How to Start Decluttering When Overwhelmed!

If you’re like most moms, your home is probably cluttered and chaotic. It can be really overwhelming trying to keep up with the never-ending mess, and it’s easy to feel like you’ll never get ahead. But there is hope! Here are some tips on how to start decluttering when overwhelmed.

f you’re feeling overwhelmed by the seemingly insurmountable task of decluttering your home, don’t despair, it’s easier than you think to start decluttering, once you have a plan of action!

Decluttering can seem like an intimidating project, but with some strategic planning and a declutter plan In place, decluttering your home can be done, without you feeling overwhelmed.

In this blog post we’ll walk you through all the steps to get started so that you too can experience the satisfaction of having a clutter free home, without feeling overwhelmed.

From setting realistic goals to finding creative storage solutions and reevaluating your purchasing habits, we cover it all! So let’s get started on decluttering your home and transforming your space into an organized oasis.

If that sounds good, keep reading.

*This post contains affiliate links. Full disclosure here.

How Do I Stop From Being Overwhelmed With Decluttering?

As a busy mom, if you’re feeling overwhelmed when it comes to decluttering. That is normal!

We tend to think of decluttering our homes as an enormous task that needs to be completed from top-to-bottom in one go; this doesn’t have to be the case! This is where the overwhelm comes from!

Honestly, if someone told me I had to declutter my home in one day, you’d find me curled up in a corner sucking my thumb!

It’s not possible to declutter your home in one day! You would become massively overwhelmed and shut down!

Do you often find yourself feeling overwhelmed by all the clutter in your home and feel like you can’t keep up? We’ve all been there!

Between work, family, friends, and errands—it can be hard to dedicate enough time to decluttering and getting organized.

But why should having a tidy home have to be such an overwhelming task anyway?

In this post, we’ll discuss 13 simple yet effective decluttering tips on how you can start small and gradually tackle the decluttering process in your home, so you don’t have to feel overwhelmed when it comes to organizing your stuff!

Note the word ‘gradually’, again, we’re not doing this all at once!

You’ve got this Mama!

About Me & How I Can Help

Before we get started, I wanted to tell you a little about me and why I can help you to start decluttering your home. Approximately 8 years ago, my husband and I decided to downsize our 3200 sq ft home and move into a 38′ RV!!!! We lived in our RV for 5 years until the kids got tired of homeschooling and wanted to go back to school! We moved into our current home about 3 years ago, it’s about 2200 sq ft.

I learned many things during our 5 years on the road, so when we moved back into a house, I knew I didn’t want to “stuff my new home” with too much stuff.

Living in a tiny home, you very quickly realize you don’t need 4 spatulas, when one does just fine. I didn’t need 8 pairs of jeans when I only really wear 3. My kids don’t need 5 pairs of shoes, one pair at a time works too!

I am going to help you live with less stuff! Doing this helps you to appreciate what you have!

Are you ready to get started decluttering your home?

How Do You Create a Personalized Decluttering Plan?

A personalized decluttering plan can help you create a tidy and organized space in no time. With the right decluttering plan, you’ll know exactly what steps to take in order to simplify your life and the feeling of overwhelm will go away.

The key is to create a plan that works for you, one tailored to accommodate both your lifestyle, as well as any specific challenges or limitations that need addressing when it comes to decluttering.

In this blog post, we’ll break down how creating a unique decluttering strategy can kickstart the process of reducing chaos and bringing structure into your living space.

When it’s time to declutter, we basically have too much stuff in our home! Keep reading for my best decluttering tips.

What To Declutter?

When it comes to decluttering, there are 3 main areas we are looking at:

Clothing items
Household appliances
Kids Toys and Books

#1 Just Start

The best thing you can do when you’re feeling overwhelmed is to actually make a start decluttering. The more you think about it, the less you will actually do it, and the more overwhelming it all seems.

Are you like me? I tend to build things up in my head, to the point where I get myself completely frazzled and overwhelmed, and make something big, seem ten times bigger!

I think decluttering is like that, but we are going to break the process down into tiny little steps that you can easily do!

I totally understand that right now you don’t know where to start, and the whole process seems very overwhelming!

I am going to walk you through decluttering your home one step at a time.

You are NOT doing this on your own.

You’ve got this!

I know the very thought of decluttering has you feeling completely overwhelmed, but with my decluttering tips, you can do this!

#2 Start With Baby Steps

Don’t try to declutter your whole house in one day. That’s just too much and will only leave you feeling overwhelmed to the point where you will give up.

Instead, pick small spaces to focus on. Maybe it’s the closet in your room or your child’s toy room.

Just start with one small area and work your way up.

This can be as simple as getting trash bags and walking through your house picking up things that you know you don’t want to keep.

The important part here is you taking your first step. Nothing will happen until you take the first step, and start decluttering.

Getting rid of things in your home will have a huge impact on your home. It will look like a clutter free home, and you will feel more at home in a house where things are in order.

#3 Set a Goal for Your Decluttering Journey

Before you start decluttering, you feel overwhelmed and unprepared to take on such a huge task. That’s why it’s important to set a goal.

What do you hope to accomplish? Do you want to declutter your entire house, or just a specific room?

Do you want to get rid of everything you don’t use, or just donate items you no longer need? Do you feel like you have too much stuff and you want to get rid of some things?

Once you have a goal in mind, it will be easier to stay motivated and on track.

Now that you have identified the areas that need work, break them down into manageable chunks or tasks. This will help make the entire process less daunting and more enjoyable, and you will NOT feel overwhelmed.

#4 Assign a Day or Specific Time That Works For You

I want you to decide what day or time of day suits you to start decluttering. Don’t pick a day when all the kids are home and you have no help. Pick a day when the kids are in day care, or school, or your partner is home to help out with the kids.

Choose a day that makes sense for you, this is a time consuming chore, so trying to fit it in between laundry or making dinner is a bad idea!

Maybe you want to set aside a Saturday morning, because your husband is home and he can manage the kids, while you take on this task. Or maybe a Wednesday afternoon works well, because your mom takes the kids for a few hours.

If you can get your family members involved, go for it. Even the kids can help with little tasks (finding socks with holes in them, or torn books).

Of would you prefer to set aside some time each day. If it’s better for you to dedicate 15-30 minutes each day to decluttering – do that!

It’s important to figure out a day that works for you before you start decluttering!

#5 Make It Fun

Try turning decluttering into a fun activity for yourself, or involve other members of the household in on it as well! Get creative with it—put on some music and dance around while organizing your space!

Or maybe you prefer listening to a podcast. Or create little challenges with yourself or others (e.g., how quickly can I finish this task?).

I do this with my son every Saturday. I put on a timer of 90 minutes, and we race each other to finish our chore first! Something that used to take him several hours (he’s a procrastinator), now takes him less than 90 minutes!

Do whatever works best for you. Making it fun will help keep you motivated and focused on completing the task at hand.

#6 Set a Timer

If you attempt to start decluttering and decide you’re going to get it done in a day, you are going to become overwhelmed very quickly, and your decluttering may not even happen!

Set a timer for 15, 20, 30 minutes! Doing this will stop you from feeling overwhelmed.

Start your timer and tell yourself that when the time ends, you are done no matter what!

Focus on one specific area, and once you’ve decluttered that area, move on to the next room.

It’s essential when you start decluttering to stick to the timer, otherwise you will start feeling overwhelmed FAST!

Having a timer lets you know there is an end to the madness, and then you can walk away!

#7 It’s Time to Make a Plan!

Make a plan before you start decluttering. Once you know what your goal is, it’s time to make a plan. This doesn’t have to be complicated; a simple list will do. Making a list for yourself is really helpful.

Start by making a list of all the areas in your house that need decluttering. Then, for each area, make a list of what needs to be done. For example, if you’re decluttering your kitchen, your list might look something like this:

empty all the cabinets and drawers
sort through all the dishes and cookware
get rid of any expired food
donate any non-perishable food that you don’t eat
organize all the Tupperware
throw out unwanted items from the junk drawer.
sell kitchen appliances you no longer use.
downsize your kitchen utensils

Once you’ve chosen the area you want to focus on, make a plan of attack. What do you want to keep and what do you want to get rid of?

I know before we moved into an RV, I had too much stuff! My kitchen drawers were full of things I used rarely, if ever! I had several kitchen appliances that all basically did the same thing!

So now, I want you to make four piles: keep, donate, trash, and sell. This will help you focus on what you need to do and make the decluttering process easier and much less overwhelming.

#8 Start Small So You Don’t Overwhelm!

Start with small areas, as opposed to a large space. Don’t try to tackle everything at once or you’ll quickly start feeling overwhelmed. Instead, focus on just one thing at a time and give yourself permission to not only take your time but also reward yourself for the small wins – when all this is done, you get to enjoy a nice long bath.

Start with a small area, such as a drawer, one shelf or closet. Once you’ve decluttered that space, move on to the next one.

Don’t take on your entire closet in one day, that will completely overwhelm you!

Ask yourself these questions

Do I use the item in my daily life?
When is the last time I actually used this item?
Is this item benefiting my life?
Do I need this item?

I used to keep so many things in my house in case I needed them, so naturally my house would be cluttered with wires, plugs and so many items I just didn’t need.

So I want you to try the 3 second rule! Give yourself 3 seconds to decide if you need or don’t need the item!

Woman sitting in living room floor organizing clothes into boxes

#9 Look Around at Your Clutter Free Space

Once your timer has gone off, I want you to look around the space in your home and see all the progress you have made. It’s important that you praise yourself – even on the first day!

The progress you see today will give you the motivation to keep going. You also need to realize that no-one else may notice any less clutter in your home, but they will.

Just don’t give up!

Congratulations you have made a start decluttering your home.

#10 Create a Safe Place For You

No matter what anyone tells you, decluttering your home will NOT happen in a day!

You may only have 15 minutes each day to begin decluttering your home.

That’s okay, it really is.

The decluttering process may take you several weeks. Once you start decluttering, your house is going to be a bit of a mess. It is essential that you have a sanctuary where you can retreat and relax.

This is vital for both your physical and mental well-being.

So let’s say it’s your bedroom. So, your goal for the end of this day is for you to be able to walk into your bedroom, close the door to the declutter and have somewhere to relax.

But how do I know where to start?

When you start decluttering somewhere like your bedroom, you cannot tackle the whole room in one go!

Pick one day for your closet (or maybe 2!), another day for your drawers, another day for your bedside table.

The closet has a door, shut it so you can’t see the mess. The drawers are the same, what you can’t see, won’t overwhelm you!

If there is a pile of clothes in the middle of the floor, get them into the washing machine!

Now you can easily declutter your bedside table in 15 minutes, so I would probably start there!

So by breaking the clutter in this room into small steps, you are not feeling overwhelmed and completely frozen!!

Instead, you can easily tackle this room over the course of a few days

#11 Follow This One Habit (This Made a Huge Difference)

Before we moved into our tiny home, I would have piles of mail sitting in different places, ‘flyers” that I might need at some point in my life. I rarely did! I didn’t just have one drawer full of junk, I had several.

This is what I do now and it has completely changed my life!

Anything you can sign up to go paperless – DO IT!

Bank statements, 401K statements, receipts, you get the idea!

Now when I go to the mailbox, I immediately decide what I am going to do with the mail. I keep this hanging organizer on the back of a door where I keep restaurant to-go menus, and school information for the kids.

If it’s a coupon for a hair cut and I know one of the kids needs a hair cut, it goes on the fridge!

If it’s a bill, I put it on my computer so I can pay it that day.

If it’s a flyer for a service, I decide then and there if I will use it in the next month, otherwise it gets thrown in the trash!

I no longer have a junk drawer! If I don’t have such a thing, nothing can be stored in it! I absolutely love not having a junk drawer, and have not missed it one bit!

Doing this one thing has kept many unwanted items OUT OF MY HOUSE!

#12 Declutter Big Things First

Look around your house and if you notice the table in the kids toy room is broken or they have outgrown it, move it to the garage for garbage day. If you have larger items that you don’t need anymore, put a post-it-note on it that says ‘garage sale’, assuming you can sell it. If it’s too far gone, just throw it out.

Getting rid of large stuff will immediately give you more space in your home, and this will help to motivate you to keep going!

This is physical work, so you may need some help with this. Make one pile of larger items that you need help getting rid of.

But don’t grab the husband as soon as he comes in the door and ask for help, give him a little bit of time to unwind.

#13 Make Decluttering Part of Your Cleaning Routine

Once you’ve finished decluttering your home, make sure that it sticks! Develop habits such as taking five minutes each day to put away items after use. It may sound small but those five minutes can add up over time!

Additionally, get rid of things that are not useful to you, or things that don’t make you happy anymore. If something isn’t working for you anymore, let it go!

I bet your house looks better without all that extra stuff in it, We all have too much stuff in our house! We all need to let go of some things and make our lives simpler!

Also remember that getting organized doesn’t have to be expensive, try using items you already have instead of buying new ones (e.g., mason jars for storage).

Having said that, I would recommend that you do invest in things that will help you to organize your home better. One of the best things I bought when we moved into our house from the RV, was a stackable can organizer for my pantry. It keeps all my cans organized in my pantry and I absolutely love it, it took care of a huge problem for me. I was afraid the wire shelves were going to bend with the weight of the cans, but now they are on the floor, where I can easily get to them, and they keep things tidy!

I also purchased these baskets for snacks for the kids, they hang right on the door, giving me much needed extra space in the pantry.

Overall, take time to appreciate all that you have accomplished instead of dwelling on what still needs doing—you’ve come a long way!

Decluttering your home takes time and motivation, but at least you can see the finish line. Now, give yourself a pat on the back and take a break – you’ve earned it.