5 Small Decluttering Tips that Will Bring Big Benefits

With more time being spent at home these days working, living, and playing, there has never been a better time to Marie Kondo your house.

Why? Studies show that if you want a healthy, clear and stable frame of mind, your immediate environment needs to also reflect this. 

UCLA's Center on Everyday Lives of Families conducted a study over four years with 32 contemporary suburban American families in a book titled “Life at Home in the 21st Century.” They found that when mothers talked about their homes and the possessions within it, their levels of diurnal cortisol (aka a measure of stress) increased.

“It's difficult to find time to sort, organize and manage these possessions," says Graesch. "Thus, our excess becomes a visible sign of unaccomplished work that constantly challenges our deeply engrained notions of tidy homes and elicits substantial stress." 

So how can you start decluttering without feeling overwhelmed?

Here are our 6 of our favourite tips:

1. Think spaces, not rooms. When we think about decluttering, most of us tend to think about rooms as a whole. Instead, think of small spaces to start like a countertop, pantry shelf, nightstand or even one corner of a particular room.
2. Dedicate 10 minutes a day to a different space. 
3. Identify areas that tend to attract clutter. Yes, these places might get cluttered again over time - but the more decluttered it is to start, the easier it is to get it back to a good place.
4. One of our favourite spaces to start are the kitchen countertops. Decluttering here will make food prep easier and those busy mornings less stressful. Start by taking everything off the counter that doesn’t need to be there. Then, take inventory of what’s still on the counter. Do you use it that often that it needs to be there? Or is there just because it’s always been there?  What would happen if you put it in the cupboard instead? 
5. Dedicate 15 minutes a week to one drawer - whether that’s a junk drawer, kitchen utensil drawer, or your makeup drawer. Take everything out of it, wipe down the drawer and sort through what you need/don’t as you put things back in. Use an organization tray if it helps.