How To Declutter Your Home Without Completely Losing The Plot

I’ve always been a staunch believer in decluttering – on a conceptual level. Ideally, I’d have a single rail of clothes and a near-empty house (my dream home is austere and brutalist, like something Lydia Tár from Tár might own). In reality, though, I live in a relatively small southeast London flat with a wardrobe that might actually give way (from all the jeans ) and a partner who loves old books and secondhand electronics.

Together, we have created a home that is currently giving “jumble sale”. Decluttering doesn’t have to be a complete clusterf*ck though. The word itself might strike fear – decluttering – but once you get into the flow, it can actually be quite fun (or adjacent to).



There are also ways to tackle the situation without wanting to immediately give up. I personally like to allow myself 10 minutes of TikTok time every time I complete a task (I have to treat myself like a dog waiting for biscuits, or nothing will get done). Or, I’ll listen to a really gripping podcast if I’m doing something quiet, like sorting clothes or binning unwanted items.

Even so, it can be difficult to summon the energy. And it can also be hard to implement Marie Kondo’s Konmari method when everything sparks joy once you remember it exists (“Maybe I do need these little egg cups that I haven’t touched since 2019??”). With that in mind, here are some top tips for decluttering your home without losing the plot or, worse, feeling overwhelmed and then just.

.. doing something else.

Why declutter at all? There’s no point pulling the gloves up if you’re not sure why you’re decluttering. So, before you begin, it’s worth setting some intentions. Maybe you’d like to feel calmer within your immediate environment, in which case that can be your driving force throughout.

“Walking into a clean and orderly room can feel both invigorating and calming, whereas walking into a cluttered space can feel exhausting and overwhelming,” Marni Amsellem , PhD, a clinical psychologist at Smart Health Psychology, told British Vogue . On the flip-side, maybe it’s more about stepping into a new version of yourself, and your current clutter is holding you back. “Let’s say you have a new job, or you don’t fit into your clothes; maybe you had a baby, or your style has evolved,” virtual stylist Naina Singla told British Vogue with regards to spring cleaning your wardrobe specifically.

Either way, your motivations will drive your actions. Nobody wants to do something for an indeterminate reason. And every time you feel like giving up? Remind yourself of your initial reasoning.

Pick a decluttering method It’s all well and good putting a Sunday afternoon aside to declutter, but there needs to be method to the madness. Fortunately, there are plenty of podcasts , reality shows, YouTube videos and TikTok clips that make decluttering look not only easy, but actively soothing (type “organising” into TikTok and a whole ASMR-like universe will open up inside your phone). When it comes to actual methods, there’s obviously Marie Kondo’s Konmari method (which encourages tidying by category, and keeping only what “speaks to the heart.

” There’s also the 80/20 rule (which refers to keeping 20 per cent of the space clear). Or there’s my own personal favourite – a method I’ve taken to calling “ slow cleaning ” – which basically just means tidying up bit-by-bit until you’re done. Either way, do a bit of research beforehand and opt for whatever method makes the most sense to you.

It beats just tidying things away randomly. Decluttering tips There’s a simple secret to starting something that I wish I’d known my whole life, and that is this: just start . Once I start lobbing things into a donation bag, I usually find it quite hard to stop.

But it’s the picking up of the donation bag to begin with that can feel inexplicably insurmountable. Some of the most organised people I know swear by the “ one-minute rule ” when it comes to kicking off household tasks. “If the task will take less than 60 seconds to execute, it must be done immediately,” Violeta Valdés wrote for British Vogue .

“If you deal with them instantly, you barely notice them as a task.” When it comes to decluttering, that might just look like putting all your cutlery back in the draws, or – if you’ve got kids – throwing all the toys in the toy box. This is more of a practical tip than a psychological one, but decluttering is going to have no purpose if you don’t have the boxes, hangers or containers in which to sort things into.

This doesn’t mean dropping a few grand on an entirely new dresser or something. But, rather, making sure that everything has a place to be , and can be easily categorised (my life changed when I put my shoes into neatly stowed boxes, rather than just stacked by the door). In that sense, if you don’t want to throw stuff away, then at least that same stuff can be methodically stored somewhere.

You’ll thank yourself later. “The fact that the space is more open and has fewer stimuli brings calm and concentration,” psychologist Laura Palomares told British Vogue . “Letting go and getting rid of what we don’t need ends up being liberating and generates a feeling of control and mental order.

” I know, I know , we’re not toddlers, but...

I’ve found that treating myself like one does actually help. By that, I mean creating a task-reward system that essentially feels like blackmailing yourself. As mentioned, for me that looks like only being able to watch TikTok after I’ve completed a task (such as organising all the coats in the house) and only for 10 minutes (I know: dystopian).

Or telling myself that I can watch a Real Housewives episode after exactly 60 minutes of decluttering. I promise, it works! Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, co-hosts of The Minimalists podcast, created a “game” they’ve called the “ 30-day minimalist game ” which lasts – you guessed it – 30 days. On the first, you get rid of one thing, on the second you get rid of two, the third three things, and so on until you reach 30 days (and 30 items).

Sometimes all it takes to master decluttering is a bit of a buzzy rebrand. Is there anything you should not declutter? Yes, there is such a thing as throwing too much away, or getting too obsessive about it (I know this, because I’m guilty of both). If you use something regularly, then it’s probably not a brilliant idea to throw it in the bin just because it has a small scratch.

Ditto for anything sentimental (such as old photographs). Crucially, don’t stress yourself out if your house doesn’t look like an incredibly pristine Tetris simulation – especially if you have little kids, or work all the time, or indeed both. Remember: decluttering is supposed to make life easier, not harder, so do whatever feels right with the time you have.

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