Speed Decluttering – For When You’re In a Time-Crunch

When I decluttered my entire house last year, it took me eight weeks and over 100 hours.

So when a friend texted before and after photos of her home that she’d decluttered in three days (including catching up on laundry!), I was beyond shocked. Not because she’s messy (she isn’t) but because in my opinion, three days to declutter an entire home is fast.

And when another friend texted to tell me about all the stuff she’d decluttered in just two days, I was amazed again.

One of those friends works full-time outside the home and the other homeschools her five kids. I think what they accomplished is pretty impressive.

Want to know how they did it?

Here are some tips:

(Submitted in part by Crystal Hogsten)

• Work fast
• Don’t over-think your belongings – if you’re not using it now, just get rid of it.
• If you start to get stuck, cheat.
• Throw out mostly-used bottles of lotions, shampoos, etc.
• Don’t immediately put everything away – it’ll slow you down too much. Just dump items in the room they belong in and put them away once you start cleaning that room.
• Stick to the task at hand – this isn’t the time to deep clean or do home improvement projects. Just organize, throw stuff out, and move on.

Inspired by the awesomeness of my friends, this week I’m challenging myself to declutter my entire house in just three days.

Here’s my speed declutter schedule:

Monday: The living room, kitchen, bathroom, and my bedroom closet.

Wednesday: The rest of my bedroom, my kids’ bedroom, the schoolroom, and our holiday storage closet.

Thursday: The basement.

I figure that even if I don’t meet my goal of decluttering my entire house in three days, I will still make a huge dent in the project. Every little bit helps!

What about you? What are your decluttering goals this week?