There's no one-size-fits-all answer to how often you should declutter. It depends on your lifestyle, how much stuff you have, and how quickly clutter accumulates in your home. We don’t want decluttering to become a burden but we also don’t want the clutter to build up to the point of being too overwhelming.
Decluttering is not a one-off task. To maintain organisation, it should become part of your everyday routine. Every bit helps maintain your home, even if you sort through your space for a couple of minutes each day.
How frequently should you declutter your home?
We recommend establishing a daily decluttering routine and doing more in-depth decluttering a few times a year. While everyone’s home and lifestyle are different, here are some general guidelines you can follow to keep clutter under control.
Daily Decluttering
A small decluttering session every day can prevent clutter from building up. Focus on commonly used areas like your living room or kitchen, as this is where clutter tends to accumulate quickly. Designate 5-10 minutes of your daily routine to tackle these clutter hotspots. These short tidying sessions can be done while waiting for something - water boiling, bread toasting, coffee brewing etc. You’ll be surprised how much of a difference these five-minute tidying sessions make. They make the task of decluttering more doable and deeper tidying sessions more manageable.
Quarterly Decluttering
A deeper decluttering session every three months will keep your home organised without too much buildup in between. This is a good time to sort through seasonal items like clothing or holiday decorations. You could also use this time to focus on a specific part of your home such as the fridge, pantry, garage or storage rooms. Using a decluttering checklist can help break down which areas of the home need to be sorted. If you find that decluttering every three months isn't cutting it, try doing it every month. Keep this up until your entire home is clean and organised.
Yearly Decluttering
Once a year, plan a thorough declutter of your entire home. If you’ve already established a decluttering routine throughout the year, annual decluttering will be easy. This is less of a major decluttering session and more of a check-up to maintain order in the whole house. This is a good opportunity to get rid of anything you haven't used in the past year. These sessions will also help you ensure that the problem areas of your house remain organised.
Need help decluttering your home?
The process of decluttering is a lot easier when you make it part of your everyday routine. Breaking down the decluttering process into smaller, more frequent tasks will make it feel so much more manageable. Undergoing one big declutter before establishing a routine will make it a lot easier to maintain order in your home. If this initial home organisation seems overwhelming, enlist the help of Well Organised.
Our team of professional organisers can help you declutter and organise your entire home. Then we can develop a decluttering routine that suits your specific space and lifestyle. Get in touch today to find out more about our home decluttering services.