7 Tips To Declutter When You’re Too Busy

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How do you find the time to declutter when you’re too busy?

Let’s face it, busyness isn’t going away anytime soon. There is a lot to do all of the time.

And, it’s easy to continue to push decluttering to the bottom of your to-do list.

Why?

It’s not exactly fun.

And, spending your spare time sorting through piles and deciding what stays and what goes, sounds overwhelming.  

It’s tempting to continue putting it off.

Here’s what I’ve learned, though.  Instead of finding time to declutter, you’ve got to MAKE the time for it.

Or, it’s NOT going to get done. Period.

So, let’s flip the switch. How do you MAKE the time to declutter when it seems like you don’t have the time?

Here are 7 tips to declutter when you’re too busy.

1. Lightning-Round

I’m sure that any game show fans know what happens in a lightning round.   It’s the chance to get as many points as possible, in a single round. Rapid-fire is the name of the game.

How about taking a lightning-round approach to decluttering?

Can you identify 20 things right now that you can declutter?

The key is to select items that you are not emotionally attached to, and don’t have any use for.  These are much easier to declutter than items that have sentimental value. 

So, go through your home with a couple of garbage bags – one for trash and one for donations and purge 20 items.

This will be different for everyone.  You know the old saying, one person’s treasure is another person’s trash. 

Here are a few examples:

• Old makeup
• Pens
• Highlighters
• Last year’s wall calendar
• Tupperware
• Flip flops
• Old cell phone
• Old magazines
• Mugs
• Old batteries
• Travel mugs
• Wire hangers
• Fridge magnets
• Takeout menus
• Old bike helmets
• Plastic cutlery
• Junk mail
• Old cell phone cases
• Used gift cards
• Clothes that no longer fit

Essentially, the whole idea of the lightning-round approach is to declutter your 20 items in a short space of time.  

2. Less Screen Time

Okay, time to get real about how you’re spending your time.

If you’re scrolling through social media for countless hours (the time adds up), could that time be better spent doing something else such as decluttering your junk drawer?

Now, don’t get me wrong, I know it’s enjoyable looking at Pinterest, connecting on Facebook and Instagram, etc.  And, social media outlets are helpful especially given the current times.

Also, I’m sure we can attest to the fact that time can go by so quickly when scrolling.

If you were to reduce your social media time and spend that time decluttering, how much further ahead would you be in reaching your goal?

If social media’s not your vice, perhaps it’s the television.  It’s easy to binge-watch your shows – a nice bit of escapism to wind down certainly doesn’t hurt. However, according to CSUN, the average American spends approximately 28 hours per week watching television.

If you were to cut that time in half, you would have 14 hours per week to get some decluttering done.

3. Schedule The Time

If you don’t schedule your appointments in your calendar, you’ll miss them.

There are so many things competing for your attention. So many priorities. It’s a challenge to fit things in and meet your deliverables. And, somehow you make it work.

This isn’t that much different. How important is a decluttered living space?

To declutter when you’re too busy, you need to schedule the time in your calendar to get this done.

Small chunks of time will do it.

Primary in the Declutter Starter Guide is to start small and schedule the time to get it done.

Slow and steady wins the race.

Take control of your schedule and make this important appointment with yourself.

4. Combine It With Something Else

This requires you to declutter on-the-spot.

How’s that for efficiency?

So,  while doing laundry, if you come across clothing that needs to be repaired or no longer fits, decide whether it goes in the trash or donation pile.

It’s helpful to have a donation basket in your laundry room to make this easier.

Once your basket is full, load it in the car for drop-off.

Similarly, when you’re putting away dishes in the kitchen you might see an old kiddie plate in the back of the cupboard. The kids have long since outgrown their kiddie dishes, so, time to get rid of this stuff.

5. Get Creative

Designate a “decluttering weekend” and involve your crew.  The crew could be your family or friends.

Pick a weekend and make an event out of it. Cook or order takeout, wear your favorite sweats and baseball hat, and go to work! Carve out a certain amount of time on the weekend to get this done.

Now, here’s the thing with involving others. They don’t know what items hold sentimental value for you, so, frequent check-in and discussion will help keep things moving.

And, with more hands around it can make moving heavy things around, like boxes of books easier.

Another creative idea is to schedule the time to get rid of all the expired items in your home.

Start with the bathroom and purge your old makeup, nail polish, insect repellant.  If you need some information about what items expire, take a look at 15 items you didn’t know had a shelf life.

6. Start Earlier Or Go To Bed Later

Take advantage of the quiet time in your home.

If the quietest time is first thing in the morning, plan to get up 15 minutes earlier.  And, if nighttime is pretty quiet, plan to go to bed 15 minutes later.

The quietest time is a good time to make some headway with your decluttering.

Keep in mind, this is not about compromising on your sleep.  You’ve still got to get the right amount of sleep.

So, if you’re getting up early, go to bed 15 minutes earlier and apply the same rule if you opt for going to bed 15 minutes later.

Plan some decluttering tasks that you can complete within that time frame.  In addition, take a look at your list of tasks and determine if you might need to get any supplies. This way, when it’s decluttering time you can jump right in and not waste your valuable time.

Take a look at the Declutter Starter Guide and write down your list.

You can definitely get something accomplished in 15 minutes.

7. Build A Habit

This one ties the previous 6 tips together. 

In the book, Atomic Habits, the author outlines the process of forming habits entails establishing small, easier to accomplish habits and then building on those.  He calculates that if you were to make a 1% improvement each day, you would be 37 times better by the end of the year.

If you can accomplish one thing and do that regularly, you can then use that as a stepping-stone to further improvements.  And, over time, you will notice significant progress in what you can achieve.

For example, perhaps you decide that before you mop the kitchen floor, you will take a few minutes and get rid of some unused utensils from one of the kitchen drawers. 

The next time you mop, you declutter another drawer.  And, so on until all the drawers are done.  Next, you move on to another small section of the kitchen.   And do this until the entire kitchen is decluttered. 

What you’ve now done is established a routine of decluttering before mopping the kitchen, without taking up time.

Essentially, forming habits will make whatever strategy you use, more effective.

Recap

Just to recap, here are the 7 tips to declutter when you’re too busy:

1. Lightning-round approach
2. Less screen time
3. Schedule the time for decluttering
4. Combine decluttering with something else
5. Get creative
6. Wake up earlier or go to bed later
7. Build a habit

It is possible to MAKE time to declutter.

While these tips don’t require monumental changes, when practiced over time, they add up and make a significant difference.