How to Declutter Your Home in Just 2 Days!

Are you continuing to live in the clutter because bringing order is just too difficult? Overwhelming? No more! Our helpful guide on how to declutter your home really quickly—and easily—will return your home to the haven you want it to be.

Pull open a drawer or a cupboard door in most homes and you’re bound to have random items falling onto the floor. And let’s not get started on the toys and books scattered through the house. Or do you simply wish you can clear your garage of storage boxes so you have space for your car or a home gym?

Decluttering can solve challenges of all kinds for households, but you’re probably procrastinating because it seems like a mountainous task.

But is it really?

You’ll see with our tips on how to declutter your home swiftly AND efficiently, that you simply needed a proper system. You can declutter and bring order in just one weekend.

Get started and your home will feel like new by Monday.

Fool Proof Decluttering System—Guidelines

At the foundation of your successful plan on how to declutter your home, lies smart strategies. From efficient time management to smart storage options, as long as you keep to the rules you’ll have a lot of progress in minimal time and reach the goal you set for yourself.

Decide on Your Goal

First you need to clarify your goal. Are you finding out how to declutter your home to organize all your rooms, or will the focus be the kitchen or your linen cupboard? Also, you probably don’t just want to throw out clutter, but also organize the remaining items properly?

You need to know what your goal is, and communicate it clearly to others (see the next two tips below).

Gather a Team of Helpers

Depending on the size of your home and your goal, you probably can’t declutter an entire house on your own. Also, it shouldn’t be one person’s responsibility if multiple people share the space. Get your roommates or family members to commit to helping and make it clear that you need their assistance for an entire weekend.

The bonus of asking your household to help organize is that they’ll also help keep it that way down the line. To prevent another declutter process they won’t make it as messy very quickly.

Tip: if you live alone, ask friends or family to help and reward them with a nice dinner afterward.

What’s Your Plan for the Day?

Each day you set aside for decluttering requires a clear plan, or people will do random tasks instead of helping each other reach the goal faster. Synergy is a must.

Here’s an example to make it work:

• First decide the hours you’ll work.
• Then, schedule tasks and set goals for each day.
• Assign tasks to members of the decluttering team.

Enzo tip: a chore tracker app can help you keep order on the day, because all your helpers can see their responsibilities by referring to the app.

Use the 5-Category System

You need to explain your decluttering and organizing system to everyone and have a streamlined process. Usually, having large containers each labeled with one of the following makes it easy to sort through the loose items in a particular space:

• Keep
• Donate
• Sell
• Discard
• Relocate

Knowing you can make a little money from the items you let go of can motivate you not to keep the clutter. By having a place to store items that need to go to another room or building helps keep loose items out of the way while you work your way through the house.

Use a Timer

You’ve created a schedule for the day and probably made guesses about how long each task will take. Some will likely take a bit longer than planned and others may require less time, so as long as you stick to the schedule you shouldn’t work too far beyond your planned timeline of each day.

However, you’re likely to work faster if you’re racing against the clock. Use timers to count down the time you assigned to each task. Knowing there’s a limited amount of time often boosts productivity and prevents people from dawdling.

Strict Rules to Speed Up Decision Making

A major hurdle in decluttering is keeping items because you believe you still need them or it has sentimental value and you feel bad for letting go of something like a family heirloom. But holding onto too many items for these reasons is usually what got you into this cluttered predicament in the first place.

To avoid keeping clutter, set strict rules in place and keep to it no matter what. For example, non-seasonal items you haven’t used in 6 months should go the to ‘Sell’ or ‘Discard’ container. Also, try out the KonMari Method and ask yourself honestly if it sparks joy in you when looking at it. If it doesn’t, let it go.

Important tip: give yourself limited time to consider each item, or you’ll overthink it and start debating. Take a few seconds on each item only so you don’t slow down—and ruin—the process.

80/20 Rule: Mostly Keep Essentials

Here’s another guideline to help you decide what to keep and what to let go of.

A well-known rule, the Pareto Principle, states that about 80% of the outcomes—even in your home—are the result of only 20% of causes. In a household, this translates into using only 20% of your home’s content 80% of the time.

So, there’s A LOT you can give away and you probably won’t even miss it!

Remind yourself of this fact when it feels difficult to throw something out. You WON’T wish you’ve kept it.

Use Storage to Stay Organized

Throughout implementing the tips above, you need space to start organizing the items you’re keeping. Having a large container with ‘Keep’ or ‘Relocate’ is the start, but those items need to go somewhere and you should plan this system before you start decluttering.

For example:

• For decluttering untidy kitchens, invest in new, labeled containers for different items in your pantry.
• Cluttered bathrooms may benefit from new storage cabinets or baskets for towels and soaps.
• Your chaotic laundry room will have a better workflow with dedicated baskets for white and colored laundry.

Do the Easy Work First

Being all set for a day or two’s hard work still won’t make some people optimistic about the hours ahead. Get everyone into the groove by first doing the easy work.

Some examples:

• Leave the cluttered bookcase for last, because it will take a lot of emotional energy to decide which ones to donate.
• Do the small entrance hall first, so you have a quick win to motivate everyone.
• If you usually keep your linen cupboard organized, but not the pantry, quickly do the linens before moving on to more difficult projects.

Measure to Stay Motivated

Why did past decluttering projects fail? Was it because you got tired halfway through?

Keep yourself motivated by gaining a realistic view of the progress you’ve made. Using these guidelines, you will have some success even after just half a day. Stop for a moment, look at what you’ve accomplished. Creating a positive moment will help keep the spirits up—and you can imagine what it will look like when that success is visible throughout the house.

Helpful Decluttering Tips for Families

Having a team is great, but kids can either help or hinder a cleaning project, right?

There are ways to ensure a more productive day when you include kids—of any age—in your plans. When sharing the day’s chore chart and organizing system, also cover the following:

• Explain the importance of the task and that it will result in a healthier, more enjoyable home for everyone.
• Give them some freedom of choice, such as which items to sell or donate.
• Share with them about the value of donating to others and the difference it can make to someone who has less than they do.
• Motivate them by telling them they can keep the money they make from selling toys or other belongings.
• Turn the tasks into games, such as having a competition about who finishes first.
• Do promise rewards, such as a movie night to thank them for their hard work.

Last Tip: What’s the Reward?

So, we mentioned a reward for the kids above, but what about you?

By the second day, when you’re getting tired, you may need something to keep you motivated. So, before you plan how to declutter your home and assign tasks, also decide what your prize will be for going through with it.

A new piece of furniture or décor for a room? After all, you’ve made space—now you can fill it with items you’ll really need and use!

Add this reward to your chore tracking app, so it will remind you to reward yourself and you can have the satisfaction of also ticking that off the to do list!