3 Life-Changing Ways to Declutter Your Home

To declutter your home successfully my best advice is….know thyself! Decluttering is like many other Hard Things; it takes planning, energy, focus and follow through to accomplish. If you’ve made the decision to transform where you live into a home that is welcoming, calming and easy to live in, you should first understand what kind of support you’ll need to finish the job. Decluttering your home can be tricky. Excavating decades of possessions from closets and drawers is daunting and somewhat messy. You will likely need some kind of support. Before you begin it’s helpful to reflect on your own strengths and limitations. Those will guide you to the appropriate resources you’ll need to realize your goal of a beautifully streamlined and livable home.

I’ve assembled 3 levels of support and who matches up with each level below. Read through and consider which one is the best match for you!

The Supported Self-Starter

If you are a self-starter and confident in your ability to let go of the things you don’t need, this is probably the best fit for you. There are a plethora of social media accounts to follow (like mine!). They offer tips, hacks and decluttering advice to help you along the way. Many offer checklists and guides that contain frameworks you can use to give some structure to your project, or help you to declutter your home in small increments. In all cases you can use the nuggets you glean from social media or a book to kickstart your journey and make smart choices as you go.

I have a great E-Book that can be a helpful resource for a self-starter. It provides a framework, with some exercises to ground you in the right mindset and advice for handling common roadblocks. It’s perfect if you want a professional’s lens with minimal investment.

The Accountability Partner

The next level of support includes the key ingredient of accountability. If you are someone who can work independently but needs support with accountability you may consider a Decluttering Coach. A coach can work virtually to help you meet milestones, stay on track, support you when you get stuck and guide you to completion.

Engaging with a coach involves some investment of time and money but it’s usually pretty flexible. It also costs much less than a Professional Organizer coming to your home. A coach can help you map out your project and create a timeline. She can help you develop the right mindset to ground yourself in when you declutter the more emotional areas in your home. 

The presence of appointments on your calendar will in itself lead to engagement and forward progress, whereas if you are trying to declutter in your free time you often deprioritize it.

I offer virtual coaching for decluttering in my business. It’s flexible, easy and worth the investment if you are someone who can do the work but has trouble following through.

If you want to declutter your home but struggle with any of the following you should probably hire a professional to help.

• The thought of decluttering is completely overwhelming to you
• You struggle with a lot of emotional attachments to things
• You are busy enough that you can’t invest your own time in decluttering
• You and your spouse have differing mindsets around stuff
• You don’t want to do the work yourself

Hiring a professional organizer can be expensive, but if you don’t have the time or inclination to do the work yourself it’s a worthy investment. The results are palpable and lasting. And usually the process is much faster than trying to accomplish it all yourself.

Making sure you find a professional who is the right fit for your project is important. Professional Organizers vary in their approach. If your main goal is to declutter your home then you may want to avoid organizing companies that are product-forward. They will come in and organize your clutter in lots of bins and baskets and make it look pretty, but decluttering isn’t really their deal. What you want is someone who focuses first on the decluttering, then the organizing. For lasting results the decluttering is crucial.

I do offer In Home Organizing, primarily serving the Seattle Metro area but I do travel as well. If I can be of help to you just click here.

Be Smart

Decluttering your home can be such a cathartic experience! Whether you do it yourself armed with tips and tricks or engage the services of a professional it will change your life. I’ve never met someone who regretted their decluttering experience, and for most it is transformative! Happy decluttering to you!