5 Tips to Relax into Decluttering

How to stop freaking out about clutter and get in the flow to clear it.

How do we move past overwhelm and frustration about clutter to actually clearing it?

This is such a mystery for so many people that it's kept me and thousands of other organizers in business for MANY years!

Let me guess: you have clutter in your house that drives you nuts, and you ache to have it <POOF> disappear....

But when you think about actually clearing it yourself, you hit a wall.

Or worse, you feel terrible about yourself and/or your life and/or your decisions...

You spiral into anxiety and/or depression...

You feel a little (or a lot) guilty/bad...

You grab something to eat and/or drink...

You sit on the couch...

And you scroll, sometimes/often buying MORE things that add to the clutter...

(Or maybe you binge Netflix, or both)

If this is you, here's what I recommend doing:

1. Find and repeat a supportive mental mantra

2. Take in excellent fuel before during and after: pure water + protein

3. Create focused time with no distractions - timers help!

4. Choose a clear, doable project you can finish

5. Do a couple minutes of deep breathing

I also recommend reading my Top 10 Tips for Decluttering Success and joining my delicious, supportive, 100% non-judgmental Declutter Club

BUT FIRST...

Here's a breakdown of these steps:

1 - Find and repeat a supportive mental mantra

Rather than letting your mind distract you, find a helpful statement to focus on.

An unmanaged mind causes clutter and stays in it, a managed mind can move mountains of clutter - which my clients, Declutter Club members and I do all the time!

This is what Dori in Finding Nemo is doing when she says JUST KEEP SWIMMING over and over to help her remember what she's doing.

When your brain says unhelpful things about you and clutter, practice replacing them with replacing them. Here's what I mean...

Let's play a game of "What thoughts are more helpful for decluttering?"

Is it more helpful to think thoughts like these:

• I have so much to do!

• I'll never be done!

• I don't know what I'm doing!

• This is hard!

• I think I'm doing this wrong!

• I don't have time for this!

• How did I let this get so bad?!

• What a disaster I am!

Or thoughts like this:

• I'm figuring it out

• I can do this

• Just do one thing

• What would an organized person do

• It doesn't have to be perfect

• Progress over perfection

• Just keep going

• I've got this

• I can get help

The first are statements I hear my clients say often when they first come to me.

We work diligently to replace them until it's a habit to think thoughts like those from the second list.

Can it feel hard to wrangle your wild mind and hold onto one of these thoughts? YES!

Do others spin in their minds like you? YES! Almost all of us do!

Can it be overcome so you can actually get things done and feel good about your home? YES!

Like learning to walk or ride a bike or drive a car, learning to manage your thoughts takes practice, patience and time.

But the rewards you'll reap are 1000% worth it!

2 - Take in excellent fuel before, during and after: pure water + protein

Coffee may be a wonderdrug, but water is a superfuel!

My in-home clients and I were able to work 7+ hours A DAY together last week because we had proper fuel for our bodies.

(and I'm what one client called a "gentle whip" - you can be this for your Self!)

We had handy: figs, cashews, a LOT of pure water, a protein-rich healthy lunch, and an apple with almond butter.

~ One woman COMPLETED her paper decluttering and organizing (yes, it took more than just our one day together).

~ The other woman COMPLETED her book decluttering and organizing.

(And their systems are so gorgeous and complete they'll keep them up!)

3 - Focused time with no distractions - timers help!

It can take diligence, patience and practice, but WE CAN FOCUS!

Even if our brains are scattered, we have ADHD, and/or we're so overwhelmed we can't think straight...

It's 100% worth it to figure out our own brain - what tricks work best and when? (this is one of the major things I help with in private coaching)

Microwave or stove timers are fabulous - we can get a LOT done in focused chunks: 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 or 45 minutes.

Flow Sessions with the TidyWild Declutter Club are also fabulous!

In May 2025 they'll be 11:00-12:00 Mondays and Wednesdays. These are quiet shared work sessions for you to focus on a project. Some call them "POWER HOURS," I personally call them "get sh*t done times."

4 - Choose a clear, doable project you can finish

This means start VERY small and finish the job. You can always choose to do more when you're done! 

A home gets organized ONE SMALL SPACE OR CATEGORY AT A TIME.

(See my post Top 10 Tips for Decluttering Success for how I recommend doing this)

5 - Do a couple minutes of deep breathing

Deep breathing is a very simple way to calm our overworked nervous system.

Which in turn allows us to focus and think more clearly about this doable project we've chosen.

And it's super easy, can be done anywhere, and needs nothing but your lungs!

This causes a visible difference - I see it every day when I do this with my private virtual declutter coaching and in-home organizing clients.

Seriously, do this a couple-few times and you'll change your world:

• close your eyes if you can (this isn't necessary!)

• feel where your breath is going in and out of your body

• take deeeeep, looooong breaths into your chest and belly

• after you inhale, hold for a couple moments

• do a looooong exhale (*for extra relaxation, breathe out longer than you breathe in)

• hold for a couple more moments

You don't need an app or special pillows or meditation programs, just your lungs!

Decluttering and getting organized seem very hard, I know this. I did it myself and continue to do it in my own home - but it doesn't have to be hard.

There are ways to make it easier, smoother, more peaceful, less stressful, more thorough.

My passion is helping it be this way and I've spent 11+ years figuring out how to do so.

If you read through all this and think, "No way, Spring - I REALLY want to declutter and get organized, but this I need more than this," reach out to me or join my TidyWild Declutter Club (like today, now even - why postpone your life any longer?)

Decluttering CAN be peaceful and fun. It can be calming and long-lasting.

Just

Keep

Swimming!

XO,

Spring