Inside: Struggling to declutter your home? My tiny task approach to doable decluttering will give you 4 tips to declutter your home with ease. It’s time to say good bye to overwhelm and hello to organized.
Are you looking to clear out your space, but feel bogged down and don’t know how? Finding the time and motivation to declutter can be hard. I often hear from individuals who feel stuck and don’t have an idea of how to get rid of the mess in their surroundings.
I have 2 elementary-age kids and a lot of activities which mean lots of stuff and not much time to organize it. I need to get it under control.
I get overwhelmed trying to figure out the best organizing solution so I end up just not doing anything.
I’m retired and have health issues. Often, I feel too tired to get started or finished.
Let’s Make Decluttering Easy
At Our Happy Hive, it’s my mission to help you go from overwhelmed to organized. I help you declutter and organize your home through tiny tasks that create quick wins and motivational momentum.
I approach decluttering differently. My goal is to make the work light and easy…so that you’re motivated to start AND finish your decluttering project.
Progress over Perfection
One mindset is critical for success with my method and that is to value progress over perfection. Many people get overwhelmed and stall because they try to take on too much.
Take Nancy for example, she wanted to declutter her entire storage closet over one weekend. She was fired up and ready to go when the project started. She pulled everything out of the closet and dove in. The first couple of hours were hard, but good…but by mid-afternoon she was exhausted. The space looked worse now than when she began and truthfully, there was no end in sight.
Her eyes started to burn as hot tears came to the surface. She didn’t want to quit…but she didn’t see how she could go on.
Like many others, Nancy ended up frustrated, pressed for time, and confused with all the things they are sorting through.
Instead of achieving a decluttered space, she ended up with one organized shelf and shoving everything else back into the closet.
Decluttering With Small Projects
My tiny task approach to doable decluttering focuses on small projects that take 30 minutes or less. You tackle one small project at a time…a single drawer, a shelf, or one pile of things. You finish your project, enjoy the finished product, and feel a sense of accomplishment. This cycle of doable decluttering motivates you to continue.
Helen was sick and tired of living with the mess and feeling like she couldn’t do anything about it. Out of desperation she tried the Tiny Task approach. She was amazed at how the progress boosted her confidence and made her believe in herself again. The progress she made was surprisingly satisfying. And the fact that she wanted to continue verses quit was simply shocking!
You may think it’ll take longer and question if it’s worth it. But the reality is, YOU ARE MAKING PROGRESS instead of stopping in frustration and quitting. You are going to get to your desired result one step at a time.
Like many things in life, your space didn’t become cluttered overnight. It happened over time. Decluttering small projects can be extremely satisfying and increase your motivation to continue. You’ll be surprised at the times you want to do another tiny task instead of quitting.
4 Tips to Declutter Your Home
So, let’ walk through my 4 tips to declutter your home. Be sure to grab my FREE Tiny Tasks Starter Kit.
Decluttering Tip #1 – Start with the easiest and most important space in your home
The best place to start are the areas of your home that are high priority areas for you and the easiest to declutter. You want to leave the least important and most cluttered rooms for last.
Julie, a busy mom started with one shelf in her pantry. It’s a place her family uses every single day. No one could ever find what they were looking for. She was regularly called in to find the little one’s snack, or the pesky spice they needed for dinner.
This area was a top priority. And even though it was cluttered, it was at a manageable level.
Decluttering Tip #2 – Break down the areas of the room into 30 minute tasks
Once you decide on the room to start, identify the smaller projects within the room. Every room has zones within it. For example, the zones in the Kitchen include the
- refrigerator
- pantry
- cabinets etc.
Or zones in the bedroom include the closet, night stand, and chest of drawers.
The zones can be divided further into smaller sections. Take the refrigerator for example. Sections include the doors, shelves, and drawers.
Depending on the amount of stuff in the space, you can cover 1 or several sections with a single zone during a 30-minute period.
Decluttering Tip #3 – Make your easiest decisions first
As you think about the what you want to declutter. I encourage you to start with the things that are easier to make decisions about. Typically, pantry items, junk drawer, toiletries, even clothing can be easy places to start.
Anything that is sentimental and requires a lot of emotional energy is generally a more difficult decision and should be left for last. This includes things like memorabilia, heirlooms, photos, etc.
As you start to declutter, start with the no-brainer decisions first. Discard any trash, broken, or expired items first. Then identify the things you don’t like, no longer need, or have duplicates of. Lastly, make decisions on the remaining stuff in the space.
Decluttering Tip #4 – Commit to a minimum of 1 task per day
When you’re ready to tackle an area in your home, commit to at least one tiny task per day. As I mentioned earlier, you may enjoy the process so much that you want to continue. That often happens to me and others that have tried the tiny task approach.
By completing a minimum of one task, you are building your confidence that you can do this. You’re also strengthening your Decluttering muscle.
The Tiny Task Approach to Decluttering
The tiny task approach to doable decluttering has been very successful for me and others I know. It’s easy to love the flexibility that comes from being able to tackle one goal at a time. And not having to commit to a large, multi-step decluttering project that ends in frustration and overwhelm is so freeing!
Your decluttering goals are important, but they can be overwhelming. Rather than aiming at a perfectly decluttered space, aim for progress and see your home transformed one space at a time!
