Decluttering Tips From Someone Who Is Not a Pro

Today is Organized Home Day, and if your home is anything like mine, it's kind of a mess. Not really as organized as I would like.

But 2020 is a new year, and I've got a few tips and techniques to help you jumpstart your decluttering mission. These are all things that have been helpful for me in the past and in this new year. I hope they are helpful for you, too!



My first tip is to read Dana White's Decluttering at the Speed of Life. I wrote a review of the book back in 2018. The premise of the book is that decluttering doesn't have to take up much of your time, especially when you don't have a lot of time. I loved this book and would highly recommend it to anybody who is looking for an easy way to clear out the clutter (donate it, donate it, donate it) and change their mindset about cleaning.



I started out 2020 doing the Declutter Like a Mother challenge. This was a free 14-day challenge that asked participants to spend 30 minutes each day tackling a different area of the home. The founder's motto for this challenge was "be a ruthless editor". Don't keep something if you merely THINK you're going to eat it, use it, wear it, etc. at some point in the future. If you haven't eaten it, used it, worn it yet, you're not going to EVER. So get rid of it.

As part of this challenge, I pared down our dishes and organized our bathroom closets and cabinets. I even went through the food in our freezer AND CLEANED THE FREEZER, and I got started on the fridge. But you can only get so much done in 30 minutes, and I wasn't going to kill myself trying to do it all in one day.



That brings me to another tip. Don't beat yourself up if you don't get it all done. We all have days that get busy. We all have weeks and months that get busy. And if your house is anything like mine, there is a lot of decluttering that needs to happen.

You might declutter one space one day, and then aim to tackle another space the next day, but in that 24-hour period, somehow the first space got cluttered up again.

It's. Okay.

We can't all have Pinterest homes or be Pinterest moms. I see so many cleaning schedules shared on Pinterest, and I always think, "Who is doing them?" I don't have time to make the bed, empty the dishwasher, and throw in a load of laundry in the mornings. I'm getting ready for work and trying to catch a bus! And then in the evenings when I get home from work, do you think I really want to spend my free time cleaning? NO!


There is a website called Clean Mama with a lot of free printables that can help you create a cleaning routine. Maybe you'll find one that works for you or maybe you'll find one that you can tweak to work for you. I subscribe to the Clean Mama email newsletter, and while I sometimes delete the email before even reading it, I subscribed because there was some good information there. If only I had the time to read it all.

Lastly, I have a whole Cleaning Pinterest board. Hopefully, you'll find that what I've pinned is helpful in some way. There's everything from homemade cleaners and tricks for busting stubborn stains to cleaning schedules and decluttering challenges.

Last year I made goals of things to do in my home that would make it more organized. I don't really have a similar list for this year. But putting these techniques into practice might just help me keep my house somewhat orderly all year long.

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