The Difference Between Decluttering, Organizing and Tidying

How they're different and why each deserve a different type of focus.

What's the difference between decluttering, organizing and tidying?

Before I became a declutter coach and professional organizer, I considered them pretty much the same thing. Now, 11+ years later, I see them as COMPLETELY different - and these differences are acutely important.

Not knowing the difference can waste years of our lives!

Even if you think you know the differences, check out the distinctions below to see if they match your ideas. I'd love to know your thoughts!

Here's why these definitions are important:

1. Knowing the difference saves time and energy

2. Going in the right order creates lasting results

3. Cleaning and maintaining are FAR easier

4. We'll have more time and energy for what we REALLY want to be doing!

I like Cambridge Dictionary's definitions:

Declutter: to remove things you do not need from a place, in order to make it more pleasant and more useful;

Organize: to do or arrange things, plans, ideas, etc., according to a particular system so that they can be used or understood easily;

Tidy: to make a place or a collection of things tidy.

EXAMPLES OF TIDYING, DECLUTTERING & ORGANIZING

A Cluttered Desk:

Decluttering is going through all the things on the desk and deciding what to keep, toss, recycle, donate and take elsewhere (see my Top 10 Decluttering Tips)

Organizing is making a home for the things I decide to keep in, on and around the desk - such as a container for pens, a coaster for cups, a spot for stacked papers, a file drawer with clearly labeled folders in alphabetical order.

Tidying is picking up AFTER it's been decluttered and organized, such as what's piled up over the last week or two and putting it all away - such as dirty dishes, pens, stacking papers nicely...

This desk and room above were easy to regularly tidy and clean after they were decluttered, then organized:

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A Linen Closet:

Decluttering is going through all the things in the closet and deciding what to keep, toss, recycle, donate and take elsewhere (for my recommendations on how to do this, see my Top 10 Tips for Decluttering Success)

Organizing is making a home for the things I decide to keep in the closet in a way that's easy to put them away and easy to find so I can and will maintain it (see more about this below).

Tidying is picking up AFTER it's been decluttered and organized, such as if categories get mixed up, things fall down, or it's otherwise feeling messy.

TIDYING CAN MEAN RE-ORGANIZING & DOING DEEPER DECLUTTERING.

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We FIRST declutter areas full of things that need to be sorted and gone through.

We organize AFTER decluttering - this is when we decide where things we're keeping will live (we give them a home).

A cluttered space or room is where many people get hung up because it seems so overwhelming: a stuffed closet, a packed pantry, a room we can't walk into because of all the "stuff."

"ACK! There's too much STUFF!" your brain says.

But there isn't. It CAN be done. YOU CAN BE DECLUTTERED AND ORGANIZED!

I'm living proof, as are my hundreds of happy clients.

If you want help becoming the decluttered, organized person you dream of, join the TidyWild Declutter Club - we're dedicated to finding true, lasting freedom from clutter and living our best lives!