I get it.
Decluttering a slightly messy closet is a nice thought.
Decluttering an entire house with cabinets that won’t close, entire rooms that can’t be used, a walk-in closet that hasn’t been walkinable in months/years . . . is completely overwhelming.
Really, I get it. Decluttering is overwhelming.
The best advice I can give (based on way too much personal experience) is to grab a trash bag (or a shopping bag or a box you were planning to throw away) and start removing trash. Trash is easy.
If you have a recycling bin, grab it too.
Start with the most obvious trash in your home. Food wrappers. Dirty tissue. Empty packaging. Broken toys placed “briefly” on the kitchen counter (last month) so you could decide if you had the time/energy/desire to fix them.
Here’s the thing. “Clutter” is an ambiguous word. Clutter can be a pile of papers, a pile of shoes, or a closet full of who-knows-what.
Over the past more-than-six years of my own deslobification process, I’ve learned this:
Clutter = The Unknown
Who knows what kinds of glorious treasures I’ll find in that pile? Who knows what kinds of can’t-possibly-get-rid-of-it stuff I’ll uncover?
I don’t. And even worse, I don’t know what I’ll do with it if/when I run across this unknown treasure/necessity.
All that not-knowing is a great reason to wait.
And not do anything.
So to make myself do something, I start with the easiest of the easy stuff: trash.
Make the pile a little smaller or the room a little less stuffed-to-bursting by pulling out ads for used car lots or the empty boxes I thought I’d already taken out to the garage.
There are two possible results to this strategy:
- I see a visible difference because the trash is gone, get inspired to keep going and completely finish decluttering what was once an overwhelming space.
- I see a visible difference.
Either way, I’ve made progress. I like progress.
If you’re continually overwhelmed by the clutter in your home, keep reading.
I’ve had to find ways to work through my own decluttering frustrations. When you sign up for the free newsletter, you’ll get my solution to THE #1 decluttering frustration people everywhere experience delivered right to your inbox immediately. And for the next several days, you’ll get more solutions to common decluttering frustrations delivered by email.
My newest book, Decluttering at the Speed of Life is now available wherever books are sold!
--Nony
Melinda says
This is why I love you. You know where we are, cuz you’ve been there. And you’re humble enough to let us SEE your struggles. And that gives us hope in the midst of ours. God bless you abundantly for ministering grace, hope and peace to us.
Al says
But. My email is cluttered already!
Dana White says
Ha! I understand! It’s one decluttering solution a day for 4-7 days and one to two newsletters a week.
Fran P. says
I already get your emails. Is this something different I need to sign up for?
Brittani A. says
I’ve been trying to whittle down my inbox numbers. Gone from 26,000 to just under 20,000.
Still signing up!
Karen says
I’ve been de-cluttering for 40+ years and still feel guilty for the 1970’s. When will it end?! ?
Iza says
The one and only place I declutter regularly is my email box. Because I can do it sitting with my laptop ;-)))
A thankful lady says
I just love you! Thank you for the way you write. Clearly, kindly, and right-exactly-where-I-am. I am SOOOO glad I didn’t settle for just reading the wiki/lifehacker articles on how to get stuff clean. “aslobcomesclean” says it all. That’s what I need. Thank you, thank you, thank you. God bless.
Mandy says
It’s not everyone’s solution but I’m a big fan of Marie Kondo’s book “The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up”. The biggest takeaway for me was the idea of working by category rather than by room. If things have really gotten out of hand, then we’ll have clothes in every room, magazines everywhere and so on. Using that methodology, the first category in the situation you’re describing here would be “obvious trash – recycle stuff”. And we could skip her recommended step of thanking it for its service and just give it the old heave-ho.
Margaret says
Lol Marie Kwondo…..thank the house, fold everything in thirds…ridiculous. As a professional organizer that has put myself last, and my house is currently a disaster, I know how to do this, and believe me, “A slob comes clean” is the best resource out there. Real, honest, insightful, and straightforward with no bullsh*t, just get er done, realistically, however you can, big chunks, little chunks, just make the effort and you will SEE RESULTS, to keep you motivated to continue. Highly recommend all things from this site: books, Videos, everything. Unless you are OCD, in which case Kwondo would work….but not for most people. She’s a novelty personality, very different, and that’s what makes her special. There’s too many people out there that just need common sense, which is how this site works. And have fun! Play your tunes loudly! Dance while de-trashing! Make it a game with the kids and have ice cream for a reward you were going to have anyway! Whatever it takes. Just vote. Just do it. Just be yourself, take the pressure off and move on. If you do SOMETHING, it only gets better. So just do SOMETHING. FIRST I DO THE COFFEE, THEN I DO THE THINGS. Good luck everyone, I’m with ya! Peggy
Kim says
I’m a living, breathing example of the fact that OCDness and “can’t keep a house nice and
tidy-ness” can coexist in the same person! I can organize anyone and anything within an inch of it’s life but can’t keep my whole house neat and tidy to save my life. Marie Kondo’s methods are not something I can make sense of….why have a screwdriver when a butter knife will do the job? I think not. I can, to some extent, appreciate the “does it spark joy” idea but that’s about it for me. Dana’s methods just make down to earth, common sense. Good is better than the unattainable perfect. Since I started reading Dana’s posts, my house is neater and tidier and my frustration level has gone way, way down. My organizational skills are more apparent because there’s less crap hanging around to obscure them! I’m decluttering in big chunks instead of just shifting stuff from one spot to another and it’s a fabulous feeling! Dana’s open and honest posts and photos have given hope and encouragement to all of us who thought we were alone in our inability to be Susie Q homemaker!
Carol says
One takeaway from Marie Kondo that I found very valuable is the idea of seeing everybody in that category. It’s not necessary for everything, but for things like clothing, I really need to see it all. Her ideas really helped me move forward, and I’m about as far from OCD as you can get. If I learned nothing else from Dana, I definitely learned to take what I need from wherever I can get it, and use it.
Heidi says
Two rooms in my house (the kitchen and dining room) have recently been upended by not doing daily dishes and the 5-minute pickup. And once it passes a certain point, it starts getting exponentially worse because why bother?
I wanted to *want to* get things picked up, but I just couldn’t seem to get going. I mentioned it to my 18-year-old son (who has heard me talk about your books and methods) and he said “The way to get going is to just get started, Mom.” Out of the mouths of babes.
So I just started with the trash. I told myself just doing that would be enough and that it would be okay if I stopped after that. Visible progress.
Next thing I knew, I had cleaned off the counters in the kitchen, too, and asked my sons to do the dishes, while offering to clean the pots and pans myself. And then I decided to sweep the floor, and before I knew it I decided to do a quick, imperfect mopping. The room certainly isn’t perfect (there’s still a bunch of junk on the kitchen table), but it looks SO. MUCH. BETTER. And it wasn’t awful.
The next day I decided to just pick up the trash on the floor in the dining room. And I stopped. It looked a ton better. Then when I was sweeping the floor that night in the kitchen, I decided to go ahead and sweep the dining room too. Visible progress.
I’m always amazed at how this works. Giving myself permission to just do the easy stuff. Declutter Momentum at it’s finest. Thank you, Dana!
Meredith says
Another good thing about getting the trash first… sometimes you are able to see what is there without the pressure of having to “deal” with it and now the fear of the unknown is taken away. Thanks, Dana, for the motivation!
Allison says
For me it’s always “Do the dishes and tidy the living room.” Usually that’s enough to give me a better idea of what needs to be taken care of.
Our second child is also growing like a weed and we’ve managed to get rid of a number of boxes of clothes already! It’s so freeing. And as I get rid of boxes of clothes, I find toys that are too old for her but too young for her sister that I don’t like… so out they go!
In general, my house is at a point where tidying the main rooms is between 5 – 20 minutes. But don’t look in my closets, garage, or crawl space. Those are my next areas to tackle and they’re definitely big projects.
Marion says
Although I agree that Marie Kondo might take it a little far, I did start folding my clothes that way and stacking them in the drawers so that I could see everything in there. I could coordinate outfits that way and when the container (drawer) is full thats it. You can also fit more clothing in a drawer that way. Now I know exactly what I have to wear and its easy to push them aside to put the clean laundry back into the drawers too.
Rebecca says
Yes, I find the same thing. The one takeaway from Marie Kondo that I actually use is the folding method. It works for dresser drawers, suitcases, linen closets. I also like to thank a beloved, well-used object before I say goodbye. But the idea of gathering all my clothes? Forget it. Overwhelming. I love Dana’s methods, they really work.
Ruth says
I had things so under control….then started an online course of study with assignments/deadlines….ha ha ha..and now it is back to these great basics which REALLY WORK!! Thanks Dana!!
I ordered your book – but it got lost in international shipping thanks to COVID. That was sad as I was hoping for more inspiration (they did refund me) but I hope to get it one day (when the world settles down) but I do know that if I stick to the basics that things DO GET DONE and I do stay on top of it all.
Love all the laughs!
Debbie says
I’ve always been a pack-rat, and my late husband was too. (I hate waste.) Then in 2015 he passed, leaving me with a large house, stocked garage, barn and acreage to “declutter” before I could move to a smaller, more manageable place. I’m all alone–no kids or siblings to help. And I still hadn’t completely gone through my mom’s things from when she passed, just stored the best in a 40′ shipping container on our property. Then my elderly aunt (no kids) developed dementia and I had to oversee her care. Sadly she was a hoarder and left me with a house full of–well, everything. Add in some serious health problems of my own, and this is where I find myself, now 5 years later. And now covid and all it’s repercussions with donations. Where do I start??? So such of it is sentimental stuff too, and has a story to tell.
I bought your book yesterday online and I’m hoping it will motivate me to tackle this mess. And I’ve been browsing through your website too. Wish me luck please!
Cinda says
Dear, dear Debbie – your message from 2 yrs ago resonated with me this morning. I’m 81, retired, much arthritis and a houseful of junk. We inherited my mothers houseful and my husband’s houseful. Plus I can organize anyone/anything EXCEPT my own stuff. My husband is very frustrated, an engineer now caught up in games on his phone – many hours a day (7am-11pm). I think it’s his way of shutting out frustration. Im not much better, I retreat into phone games often to avoid my responsibilities. Nothing in my house works: stove, oven, heat or a/c or water heater. One toilet works, one doesn’t and one has to be flushed manually in the water tank. In the kitchen, we use the microwave, sink and two toaster ovens. We have a toilet downstairs plus one in our bedroom. The rest of the house is full of junk. How did you solve your situation? Thanks.
Eleanor says
There are some things to take away from the Marie Kondo method and combine with the tips we get from Dana. Right now, I pick up in the kitchen and lounge room every night. Gradually, I am getting the control back after having three kids one after the other and they are at that stage where they don’t need the toddler items so that is all gone now. One little space at a time helps!
So Oberleas says
Do I sign up again – I’m already on the list. :O}
Penney Helms says
I am the only person who can see progress in my house so far, but I get warm and fuzzy knowing it is there. I have caught myself telling people who worry about me “what I have learned from Dana”. It is beginning to stick and I am so grateful!
MaryJo D. says
I decluttered my decluttering books…but NOT your book.
Petra says
I accidently signed up twice too!! There is a world of information here on this website and a struggle for me to find out where to start. Rule nr 1 is very clear: put it where it belongs or throw it away (or donate but that’ll be hard because I even need help taking the trash out, a complicated system where I live and my health problems make that even harder).
But already I’m enthusiastic. I’m g8nna watch all the YouTube video’s because seeing and hearing you motivates!!
Also the fact that you are doing this for 14 years now and good is good enough and that it not need t be perfect.
Also read a comment how to get rid of your digital clutter (emails).. my email even didn’t work anymore!! Until 2014 my house was tidy and liveable although it took most of my time due to chronic illness.
One year later in 2015 I woke up in a nightmare of stuff and garbage from floor to ceiling.
Later it turned out I have had several strokes (over 5 years later!!! While being accused of hoarding).
I have help but that’s 1.5 hours a week and they make a bigger mess than it was and leave me for a week snd I cannot oversee what has happened.
I lost valuable things that way, or just couldn’t find them anymore or some helpers emptied a closer and than it was time to go leaving me in despair because my brain gets overwhelmed and physical energy is also a big problem.
Out if the comments I already discovered a different way to get my email sorted out (totally different from what I waa doing).
No real change in my house has been made in 6 years of help!!
Now I see and read stuff of which I think: I can do this totally by MYSELF. And let the help get rid of the garbage or donate-able stuff.
Really… for the first time in YEARS I feel hopeful!!!
Sorry for the long comment. BTW I’m from the Netherlands so my English is poorly. Education in my school years was not much and left school early.
Luckily I can READ and hear English quite well.
But I mention that because my English makes me sound stupid and I used to be very intelligent woman. Who’s now looked down upon due to the brain injury can’t keep focus in telling coherent story) and because of the terrible thing I live in what once was my nice home. My neighbors hate me for my balcony being a total mess. I think Dana’s approach will make a world of difference. Have been studying The Minimalists, Marie Kwondo, reality TV shows in this… none of what I saw was doable for me. So glad to find Dana!!! Now I’m off watching her videos😇!!
Sabine says
At the moment, I am in the middle of a big decluttering process to give a away/donate things no longer needed since we are going to move to a new apartment in April – so best opportunity ever. 🙂
I love Nony’s blog and advice which are definitely practicable and working. AND I will have a fresh start at our new place for which I have already organized all necessary boxes, containers, baskets, … for keeping things neat and tidy (not all organizers were newly bought, most of them will be taken from our current apartment).
Thank you, Nony, for your blog and all the best wishes to you and your family for 2023.
Helen says
I recently saw a fb post of an estate sale in which apparently everything of the deceased lady was stacked and put up for sale. Tons of Tupperware, throws, pots and pans and even family pictures. Obviously, the dear lady had walked around this stuff for a lifetime & now her lifetime of stuff was up for grabs. I’m clearing mine out now. Why save a bunch of stuff that will be junk that your kids will have to dispose of? I need the space and serenity that its absence will provide.