Decluttering can feel like a never-ending battle, and it is not uncommon for me to end up in a slump where even the traditional advice of ‘just start small’ can’t break me out of it. Luckily, Reddit holds all the oddball, creative hacks that actually work.
From turning the Kon-Mari method on its head and pitting space against things, Redditors have shared a whole host of clever ways to make tidying up a lot less painful.
So, I spent hours combing through some of the best r/Decluttering threads and rounded up seven of my favorite decluttering methods to beat a slump so you don’t have to.
7 unusual Reddit streamlining hacks people swear by
The r/Decluttering thread on Reddit is, by far, one of my favorite places to get motivated for the job. Full of real-world advice and experience, it is the perfect place to overcome a roadblock.
1. Get angry
The task can be a good, safe way to vent excess energy.
(Image credit: SEN Creative / Lauren Andersen / Lauren Evans Interiors)
I have tried rage cleaning before, but I have never turned this excess energy towards decluttering a house.
Usually, experts suggest being in a positive mindset before starting to clear clutter, but u/EnyoViolet shared, ‘Just today I started sorting through a drawer and couldn’t decide what to keep and what not. Then, due to external reasons, I got angry, and suddenly I was much more willing to get rid of things. I emptied half of the drawer. It felt good. And it’s not the first time it’s been an effective way to cut clutter.’
This is a fantastic way to be more ruthless when decluttering, while giving your anger a safe outlet. Just be careful to avoid precious categories when rage decluttering, opting for safer areas such as your kitchen or garage over your closet and sentimental clutter to avoid declutter regret once you have calmed down.
2. The Anti-Marie Kondo method
You don’t have to be thankful for everything you’ve ever owned.
(Image credit: James Merrell / Future)
There are several lessons you can learn from Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, available at Amazon, however it is not for everyone. Personally, I have always struggled with gratitude practices, and thanking items has always felt a bit, well, silly.
As it turns out, I am not the only one. One user says, ‘I’m the anti-Marie Kondo, instead of thanking things as I toss them, I’m telling them why they suck and need to get out of my house.
‘Being ridiculous and loudly telling off clothes for being uncomfortable/ unflattering/ not my style actually made it way easier to not talk myself out of for some reason keeping stuff I don’t, and won’t, wear. It’s also kind of fun if you get silly enough with it.’
Desperately trying to ditch your maybe pile? This could be the perfect trick for you.
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
What to know more about where the Kon-Mari method all started? This bestselling book packs so much information into a mere 200 pages, in a readable and digestible format that’s accessible to all readers of all ages.
3. Bag everything up
Bagging up items makes them easier to remove from your home.
(Image credit: Future / SOHO MANAGEMENT LONDON LTD (JAMES MERRELL))
There are plenty of ways to declutter when you feel overwhelmed or without making a mess. However, they usually require you to start and finish streamlining an area or category all in one go.
The three-box method, for instance, leaves you with three piles of items that you then have to deal with there and then to avoid piling mess.
To get around this, u/StephenKingly shared, ‘My trick is collecting everything into big bags in category groups before trying to put anything away. Sometimes my floor space/counter space gets very cluttered, and I find it so overwhelming and don’t know where to start.
‘So the first thing I do is get some big plastic bags [such as heavy-duty trash bags, from Walmart] and put everything into a different bag for different categories. This clears the clutter so I can at least get some breathing space.’
The beauty of this method is that you can stop here. With the bags tied off, they can be put to one side in a cabinet or garage for another day, and dealt with one at a time in isolation.
The user continues, ‘Then I go through each bag, decide what to throw out/keep, and start putting things away. When the idea of tidying and organizing gets too much, I’ve realised I can, at least, find the energy to put everything into a bag and clear some space.’
4. Keep your shoes on
Staying in outdoor clothes can help you resist the urge to lounge instead.
If you have everything to hack your brain to make chores easier, why not hack your body instead?
u/Lets_ponder shared, ‘This might seem strange, but keep your shoes on. For me, if I take my shoes off, I start feeling like relaxing instead of being in the mindset that there is work to do. It keeps me from stopping halfway through.’
If you live in a shoe-free household, consider buying some hard-soled indoor house shoes, such as these felted slippers from Target, to replicate the feeling. Only wear them for household chores to avoid associating them with lounging.
This trick works especially well when paired with body-doubling, they add. ‘Also, listening to a podcast or audiobook helps me too!’
5. Force use items
This method can be a fantastic catalyst for creativity, especially when using up food.
(Image credit: The Cotswold Company)
While the expiry method requires you to box up items and get rid of them only if you do not use them, u/ameandapanda suggests forcing yourself to use the items instead.
They explain, ‘If I can’t bring myself to declutter something for whatever reason, I force myself to wear it/ use it/ eat it within a short window of time. Very frequently, I remember that the shirt is beautiful, but it rides up, the lotion doesn’t absorb as fast as I like, etc. There’s a reason it never made the rotation.’
This is a fantastic approach that can work all over the home, from decluttering books to working through a kitchen decluttering checklist, making it a fantastic, versatile approach to add to any chore arsenal.
Keep a lidded basket with handles, from Target, somewhere easy to access to toss hated items into for quick decluttering. Simply lift it to your car when it’s full and take it to the nearest donation center. Lining it with a small trash bag, also from Target, makes it easier to empty out.
6. Space vs. Thing
Focus on the space in your home, over the value of an item.
(Image credit: Susie Atkinson)
Often we focus on what an item does (or does not do) and make decisions based on this alone. However, as u/CJMeow86 bluntly advises, it can be helpful to consider the space the item is using, too.
They urge you to frame deciding what to declutter as: ‘I can have this thing or I can have this space. If the space feels better than the thing, the thing goes.’
It really works, too. One commenter shared, ‘We are clearing our house for selling. It is amazing to walk down the hallway with no bookcase, no box or photos, or shoes. Just clear and open. It’s a tremendous feeling.’
7. Get a pet
Don’t get a pet on a whim.
(Image credit: Brent Darby Photography / Future)
This is not a decluttering tip we suggest lightly; however, one user who is no longer active on Reddit suggested, ‘Get a kitten! Kittens force you to declutter and store items out of reach.’
We don’t recommend getting a pet just to motivate yourself to clean as a serial procrastinator, as pets of any kind are a serious life commitment; however, if you are considering getting a furry friend (or already have one and want to improve their quality of life), a less cluttered home can be a great added bonus.
Don’t fancy the commitment? I found that less stuff on floors is also an unexpected benefit of owning a robot vacuum cleaner.
This is Head of Solved, Punteha van Terheyden’s top eufy Robot Vacuum, the Omni S1 Pro. She rated it five stars and has found it to be a game-changer for cleaning up after her pets. It’s worth the price tag in her honest opinion, and it performs brilliantly on carpets, rugs and hard floors. The mopping is also superior to the X10.
Great on hard floors
This model is brilliant for hard floors and cheaper, even off sale, than its S1 sister. It’s great for homes with pets, especially if you have lots of hard floors. The brushroll isn’t rubber like the S1, and can get hair tangled up in its bristles. However, you can fix that by switching to an all-rubber one for around $20. It mops and self-dries too, and comes in much cheaper, especially when it’s on offer like it is currently.
eufy Robot Vacuum 3-in-1 E20
The cordless vacuum stick and head included in the bundle is surprisingly powerful with excellent run time, and three suction levels. It also has other useful vacuum attachments that are perfect for homes with pets. It doesn’t have a mopping function, but the other multi-functionality is superb, with a tidy base unit and easy 1-touch transformation from robot, to cordless, to handheld.
Not all advice on Reddit is certified gold, however. We picked out some of the worst cleaning tips on Reddit to give you some examples of how to sort fact from fiction.
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