10 Mistakes to Never Make When Decluttering

Decluttering is a liberating and transformative process that can breathe new life into our living spaces and minds. However, approaching decluttering without a clear strategy can lead to frustration, wasted time, and even more chaos. To ensure a successful and stress-free decluttering experience, it’s essential to avoid common mistakes. In this blog post, we’ll explore the 10 mistakes to never make when decluttering, guiding you towards a clutter-free and organized environment.

Welcome to my Year Long Thorough Declutter Series. We declutter 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Each day we do a daily task based on the room we are working on. Today, our task is to start decluttering your clutter in your guest room or kid’s room. If you prefer watching videos, check out my youtube channel here. Today, we’ll look at some tips to declutter video game systems.

The best way to develop a new habit is by slowly and daily application. We will begin a new daily declutter habit starting with the 2nd bathroom. In the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series, we will declutter 30 minutes a day, five days a week on weekdays. Sign up to receive daily encouragement and motivation.

Plus, you’ll learn your specific daily task to work toward completing the goal of a Year Long Thorough Declutter where you will declutter every space and learn how to start to purge your house. Are you ready to finally get organized? If so, will you join us? Leave a comment below to subscribe.

If you are new to the blog, welcome! I blog about cleaning, decluttering, and organizing. You can find my free printables to help you get organized in the drop down menu under the Printables category.

Currently we are working on decluttering the Guest Room or Kid’s Room. The daily task for today, Aug. 2, 2023, is to begin to declutter video game systems. Remember, we are focusing on just the guest room or kid’s room area, so don’t declutter your whole house. We will cover each room separately.

10 Mistakes to Never Make When Decluttering

Not Having a Plan:

Jumping into decluttering without a plan can be overwhelming and inefficient. Before you start, take the time to create a clear strategy. Decide which areas to tackle first, set achievable goals, and establish a timeline that fits your schedule. You can always follow my declutter series here.

Overlooking the Emotional Aspect:

Decluttering can bring up emotional attachments to items, making it difficult to let go. Recognize and acknowledge these feelings but avoid letting them hinder your progress. Focus on the practicality and usefulness of an item rather than the emotional attachment.

Decluttering Everything at Once:

Attempting to declutter your entire home in a single session can lead to burnout and unfinished tasks. Instead, break the process into smaller, manageable tasks. Tackle one room or category at a time, allowing yourself the time and space to make thoughtful decisions.

Not Being Ruthless:

One of the biggest mistakes in decluttering is hesitating to let go of items you no longer need or love. Be honest with yourself and ask if each item serves a purpose or brings joy. Be ruthless in your decisions to create a clutter-free environment.

Keeping “Someday” Items:

Holding onto items for that elusive “someday” project or use can lead to unnecessary clutter. If you haven’t used an item in over a year and have no immediate plans for it, consider parting ways with it.

Ignoring Storage Solutions:

Decluttering doesn’t mean you have to get rid of everything. Ignoring proper storage solutions can result in disorganization creeping back into your space. Invest in quality storage solutions that help keep your belongings organized and easily accessible.

Not Dealing with Digital Clutter:

In our digital age, clutter extends beyond physical items to our digital devices. Neglecting to declutter digital files, photos, and emails can slow down your devices and make it challenging to find what you need. Take time to organize and delete digital clutter regularly.

Rushing through Sentimental Items:

Sentimental items are often the most challenging to declutter. Avoid rushing through these items or making hasty decisions. Take the time to reminisce and choose a few meaningful items to keep, while letting go of the rest.

Hoarding Freebies and Gifts:

Just because something is free or given as a gift doesn’t mean you have to keep it forever. Be selective with what you accept and be willing to let go of items that don’t align with your needs or tastes.

Not Maintaining the Decluttered Space:

Decluttering is an ongoing process, and maintaining an organized space requires consistent effort. Avoid letting clutter accumulate again by making it a habit to tidy up regularly and put things back in their designated places.

Decluttering is a powerful way to reclaim control of your living space and life. By avoiding these common mistakes and adopting a thoughtful and intentional approach to decluttering, you can create a harmonious and organized environment that reflects your true priorities and brings peace and joy into your life. Remember that decluttering is a journey, so be patient with yourself and celebrate each step towards a clutter-free and organized lifestyle.

I personally have a bad habit of placing items that need to be donated in the laundry room behind the door. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Wrong. Delaying decisions means we still need to declutter.

Maybe you have a habit of delaying decisions, too. Let’s decide today where your decluttered items need to go. Do they need to be donated? Disposed of? Don’t delay that decision any longer. If they need to be donated, sort and put them in your vehicle. Then, make a note in your calendar to drop them off at your favorite charity.

As you are decluttering your items, I want you to try not to just move them to another room. You may be tempted to do that. However, resist the urge to keep everything. Decluttering means we actually part with these items. Otherwise, assign those items a permanent home where you can best utilize them.

Advanced Strategies & Expert Tips for Avoiding these Mistakes to Never Make When Decluttering

1.Only spend time on your specific daily task.

2.Do not get side-tracked or distracted.

3.Work within a time of day that you have the most energy and stamina. This is one of the most useful declutter motivation tips. Listen to your body and work at decluttering when you feel the most alert and energized.

4.Avoid thinking too long about whether to keep or discard an item. This is one specific way for How to Be Ruthless When Decluttering.

5.Avoid cleaning during your declutter. The goal is to purge the dead weight. Getting rid of the clutter is your priority. Cleaning can be accomplished later. Read on for more declutter motivation tips and my room specific deep clean checklist, though, as you will begin cleaning after your declutter.

Advanced Strategies for Decluttering & Expert Tips to Avoiding Mistakes to Never Make When Decluttering

Supplies Needed:

1. boxes -preferably ones you can donate (Avoid plastic storage bins because you may be tempted to just store the items and not part with them.)

2. sturdy trash bags

3. marker/pen to label boxes

Decluttering Tip: Avoid using storage bins to declutter. Storage bins tend to tell your brain to “store” the items for later. That is just delaying decisions. If you aren’t getting rid of items when you declutter, you are not truly decluttering. This is why I recommend a trash bag, also. A trash bag tells your brain to “trash” the item.

Obviously, recycle if you have that option. The boxes you use should be ones you are willing to part with, so I recommend sturdy cardboard boxes. As to donations, there are many charities that will come pick up your items for you at your home.

I use one in particular where you can book an appointment for pick-up online. This is so convenient, as it saves you the hassle of hauling stuff away yourself. Scheduling that pick-up also motivates you to declutter by a certain date.

Steps & Expert Tips for Avoiding those Mistakes to Never Make When Decluttering

1. Start by eliminating trash first- use a sturdy trash bag

2. Sort items by category if needed so you can see what you have

3.Get rid of items that don’t work or that work poorly, expired items, anything you don’t love, anything that you’ll never use again

4. Box up the donations and trash/recycle the rest

5.Select a charity to donate your items and schedule the pick-up if that is an option

How Do You Declutter Your Entire House (and get it deep clean?): Need to deep clean?

First, My How to Deep Clean Your Kitchen list can be found here.

Second, My How to Deep Clean Your Bathroom list can be found here.

Third, My How to Deep Clean Your Kids’ Rooms list can be found here.

Fourth, My How to Deep Clean Your Living Room list can be found here.

Fifth, My How to Deep Clean Your Bedroom list can be found here.

You can get your printable Daily Housekeeping Routine and Deep Cleaning Your House Schedule here. This 15 page printable kit is delivered digitally to your email for you to print and personalize. What Does a Deep Clean Include? It includes a daily schedule, calendar pages, and deep cleaning checklists for every room and area of your home. Check out the link above to see a sample page of what you’ll get in my printable set designed to help you create your personal Homemaking Checklist.

Also, you can get the complete digital printable copy of the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series Calendar and Checklists here. The printable digital download is delivered to your email. It includes 25 pages of printable calendar pages and checklists to help you declutter every room in your home. You can find that here.

New to deemiddleton.com and don’t know where to start? I recommend going in this order:

Step 1: Check out this post on the 1st step you should take to get organized. If you don’t have a calendar, you can grab my free weekly printable calendar page here. It is in my shopify store, but it is totally free, so you won’t be prompted to put in any payment information. It is a free download and will be delivered straight to your email.

Step 2: Create a daily Housekeeping Schedule. You can use this series to start to set up your own schedule. You can also use this simplified weekly schedule.If you often ask: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Or, if you struggle to get organized and have tried and failed time and again, you can likely find out which of these 11 reasons cause you to fail to get organized.

Step 3: How do you remove clutter? How Do You Declutter Your Home?.…Sign up for the Declutter Series and get your entire home decluttered in just 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.”Declutter Your Home” checklists are provided in each email.

Step 4: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Use a timer and use the Deep Cleaning Checklists above. They will help you get your home sparkling after you’ve decluttered.

Interested in becoming a full-time blogger like me? Check out my blogging series. At the top of every page on my blog, you’ll find a drop down menu. Just select the BLOGGING category.