7 Mistakes That Make Decluttering Your Home Take FOREVER | clutter-free + minimalist home

As a decluttering expert and minimalist of eight years, I get a lot of questions from people asking for tips and ideas on how to speed up the decluttering process to make reaching their goal of a clutter-free home faster and easier for them. Which is why today I'm sharing this list of seven common mistakes to watch out for when you're decluttering your home and how to avoid or navigate around them if and when they do pop up. So let's dive into the first mistake that holds people back which is the fear of making a mistake. Which sounds so meta but is seriously a legitimate concern for a lot of people. I remember back when I first started decluttering and I would pick something up to try and decide if I wanted to keep it or let it go and I would just sit there and stare at whatever it was that was in my hands at the time and it was like my brain would short circuit and it might take me 5, 10, or even 15 minutes to let go of even the silliest thing like coffee mugs with broken handles or expired cans of corn for example because I was terrified of making the wrong choice. And what's interesting is that I later learned that perfectionism is actually really common in people with hoarding disorder because we're so afraid of making the wrong decision about what to keep versus what to get rid of that we just end up keeping everything. But along my decluttering journey I realized that it was much better for me to take the relatively small risk of getting rid of one or two things that I might regret than the much bigger risk of not decluttering and just continuing to maintain the status quo of a house that was always cluttered and messy and that made me feel stressed out and miserable 24-7. And one of the mantras that I used to repeat to myself to get past this mental block and that honestly I still use even to this day was to think or say to myself everything you've ever wanted is on the other side of fear and that helped me remember my goal which was to free up more time and space for the things that matter to me and my family instead of filling up our lives in our home with a bunch of junk that we didn't even use or enjoy. And I'm so glad that I was able to push through that fear because if I hadn't I never would have gotten to experience all of the peace and joy that was waiting for me on the other side of my clutter. And what's crazy is even after getting rid of 90% of our stuff I have never missed a single item even things that I thought that I would never be able to let go of. But please remember even if you end up making a mistake and get rid of something that you regret that's okay because mistakes can teach you valuable lessons about who you are and what's important to you going forward on your journey to creating a home and a life you love. Another mistake that I've made more than once I might add is the mistake of trying to do too much at once and biting off more than I could chew either by pulling out too much stuff at once or by trying to declutter multiple rooms at the same time and then ending up not having enough time to finish and being overwhelmed by the mess that was now all over the place. So if you also have a tendency to bite off more than you can chew and get overwhelmed with the decluttering projects that you've started and then end up not being able to finish here's what I found helps me a lot. First of all knowing your schedule and being honest with yourself about how much time you really have to devote to that particular decluttering project that you're thinking about tackling. And another trick that I found really helpful is to divide my house into zones and even dividing rooms within the house into micro zones that are smaller areas of clutter that you can tackle when you only have a few minutes here and there. And as a rule I found that the more clutter you have the smaller zone you should be focusing. So for example now that I've highly simplified my home I could probably declutter my entire kitchen all in one go because I just don't have that much stuff to start with. But back when I was first starting decluttering my kitchen that might mean tackling one junk drawer at a time and then a kitchen cabinet and then another kitchen cabinet and then maybe the refrigerator and then maybe after that it was the pantry. So kind of taking this larger space and breaking it down into smaller subcategories that I call zones. I know it seems counterintuitive but slowing things down and breaking it up into smaller and more manageable chunks stops you from feeling so overwhelmed and then not being motivated to continue decluttering projects. So it really helps you keep up this good momentum. And by the way if this is something that you would like more help with make sure to go down and grab my 10 page decluttering checklist that I've linked down in the description box and pinned comment below because there's a really handy checklist that can help you break the clutter zones in your home down into smaller more manageable areas and keep you on track so that you don't forget anything as well as some really helpful questions to go through to help you decide if you want to keep or let go of something. Like I said I'll make sure to link it down below for you if you're interested in checking that out. Mistake number three on this list is premature organization. In most cases it's best to wait until you've fully decluttered a space or room before you start trying to organize it because if you try to organize as you go or start organizing before you've completed the decluttering process that's really putting the cart before the horse. Not only can this waste your time and energy but it can also waste your money because you end up going out to buy organizational supplies when you just still simply have too much clutter. So for example when we first moved into this town house I held off on trying to figure out how I was going to organize our shoes and our coats in the entryway and lower level because I wasn't used to having a split level and I wanted to understand how it would function and feel in real life before I tried to declutter and organize it. And then once I gained a better understanding of that space and how it was functioning for us that meant that I was a lot faster and more efficient when I did finally tackle the project of decluttering and organizing that space. So instead of trying to declutter while you're organizing hold off on organizing until you're done decluttering and that's going to be a lot more efficient and save you time money and energy in the long run. The fourth mistake is holding on A lot of us hold on to clutter because we feel afraid or guilty about creating waste. Whether that's feeling like you're wasting money getting rid of something that was expensive or that could be useful or you're worried about creating too much environmental waste. But remember the money is wasted when you buy something not when you get rid of it and along with finding sustainable ways to declutter the best thing that we can do to reduce waste is to change our spending habits which also happens to be number five on this list. If you have terrible shopping habits trying to declutter your home without changing those habits would be like trying to stop the titanic from sinking by using a teacup to bail out the water that's flooding in. It's just not effective and to truly see results when you're decluttering you don't just need to worry about the outflow of clutter that's exiting your home but you also need to work on slowing down or even stopping the inflow of clutter that's coming into your home. Otherwise you're going to have a hard time keeping your home clutter free no matter how much or how often you declutter it. Next up number six on this list is letting decluttered items linger around your house for too long. Raise your hand if you're guilty of letting stuff that you've already decided to let go of sit around your home for way too long. I don't see your hand up where is it? I can't be the only one who does this. In fact why don't we do a poll about this right now. Drop me a thumbs up or a thumbs down emoji down in the comment section below. Thumbs up means that you tend to let stuff sit around after decluttering it and thumbs down means that you're a perfect angel who always gets rid of stuff right away. And if you're feeling extra spicy you can also comment and let us know what's the longest amount of time that you've let decluttered items sit around and linger and where do those things tend to linger in your home like is it the trunk of your car is it the coat closet that's right next to the front entryway. I look forward to reading your responses. So if you struggle with this some of the things that I found helpful is a knowing where I'm going to get rid of stuff once I'm done decluttering that whether it's taking books to the library for donation or dropping off furniture at the local Habitat for Humanity restore so that I've already prepared and don't have to think about that next step of where this stuff is going to go once I've decluttered it and b to set a time and a date for you to actually kick that clutter to the curb and get it out of your home and treat that deadline just as seriously as you would a doctor's appointment or a date with your husband or whatever. And finally the seventh mistake to avoid on this list is the mistake of waiting for conditions to be perfect. Life is busy and there's always going to be things popping up that want to pull your attention away from whatever it is you're trying to accomplish and it's not about having enough time it's about making time for your decluttering project. Even if it's only a few minutes here and there you can accomplish a lot in a very short amount of time and if you don't believe me go and check out this video and I'll show you how I was able to declutter five different spaces in my home in five minutes each or I'll see you next week. Until then, take care. Bye-bye.