Free your mind and your home! These easy steps to declutter your home will help you on your way to a less frustrating, more organized home. Depending on how many nooks and crannies you have and your available time, this could be an ongoing journey or a weekend project. Be patient – it didn’t pile up over night, and it’s certainly not going to declutter itself!

The key to decluttering, is to have a method of organization. Things might have gotten so out-of-hand that it’s overwhelming. Therefore, you might be tempted to do several piles or areas all at once. A little bit here, a little bit there. This will make the task more daunting and you are more likely to quit before finishing – keep it simple. By following the easy method below, you will have small successes along the way that will keep you motivated to finish.

Easy Steps to Declutter Your Home

What you need to complete this process:  Boxes, garbage bags, a considerable amount of coffee, the will to begin and these easy steps to declutter your home. Let’s do this.

Pick a room and don’t open any doors (closets) or drawers.

Look around and first see if there is clutter in the corners or a pile or two of stuff. This is your first task. Doing what you can see in the room first will make your living space more pleasant and keep you motivated! In addition, if you pull everything out of the doors and drawers right now, your living space will be a complete mess! It will also take an extended block of time to clear it. And at that point, if you happen to get interrupted, you will have to deal with that mess until you have time to continue.

Grab something – anything!

It could be something that you know right away if you want to keep or get rid of. If you don’t really, really like it or you don’t really need it, it has to go. Ask yourself if you have used this item in the past year. If you haven’t and don’t see a specific need for it in the next one, it needs to go. Don’t get caught in the trap of “But I might need this someday!” If it is worth less than $10 and you are on the fence about it, you don’t need it. If you do happen to eventually need that inexpensive item, you can purchase it. Be brave – you are reclaiming your freedom here.

Make 3 piles.

One for things you want to keep (this should be the smallest pile!), one for donation to an organization for the needy (like Goodwill), and one for items you want to sell. If the item is not worth more than $10, it’s not worth keeping to sell – donate it. It will be a waste of time and a pain in your backside if you try to sell it. Remember, time is what you want more of, so it is a valuable commodity. Anything worth less than $10 is not worth your valuable time. Keep moving through the items in the room and adding to your piles until your room looks organized and fabulous.

Don’t let the 3 piles just sit there.

You know you won’t take care of it later – later never comes. When you have a decent size pile, box or bag it and unless you are keeping or selling it, take it to the car. It will annoy you there until you actually drop it off at the place your donations are going to and it will be out of your home. This works. Have you ever had something big in the back of your car and couldn’t quite see out of the back window? Or opened the back passenger door to put something in and had to move things to make room? You will be annoyed, and it will be worth it.

Move to the next room.

Repeat the same declutter process until you have been in every room. Remember, you are not opening any doors or drawers yet. You need the satisfaction of your rooms looking marvelous to keep you motivated! This initial declutter might go fairly quickly or take several blocks of time – either way, the next time you go into one of your decluttered rooms, I dare you to try not to smile.

Go back to the first room.

Over the next days or weeks as time allows, complete the doors (closets, etc) and drawers one room at a time in the same manner. There are times in our lives where we feel busier than a one-legged man in a kicking contest, so have patience! It will be complete over time.

Remember, don’t let the piles just sit there! Regularly make trips to your donation spot of choice.  If you have successfully disciplined yourself, your “Keep” pile should be small and you should have plenty of space now to store those items! When the declutter is all said and done, you will feel the weight of it lifted and everything you have will be what you truly want or need.

Need extra motivation? Check out Top 5 Reasons to Declutter and these Incredible Clutter Transformations.