Welcome to my 10X decluttering toolbox! Within this single blog post is every trick, secret, and strategy I used to declutter my home. These are the tools I wish someone had handed me when I started decluttering ten years ago.

You’ll discover the best decluttering ideas from a dozen books and over a hundred articles. My goal is to provide you with a toolset that’s 10X better than anything ever published. It’s a high bar, and you’ll be the judge if I reached it.

But before we get started, I need to do something a little unorthodox—disclaimers!

  1. Your situation is unique. Not every tool applies to you. Use good judgment.
  2. Maybe you don’t want to declutter. That’s OK! This advice won’t make you do something you don’t want to do.

OK, enough disclaimers. Let’s get on with the show.

Decluttering Categories

What are specific strategies I can use to declutter?

  1. The container strategy
  2. Zone your home
  3. Utility vs aspirational identity
  4. Handling Yearbooks
  5. Handling ‘What if I need this later?’
  6. “Discard by Feb. 2022” box
  7. Does this spark joy?
  8. Exceptions to “Does this spark joy?”
  9. How to declutter clothes

How do I deal with people and gifts?

  1. Stop storing stuff for people
  2. Clutter-free Mother’s Day gifts

How do I stop accumulating clutter?

  1. How to be deliberate with your buying
  2. The container strategy
  3. Will you soon forget about this purchase?
  4. Don’t start projects you’ll never finish
  5. Change your environment, change your consumption
  6. Avoid all ads
  7. Create a long term goal
  8. Happiness levels stay consistent
  9. Craving completeness
  10. Limit pleasurable things so they don’t lose their novelty
  11. We’re trained to be dissatisfied with what we have (and how to fix this)
  12. Beware of consumption spirals

How do I stay motivated?

  1. Limit screentime
  2. 5-minute time box

How do I adopt the right mindset?

  1. Imagine your ideal home
  2. Less space → less stuff
  3. Utility vs aspirational identity
  4. Thought experiments to adopt a decluttering mindset
  5. Cost per sqft

Decluttering Toolbox

Here are my decluttering tools in no particular order. Eventually, I’ll turn these tools into a book.

Tools

  1. Imagine your ideal home
  2. Less space → less stuff
  3. The container strategy
  4. Stop storing stuff for people
  5. Utility vs aspirational identity
  6. Cost per sqft
  7. Limit screentime
  8. 5-minute time box
  9. Handling Yearbooks
  10. Handling ‘What if I need this later?’
  11. “Discard by Jan. 2022” box
  12. Clutter-free Mother’s Day gifts
  13. Will you soon forget about this purchase?
  14. Don’t start projects you’ll never finish
  15. Change your environment, change your consumption
  16. Avoid all ads
  17. Create a long term goal
  18. Happiness levels stay consistent
  19. Craving completeness
  20. Limit pleasurable things so they don’t lose their novelty
  21. We’re trained to be dissatisfied with what we have (and how to fix this)
  22. Beware of consumption spirals
  23. Does this spark joy?
  24. Exceptions to “Does this spark joy?”
  25. How to declutter clothes
  26. Thought experiments to adopt a decluttering mindset
  27. How to be deliberate with your buying
  28. Zone your home
  29. Don’t sell old clothes

Decluttering News

Friday June 4, 2021

Thursday June 3, 2021