How To Start Decluttering When You Feel Overwhelmed

Are you so overwhelmed that you don’t even know how to start decluttering? First, let me just say that I know first-hand how emotional decluttering can be. How many weeks (or months) have you walked around and felt “closed in” or overwhelmed by all the extra stuff in your home? You know you have extra stuff that you need to get rid of, but the actual thought of decluttering is overwhelming, too. I feel you! But I also know how important your home environment is to your over-all well-being. So, I can’t let you stay stuck in this rut. So, I’m breaking exactly what to do to start decluttering and how you can get rid of clutter and still be stress-free. But before we get started, the one that that will totally transform your decluttering is to actually get it done. And what better way than to join my free – yes FREE Take Back My Space Decluttering Challenge– so you can start kicking clutter to the curb, now. Now, let’s get started.

Where To Start Decluttering When You Feel Overwhelmed

I believe it’s important to acknowledge your emotions when decluttering. Let me just lay it all out on the table. I tend to feel guilty getting rid of stuff. For each item I throw away or get ready to donate, I’m silently admitting that I waisted money. Or had bad taste. Or wasn’t grateful for the gift I received. I have to frequently remind myself that keeping things around my house that I don’t actually use isn’t helping anyone. It’s actually hurting me. And my stuff could be helping others. I’m sharing this story to help you change your decluttering mindset.

How To Declutter Stress-Free

Understand why decluttering is important – why do you want to declutter, anyway? Are your piles of stuff weighing you down? I once heard someone say that they feel lighter once they get rid of all the “extra” in their life. I know I start to feel better about my home. I feel good being in my home and feel good about my home once everything is in order. So, understanding why you’re getting rid of the clutter will help you set goals and be a good reminder when you start to feel overwhelmed by getting rid of items in your home.

Set a plan – set a date, time and system that you’ll follow to get things done. As part of my free decluttering challenge, I actually lay out a specific plan of which room you should focus on for each day. Then I break down which areas of each room you should tackle first. But can I let you in on a little secret? To tell you the truth, there’s really no right or wrong when it comes to what you should handle first. But deciding on a plan and following it is the key that makes all the difference. Working haphazardly without a plan is what leads to stress.

Have goals – having a goal goes back to knowing why you want to get rid of clutter. I mean, you’ve decided to declutter for a reason. So, is your goal to have a clear family room so you don’t have to step over toys whenever you want to sit on the coach? Would you like to be able to open your kitchen drawer without it getting stuck because it’s crammed full of utensils? Knowing your big goal for decluttering your home, and your goal for each room, will let you know where you should focus most of your time and energy.

Take things one step at a time – not overwhelming yourself beings with, breaking things down into manageable tasks. It’s easy to say that you want to declutter and then just jump into things. But like we already discussed, having a plan will help things go a lot smoother. But as part of this plan, you’ll still need to take things one step at a time. Focus on one area in one room during your declutter time. And don’t worry about anything else. Then, move onto to the next space. And feel free to work within the time limits that you have.

Pre-plan your elimination strategy – before you even get started, it’s helpful to know what you will do with the things you get rid of. Yes, understand that you will end up finding things that will go into one of several categories. You’ll either donate, give, sell, relocate, trash, store, or repurpose or fix the items you find. After you decide where each extra item will go, it’ll be good if you have a labeled bag or box handy to keep each category separate. Then have a plan and donation tracking sheet to help you keep tabs on what goes where. The tracking sheet is especially helpful for tax purposes when you donate items.

Give yourself grace – let me just break it down for you. Even with all the planning in the world, you won’t be able to accomplish as much as you hope in the time you’ve given yourself. At least I typically can’t. Like most things in life, working on any project tends to take longer than you think it will. So, with that said, give yourself a break and don’t be hard on yourself when you don’t get as much accomplished as you had hoped. And don’t give yourself a hard time when you don’t get anything done for the day. Something I tell people that participate in my challenge is that they should congratulate themselves even with the small accomplishments. Which leads me to….

Congratulate “small” accomplishments – every little bit of progress is still progress! Each new day is another opportunity to get more done. So, going along with giving yourself grace, take the time to celebrate each step towards having a less cluttered home. And then make a plan to do more the next day.

Where To Start Decluttering When You Feel Overwhelmed

We just went over how you can start decluttering when you feel overwhelmed by the whole thing. Then I shared my tips on what you can do so you can have a stress-free decluttering process. If you haven’t already signed up, my step by step decluttering challenge prevents decluttering overwhelm. And it’s FREE! Simply click the link to join the Take Back My Space Decluttering Challenge and get started today.

And please, take a few minutes and leave a comment below and let me know how these tips have helped you.