With the Labor Day weekend here, it’s a great opportunity to spend time with family, friends and get in some relaxation. If you’re like me, you’d like to throw in a little bit of decluttering to help round out the weekend. One extra day off makes it a perfect time for some quick decluttering action. Below are my top 5 tips for how to declutter when you have limited time, or just want to get a little something done without spending hours on a whole session.
1. Do a quick walk-through of the whole house. Grab a box or basket and walk through each room in the house grabbing items as you go that you know can easily be gotten rid of or donated. If you’ve already been decluttering for a while, this tip may not bring about the desired results, so you might need to dig a little deeper to find those items that are tucked away that you can get rid of.
2. Focus on one specific area. Pick a very specific spot in your home, like under the bathroom sink, or a drawer in the kitchen or closet shelf and go to work sorting items for keeping, discarding and donating. It shouldn’t take long to get through everything and you’ll have a nice, new decluttered area.
3. Commit to spend a certain amount of time decluttering. One of the easiest ways for me to declutter is when I have set a specific time for myself to get in, declutter and get out. I like to do this on a regular basis, at least twice a week for around 30 minutes each time in the morning. It helps keep things moving through our home and out the door if we aren’t using it. I generally do one 30 minute session on the weekend and another sometime during the week.
4. Get others involved. Enlisting the help of friends and/or family members who are willing is a great way to put some light pressure on yourself to get rid of things that you would otherwise hold onto. If you’ve already got people coming over for the weekend, put on some good music, grab some snacks and spend 15 minutes decluttering. You may even win some of them over to simplifying their own possessions!
5. Keep your goal in mind. One of the fastest ways to quit a decluttering session or get bored, is to lack a clear goal our outcome you are trying to reach. Likewise, there’s no better way to make decluttering go faster than by envisioning your desired outcome. Before starting on any decluttering project, no matter how big or small, be sure to envision what you are trying to accomplish. Maybe you want to be able to shut the drawer without items getting jammed, or you would like to be able to see all the clothing you actually own. Identify your goal and keep it in the forefront of your mind and it will make decluttering that much faster.
Have a great weekend! Leave a comment below and let me know if you have any tips on what makes decluttering go faster for you!