Would you like to be able to declutter an area or a room at the fastest speed possible?
Decluttering fast eliminates second guessing your decision about what should stay and what should go.
My story
Several years ago, on two different occasions, with less than 24-hour notice, I had to completely declutter and switch bedrooms.
When Covid hit, a snap decision was made to bring my mom to our house to live. We decluttered and cleaned what was then Isaacs room, and moved my mom in less than twenty-four hours.
A few weeks later, Isaac broke his hip. In order to come home from the hospital, he required a ground floor room. Our bedroom of thirty years was the only available option.
Once again, in less than twenty-four hours, we had to declutter and clean our bedroom and move upstairs to the room where Isaac had moved a few short weeks prior.
I have never before experienced a situation where it is necessary to declutter faster than I can think. And, honestly, I hope I never repeat that scenario.
As difficult as that season was, I did learn how to declutter at a faster pace than I would have believed possible.
If you want to declutter a room or area fast, it is possible.
Just follow a few guidelines to make it happen.
Break large areas into sections.
No matter the size of the project, think small.
Visually and mentally break large areas into sections.
Focus on completely decluttering one section before moving onto another section.
Put everything in one of three piles; keep, donate or discard.
If the goal is to declutter fast, don’t make a pile of things you want to sale.
That pile will quickly become it’s own pile of clutter and a distraction to the goal of decluttering.
The only exception is if something is of significant value. If it can truly be sold for a tidy sum, set it aside and sell it later.
Items to keep
Put things that you are keeping into this pile. Don’t start putting them away or moving them to a new area of your house until the section on which you are working is finished.
Items to donate
The second pile is for anything that is worthy of being donated.
Don’t make the mistake of putting items in this pile that should actually go into the discard pile.
If it is old, dirty or worn and it isn’t something you would want to purchase, ditch it. It isn’t fair to make a donation center sort through the things you just couldn’t bring yourself to throw away.
Items to Discard
This isn’t a pile, it’s a garbage bag.
If an item is garbage, throw it away now.
Use a black garbage bag and any item that’s trash goes immediately in the bag.
Using a black garbage bag keeps you from seeing what’s in the bag and second guessing whether it should or shouldn’t be thrown out.
Clean up before moving to the next section.
This step is crucial to progress.
After completing a section, before moving to the next section, take these final steps.
Anything in the trash bag gets taken to the garbage.
Take items that will be donated to your vehicle.
And, to the greatest extent possible, put away any items that you are keeping. If they are going to another room, take them there now.
This step allows you to see the progress you’ve made, clears up valuable space, and keeps you from reconsidering the things that went in the trash.
In addition, if you get stopped mid-project, there’s no chance that what you have already accomplished will be all for nothing.
If you really want to declutter fast, be ruthless.
When Mandy, who, bless her heart took her one free evening to help us, pulled out my shoes and sighed, “Oh, Mom!” I knew it was time to be ruthless.
Gone were the shoes I had worn to Rachel’s wedding five years prior. Gone, actually, were most of my shoes.
Decluttering fast requires you to be ruthless.
Decluttering is an ongoing process.
As long as you are fortunate enough to live in your own home, clutter is going to accumulate.
But if you want to declutter really fast, I have discovered, it is possible!
Related Reading: How to Clean a Very Messy Kitchen!
updated 07/12/2024
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I will never forget this saying I learned years ago while doing a research paper for college: “Work expands to feel the time available.” This is so true, if you have all day to clean your house it will take you all day but if you only have two hours it will take you two hours.
I refer to that often. It is amazing how much we can do when we have to!