7 Decluttering Mistakes and How to Fix Them

7 Decluttering Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Decluttering rocks!

It’s more than just getting rid of old stuff and having an organized home (although those are huge perks).

Having a decluttered living space has been shown to improve your mental health and brings so much joy to your life.

Even departing with just a few items can improve your mood instantly.

Unfortunately, there are some common pitfalls of decluttering that can derail your efforts.

Let’s talk seven decluttering mistakes and how to fix them.

7 Decluttering Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Not Having A Plan

I like to say say the things we want are all just wishful thoughts until we establish a plan to seek them.

If you’re serious about decluttering, you have to create a plan of attack first. Otherwise, you’ll never get started.

As an example, a frequently cluttered part of my house is the bookcase in my home office. It tends to be the “dumping” place for random stuff my husband and I haven’t found a place for yet.

Every few months, we’ll go through and declutter what’s there (usually books we just finished reading or old mail), but it never fails-we will end up dumping more stuff there as it is acquired. And I can’t tell you how many times a day I’m at my desk working, and look to my left at the current pile, with the intention to declutter asap.

But until I actually schedule out the task to declutter the bookshelf, it never gets done. This is an example of what happens when you don’t make a plan.

Block out time in your calendar for decluttering only, and be specific about the task-which room will you be working in? Which components of the room-a dresser drawer, a bookshelf, a storage closet? What is your goal to accomplish in that block of time?

It could be to go through your sock drawer and throw out old or holey socks, and then neatly fold and replace all the ones you’re keeping.

Or, it could be a bigger project-maybe your basement storage room is a cluttered mess and you’re going to spend one hour the next four Saturdays working through each tote or box.

Whatever it is-you need to have a plan.

Before blocking out time, brainstorm every room or area that needs decluttered in your house, write down exactly what needs to be done, and then fill out your schedule based on this information.

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Not Starting with the Most Bothersome Room in the House

It’s always easier to start with the least cluttered room. Our brains like easy, and starting with the room with the least amount of work is easy on our brain.

Starting with the room that bothers us the most is harder on the brain, so yours is likely to resist starting there. But unfortunately for your brain, this is the most efficient way to declutter.

The good news for your brain is that once you get started decluttering the worst room in your house, you will experience some immediate wins with all the stuff you’re getting rid of, since there’s bound to be a lot of it.

These wins are satisfying to your brain and motivate you to keep going.

Starting with the least-cluttered room in your house may bring you a few wins, but you won’t receive nearly the reward of decluttering the messiest room in your house. And the more wins you encounter, the more motivated you’ll be to continue.

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Decluttering Someone Else’s Belongings

Depending on who the “someone else” is, this can cause major conflict-especially with a significant other.

Unless you’re decluttering a small child’s room, it’s best to let the owner of the belongings go through their own things.

If you come across another housemate’s things, set them aside and ask the person if they’d take the time to declutter their belongings. Otherwise, leave them be.

It’s possible your significant other or older children may observe you decluttering and get the motivation to do some decluttering of their own (I promise this works on my husband ?).

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Declutter Your Way to Success

Not Taking Immediate Action on Items You’re Departing with

A common practice with decluttering is to separate items you’re parting with in three piles: throw away, donate, and sell.

This is a great practice to follow, but you need to take immediate action in getting the items out of your house.

It’s easy to bag up and throw away items you’re disposing of, but many times people bag up the items they are donating and leave them in their trunk for months before dropping them off.

If you have items you’re donating, bag them up, put them in your trunk, and immediately schedule a time in the coming week when you’ll drop the items off for donation.

When it comes to items you intend to sell, you’ll also want to take action within the next seven days. If you’re selling old clothing on Poshmark or collectibles on eBay, schedule time to get your items listed within that seven-day period.

Otherwise, you end up with re-organized clutter!

If you have items you wish to sell in a garage sale, do the research to find out when your neighborhood is having their next garage sale, make the necessary arrangements to participate in it, and follow through.

I have kept items with the intention of putting them in a garage sale and missed the deadline every time. If this happens to you, evaluate if it’s worth waiting another year, and consider donating the items.

Getting the stuff out of your house (and your hair) may be much more valuable to you in the long run than the money you’d make from selling your items.

On that note, if you do try to sell your items using Poshmark, eBay, or another online platform, consider what’s worth your time and effort.

Researching online selling platforms for the kinds of items you wish to sell is helpful before taking the time to list them. If you research and discover an item you want to sell doesn’t go for much money, you may be better off donating it instead.

As an example, I recently parted with a bunch of old CDs. I could have tried to sell them on eBay, but your run-of-the-mill CD usually doesn’t sell for more than a few dollars, if that. I decided the hassle of listing the CDs and shipping them to buyers was not worth the little bit of money I would have potentially made.

Time is money, so do your research and consider what’s worth taking up space in your home as you try to sell the items in your sell pile.

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Trying to Declutter Everything at Once

You may be tempted to go all-in with decluttering and block out a weekend to declutter your whole house. Unfortunately, this may backfire on you.

Overdoing it with decluttering can cause frustration, burnout, and turn you off from making it a habit.

Decluttering isn’t a one-time thing. Successful decluttering becomes a lifestyle.

Start with a small block of time and go section by section, room by room.

Even 15-30 minutes a day is enough to make gains.

A great way to declutter without overdoing it is to do a 30-day decluttering challenge.

On day one, remove one thing. Day two, two things. Keep going until you reach the 30^th day, where you’re removing 30 items.

This is a great challenge, especially if you have a busy schedule and the thought of decluttering overwhelms you.

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Holding on to (too Many) Sentimental Items

When it comes to sentimental items, pick and choose your battles.

You may want to declutter sentimental items last, since they’re going to be the most mentally taxing to sort through.

Decluttering the items you don’t have an emotional attachment to first will build your momentum to tackle the items that are more meaningful to you.

Now, when it comes to deciding what stays and what goes, ultimately that’s up to you. Some sentimental items are going to be worth keeping. I know for me personally, the items of my grandparents that I inherited are deeply invaluable to me, and I’d never part with them. To me, they are a non-negotiables.

On that note, as I have made decluttering a habit, I’ve noticed my feelings toward some items shift. Items I once deemed non-negotiables now don’t hold the importance they once did. Some of these items are expensive clothes I don’t wear anymore that just sit in my closet.

One of the joys you’ll discover with decluttering old items is you’ll realize how much you’ve evolved when you realize items you once thought were important are really just “things” that don’t truly fulfill you.

On that note, when determining what stays and what goes, here are some questions to help you decide:

Is this item useful?
Does it spark joy?
Is it just taking up space?
Who gave you the item (if applicable), and what is your relationship with that person now?
Is it practical to keep the item?

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Acquiring New Items You Don’t Need

Decluttering is a lifestyle and a habit you develop. The last thing you want to do after effectively decluttering your home is absent-mindedly bringing new items in to disturb the peace you worked so hard to create.

Successful decluttering helps bring awareness to what is truly important and what isn’t when it comes to owning “stuff.” This should help inform your purchasing decisions going forward and the items you choose to bring into your home.

In the above section I mentioned how expensive clothes I once deemed worth keeping-even though I hadn’t worn them in years-suddenly seemed like nuisances taking up space in my closet.

When I was younger and single, I used to buy clothes because I could, not because I needed them. Now, I vey seldom buy clothes, and when I do, it’s usually because I need a specific article of clothing. (I’m not against shopping, but if you’ve seen my closets, well…you know I have plenty of clothes).

My point is, buying more of what you just spent time getting rid of will accumulate in clutter all over again.

Evaluate your reasoning for wanting to buy specific items. Do you truly need the item? Is it useful and practical? Does it spark joy and serve your purpose?

Not only will these questions help you avoid cluttering your home all over again with new items, but you’ll save money as well when you talk yourself out of buying stuff you don’t need!

It’s a win-win.

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