhelm is one of the shared experiences my clients are feeling before we begin working together. Very often, I find that while we might have a sense of ALL the things that are on the organizing list, it's more helpful to move them forward by focusing on just one small area. Thinking TOO big only increases their feelings of overwhelm. So concentrating on one room, one drawer, or one surface can be enough to move them past being stuck and propel them forward.
Seana Turner says
My husband, who doesn't enjoy this process, cleaned out his home office last weekend. He did not want me help:) I would say he made great progress, although I would have encouraged him to shed much more than he did. However, he finally initiated the project himself, and I think that was the hardest part. I asked him when he was finished how he felt about it. He said, "I feel much happier in there now. I don't look around and see a bunch of stuff I need to take care of." I think this is like your tip about envisioning the result... how do you want to feel when you are finished? What would your space look like if you could wave a magic wand? This can help you see the payoff and thus help you get started.
Janet Barclay says
I always enjoy seeing the product pictures in your posts because there are usually things I've never seen or thought of. This time it's the lazy susan with sided sections - so practical!