When the itch to declutter hits, my natural tendency is to tackle a junk drawer or the linen closet or some other hidden, cluttered space.
Those spaces need to be decluttered, but I can’t start there.
Using up my decluttering energy in a space no one sees (and that rarely gets used) means the house as a whole won’t look any better after all my work.
I have to follow the Visibility Rule.
I make myself focus on tackling a visible space that I see every day but I might have stopped noticing.
My home looks better and my family functions better and the visible progress encourages me to keep decluttering!
And renewed decluttering energy is way better than still wanting to hide when the doorbell rings after working all day long on a space no visitor would have a reason to see.
Which I’ve totally had happen.
Following the visibility rule for decluttering is a great way to stay motivated. When I clean and declutter an area that nobody including myself can readily see I lose interest quickly. Great article!
This is great advice! I walked around my house around New Year’s and made a list of all my problem areas and marked them with stars (1for quick&easy, 4 for the big jobs) and taped it to the fridge. I have definitely noticed that I can keep the momentum snowballing when I tackle visible spaces first, or at least heavily-used spaces like the pantry. Feels so good! I figured I’d be doing one or two tasks a week, but it’s been more like two or three a day!