Why This Organized Girl Is Bad at Decluttering

Is anyone else bad at decluttering? I absolutely suck at it, and it’s weird because I’m a super organized person. It’s just really hard for me, and all those organizational blogs and books make me feel worse because I feel like I’m failing. If you’re as bad at decluttering as I am, I’m here to share some tips on what I’m doing to get better at it.

Why I’m bad at decluttering

There are several reasons why I’m bad at decluttering, and it’s hard not to make them sound like excuses. First, I’m just not an organized person by nature. I’ve worked extremely hard in my adult life to battle my tendencies to live a disorganized life. Because I know that chaos hurts your marriage as well as other aspects of your life, I work very hard to minimize it.

Second, I’m lazy. There, I said it. This is Brianna confession time right here. I’m bad at decluttering because I just don’t want to do it. Well. that’s not entirely true. I want my house to be uncluttered. But I don’t want to put forth the effort to actually do it. Real life.

Finally, I live in a house with a husband, a baby, three dogs, and two cats. So it doesn’t take long for the clutter to get out of hand. Just when I think I’m done, somebody comes through like a tornado and messes everything up. So I subconsciously wonder what the point of decluttering even is if it’s only going to last five minutes.

Why I am trying to change

So now you know why I’m bad at decluttering. But I’m trying really hard to change for several important reasons.

1. For my baby

My husband is a lot like me in that clutter doesn’t really bother him too much. Of course, we both eventually reach a point where we look around and wonder what the heck happened, but for the most part, it’s not something that bothers him.

But now Little Man is mobile, and the reality is that clutter and babies-on-the-move don’t mix. My sweet child gets into everything, and I can’t keep him safe if my house is cluttered. So I’m working on not being quite so bad at decluttering for my baby.

2. For my health

Confession time number two: I am pretty sure I have some low-level hoarding tendencies. The Mayo Clinic defines a hoarding disorder as “a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them.” Before I get rid of something, I always have an inner battle because I wonder if I’m going to need it down the road. So in an effort to avoid an intervention at some point in my life, I am trying really hard to get better about managing my clutter.

Also, I feel a lot better when my house is clutter-free. It just feels so much more open and inviting, and I’m proud of it. I feel much better mentally, and my family is a lot happier, too.

3. For my social life

I don’t know about you, but I hate having people over when my house is cluttered. In fact, I often just don’t extend an invitation because of it. Don’t get me wrong, I love entertaining, but not when there is stuff everywhere. So I’m trying not to be so bad at decluttering so I can have my mom or friends just stop by without having a mini panic attack that my house is not company-ready.

How to not be so bad at decluttering

I’m not going to tell you that getting better at decluttering is easy. It’s freaking hard, especially if you have a lot of years of bad habits to change. But it’s not impossible, as I am finding out.

Take it slow

The biggest stumbling block on the road to battle clutter is the overwhelm and feeling of hopelessness you face when you look around at your cluttered space. Lots of people (including me sometimes) give up before they even start because it seems impossible.

So I’ve found that the key is to take it slow and start with small projects. Do you want to declutter your kitchen counter? Set a timer for thirty minutes and just see how much you can accomplish. When the thirty minutes are up, take a look around and see what all you did. Chances are, it’s a lot more than you thought!

Once you have your momentum, don’t stop! Work in thirty-minute increments until you complete the task. It’s surprising how much you accomplish in that amount of time.

Focus on one thing at a time

Ugh, guys, I’m so bad at this! Anyone else get decluttering ADD? I start with the best intentions, but then I get distracted! So many times, I’m on my way to put something away and I see something else that needs to be done, so I work on that. Then, on the way to put something away from the second project, I see something else that needs to be done, and then I never actually get any of the projects done! And I have a huge mess to boot.

If you’re bad at decluttering, chances are you struggle with distraction, too. To avoid all this drama, I trained myself to have tunnel vision when it comes to decluttering. Since I know I get distracted easily, I ignore everything else until I finish my primary goal. I know it’s hard, but you can do it!

Make piles

This sounds silly, but when you work on a cluttered area, make piles of things that go together. For example, we struggle so much with clutter on the coffee table. So when I work on it, I put all the stuff that goes in the bathroom in one pile: hair ties, bobby pins (because sometimes taking your hair down can’t wait for bedtime), etc. Then I put all the kitchen stuff together: coffee cups, twist ties (those things are everywhere!), etc. You get the point. Once you have your piles, it’s easy to put everything back where it goes (and you only have to make one trip to each room; unless you have giant piles!).

So there you go, mama! Even if you’re bad at decluttering, there’s hope for you (and me!). Try not to listen to all the noise about doing massive purges and yard sales just yet (you’ll get there), and just focus on one thing at a time until you make decluttering a habit. We’ve got this!

Are you bad at decluttering, too? What is the hardest part for you? Tell us about it in the comments!