Why Should I Declutter?
Less Cleaning: You don't need to spend much time cleaning your house in the future.
Bigger Home: There will be fewer things lying around your home, and your home will feel bigger.
Less Stress: The less you see, the less your brain needs to process. You will feel less stressed and happier.
More Freedom: You will have more time and space to do what you love.
Consistency is Key
Decluttering is an ongoing process. Building a habit of decluttering will prevent clutter from forming in the future. Start small by decluttering and maintaining a particular room, then build up to other rooms around the house.
It won't be easy, but be consistent. It takes 66 days to build a new habit. After that, you will notice a big difference in your life.
All Surface, Move, Repeat Method (A.S.M.R)
All Surface
Identify: Write down or take a mental note of everything on visible flat surfaces. Start from the top down, from the countertops to the floors.
Move
This part is all about making the clutter "disappear." The less you see, the less cluttered your home will feel.
Categorize: Split these items into three categories, daily use, occasional use, and garbage. This is the hardest step, but be honest with yourself.
Dispose: Throw out all garbage (e.g. expired, broken, depleted items).
Store: Move "occasional use" items into nearby covered storage. Covered storage (cabinets, drawers, dressers, etc.) hides clutter. If your storage is full, clear out some things in the storage to make way for your more important items. If you cannot clear out any items, you will need to get more storage furniture.
Designated Area: Group similar "daily use" items together, then put each group in a designated area. Make sure to place the items in each group close together to look clean and organized. The end goal is to have different "clusters" (not clutter) of items on the surface so that it's not scattered everywhere.
Repeat
Maintain Habit: Keep a good habit of putting things away from visible surfaces and putting "daily use" items back in their designated area. Spending the extra seconds each time will save you hours of decluttering work down the road.
Today is always the best day to start!