One of the difficult things about decluttering is the fact that it often causes an explosion of stuff. Once you start pulling things out and emptying cupboards, when piles are moved for sorting, the volume of stuff this produces can feel inordinate. Items that were once hidden away or packed tightly into spaces, can spill out all over. This ‘clutter explosion’ is often a reason why clients put off doing it- it can feel like chaos!
Although it’s true that decluttering can make an overwhelming mess, making it difficult to tackle in just one session, there are some things you can do to stop it taking over and completely derailing your efforts. Here are a few of them:
Reduce movement
In other words, don’t pull absolutely everything out at once. Work one small area at a time and try to keep items confined to one space. Things might be pulled out or moved up or down a surface or shelf, but most sorting can take place in a fairly small area. I often work in extremely cluttered rooms, with very little free space to begin with, so I’ve had to become very adept at using this method! Although all items may need to be removed at some point, they do not need to be spread out across the room all at once, and, for the most part, can stay off of the floor.
So even in a crowded wardrobe for example, categories can be kept ‘chunked’ together by moving them up down and around without actually taking them out. It doesn’t address the need to give the surfaces a good clean, but the trade-off is that stuff doesn’t explode all over the open areas or need to be taken out and put back again in great volume.
Containerise and prioritise
It’s always a good idea to have containers on hand so that you have something to sort items into. This means everything is kept nicely corralled, instead of spreading out all over. It’s also a good idea to have a container for items that, for the moment, are a lower priority. So as you start pulling clutter out of a cupboard, you may notice items that need sorting through in greater detail, but will not be returned (paperwork is a good example of this). Rather than continue to let this pile up around you -transfer to a container instead. Once the main organising is complete, go back and sort. If you’ve run out out of steam, put a lid on and move it somewhere to be dealt with later. Remember that not every decision needs to be made in one session.
Think small
This may sound like common sense, but it can be very tempting to declutter an entire room all at once. But focusing on smaller sections at a time will minimise the mess and feelings of overwhelm. To declutter the kitchen, for example, concentrate on food items in cupboards before working through other items that are stored there. It may mean that cupboards are decluttered in several stages, but at least it will feel manageable. This is also true for cabinets and cupboards throughout the home. Start with one category and go through the decluttering process, focusing on that category alone. Once several categories have been sorted and organised, it will start to feel much more manageable.
Time to reset
An important to-do at the end of each session is to allow enough time to tidy and reset. If you leave the space disorganised and difficult to navigate, it may well deter you from future decluttering. Even if it’s something you need to come back to later, it makes sense to tidy up so that you can easily use the space in the meantime and also have a clean slate to return to. Remember to clear away the rubbish and recycling, corral donations, storing them in an unobtrusive place (remember to schedule time to donate).
When I work in peoples homes , I always allow half an hour to put the space back together again. Clients will often say that this is the part that they forget to do – probably because by this time they have had enough! So remember to allow time for this when you are working out your schedule.