How to Start Decluttering When Feeling Overwhelmed

You look around the room and see clothes everywhere, papers piled high on your desk, and random items dividing your counter space. The buildup over the years can become so overwhelming that we’re unsure of where to start first. The monumental and anxiety-inducing resistance we feel against taking action on decluttering makes that first little step seem like the biggest mountain to us. We can think clearly and stress less when a space is free of clutter. Decluttering creates a more well-ordered and soothing environment.

If you’re feeling buried under all your stuff and have no idea where to begin, this is the guide for you. If you organize your decluttering efforts into those doable steps, even the most daunting tasks can actually become pretty simple. From your overstuffed closet and your crowded kitchen to a full house in need of some serious decluttering, you can take control one small step at a time with the home organizing challenge.

Why Does Clutter Overwhelm Us?

Why is clutter overwhelming to begin with? Let’s explore this first. Not only does clutter take up physical space, but it also occupies mental space. Mentally, a mess leads to the experience of turmoil and a lack of ability to concentrate or relax. More stuff puts a strain on your cognition, and this adds to our feeling of stress and anxiety—when your brain is receiving too much information, it has to work harder to process everything around you. And when you pile on our emotional connections to things, decluttering can quickly become a super emotional process.

The Benefits of Decluttering

When you feel like that, just remember all those positive aspects of decluttering. Some of these include:

• Improved mental clarity and focus: A clean, organized space helps you work more effectively in it.
• Less stress and anxiety: Clutter is associated with feeling overwhelmed.
• Greater physical space: You will have eliminated things you do not need, leaving more room for living and breathing.
• Greater productivity: A clean space = your space will mean that you can work more effectively in less time.
• Feel a greater sense of accomplishment: each thing you get rid of does feel like something you have crossed off your list.

Feeling Overwhelmed? Here’s How to Start Decluttering in Simple Steps

Since we’ve covered the reasons for why decluttering is important, let’s move on to how you can start when it all seems too daunting.

1. Start Small—Really Small

Start With a Small Space

If you are feeling cluttered or overwhelmed in your home, start small. Start with a small, easily controllable space. This might be a single drawer, a shelf, or just one corner of the room. The goal is to create an attainable goal, which you can win with a short timeline, and then start building from there.

If a single drawer in your kitchen is falling apart/overwhelmed by the mess, begin by addressing that drawer. If you have a pile of clothes in the bedroom, tackle one closet shelf. I think once you see that space cleared, it will motivate you to keep going.

Set a timer.

One strategy is to start a timer for even just 10 or 15 minutes. You will feel like the weight has been lifted off of you because it is not like you have to invest a day in cleaning. When the timer sounds, take stock of how you are feeling. Fantastic, you are prepared to go! If not, you are still further ahead.

2. Types: The Sorting Hat

When you have a system, decluttering is a lot easier. The 4 Box Method is by far the most efficient way to create categories for everything you own:

• Keep: Keep things you need, use, or that actually bring you joy.
• Give away: Sell items in good condition that you no longer use but that could benefit someone else.
• Trash: Items that are so broken or damaged that they would be of no value to anyone.
• Unsure: If you are unsure, put it in this box and check again later. Include a note to recheck this box in the next month for final decisions.

Tips: Begin with items you do not have strong emotions about! Think paper clutter, such as old magazines or expired products. Put sentimental items to one side (you can decide about those later when you have a bit more confidence in the overall process).

3. Visualize Your End Goal

For those in the depths of their decluttering, it can easily feel monolithic. That is why it is important to try and see the end goal clearly. Ask yourself:

• What do I envision my space to look like?
• How do I want to feel when I am in this space?
• What are things I want to be able to do in this space that I currently cannot because of the clutter?

Seeing the result helps you understand how and why you started on the journey in the first place. You can also create a vision board or save pictures to your phone of decluttered spaces where everything has a home.

4. Tidy by Category, Not By Room

A big mistake people make is attempting to declutter an entire room all at one time. This is called decluttering by category, an approach that was made famous by organizing consultant Marie Kondo.

These are the most common categories to tackle:

• Clothes: Go through your clothes; simply decide what to keep and what to toss.
• Books: Sort and purge, organizing with categories that make sense to you—such as books you actually love or still want to read.
• Paper: Toss old bills, junk mail, and papers you do not need.
• Items: Sort your bits and pieces of kitchen tools, scissors, office supplies, or hobby goods.
• Sentimental Items: This is going to be the last thing you go through. These are typically the most difficult to declutter, so avoid beginning with them and rather start when you are more relaxed about tossing things.

Step through categories, which makes it easy to see every item you have and enables sorting out duplicates or redundant items.

5. Create a Decluttering Routine

Decluttering is not an event; it is a way of life. If you want not to get overburden in the future, be on a proper schedule and stick with it. Here’s how you can do that:

• Daytime 5-Minute Declutter: Remove an area of your own home every day for five minutes Even if it just means clearing off your kitchen counter or organizing the mail pile, these little things can go a long way.
• A Single Point in, One Point Out Rule: Every time you begin a new item, then remove one.
• Monthly Simplicity: Pick a day out of the month to walk around and simply snatch up items you no longer need.

By regularly decluttering, you can stop clutter before it starts and maintain an organized home.

6. Enlist help when necessary.

When you are feeling completely stressed, then it is never a shame to ask for guidance. Whether it is a family member, friend, or professional organizer, having help can make the process a whole lot easier. They can bring a new view of things, hold you on track, and even advise you some things if they think some item does not fit, so it is misleading.

7. Practice self-compassion.

Parting with things that hold sentimental value can be an emotional process. Through this process, be kind to yourself. You can take some time for yourself and feel possessed by a few things. You need not accomplish everything in one day, a week, or even a month. Any progress is better than no progress.

8. Celebrate Your Successes

Every single step during the decluttering process is a win. Notice each success, no matter how silly it sounds. Did you clear out one drawer? That’s a win! Have you dropped off a bundle of used clothes? Fantastic! Reminding yourself of these little milestones will encourage you to push forward.

Decluttering FAQs

Q: What if I feel emotionally attached to everything?

Feeling attached to your shit emotionally is perfectly normal. The process begins with easy to discard non-sentimental things such as outdated food or paperwork. Then, as you become more comfortable doing that, like I said, you will eventually be able to start getting rid of the emotional ties.

Q: How do I decide what to keep and what to toss?

Apply the joy or utility test. Determine whether you really feel happier or consistently wear the item. If it is no, you should probably quit.

Q: Should I sell my items or just donate them?

If it is a valuable enough item to bother selling, and if you have the time or desire to list something, definitely do so here. If you want to make it short and sweet, then giving money is so much more convenient.

Q: What should I do with items I’m unsure about?

Designate a “not decided” box for those items. Stash out of sight for a couple of weeks. After this period of time, if you don’t miss your stuff, then odds are you can part ways with them.

Q: How can I keep clutter from coming back?

The one in, one out rule or having a monthly decluttering session helps. Re-evaluate your belongings often to help keep the clutter out of your home.

Conclusion

Getting rid of things can be quite daunting, but when I broke it down into manageable parts and projects, it became doable. Start small, organize the things in categories, and maintain it regularly so you do not repeat it again. Be good to yourself and celebrate your milestones. It takes time and effort, but with patience, you can get your own piece of sanctuary back in top form, where sanity is restored.