De-cluttering for 20 minutes every day is doable even for the busiest individuals, accommodating for unexpected events and diminishing motivation by giving you manageable amounts of time each day to work with.
Begin each decluttering session by selecting an area, drawer, or closet as your focus. Knowing this in advance helps you start working efficiently.
The One-Minute Rule
At a time of rapid change, we must adapt quickly to life and work. Instead of taking on all tasks simultaneously, the one-minute rule provides a practical approach for mitigating minor tasks that have accumulated while freeing up more significant endeavours. Gretchen Rubin coined this minimalist hack as an easy way to impact our lives significantly.
Leanna Newman is a senior human resources professional who finds the one-minute rule effective at home and work. “It forces you to address seemingly insignificant tasks promptly,” she notes, helping deter procrastination and reduce stress while giving her more confidence to prioritize tasks.
This principle is similar to the debt snowball method in that you first begin paying off small debts to build momentum and get motivated for larger ones. When decluttering, this one-minute rule encourages you to tackle easier, more apparent tasks first to gain confidence and motivation for undertaking larger ones later on.
Duckworth suggests folding all your mismatched socks and placing them into drawers accordingly. This will save you the hassle of searching for missing socks when needed and free up space in your drawers for other clothing items that you use daily. This task could save you both time and energy.
If you own multiple copies of the same item in your wardrobe (for instance, shoes with identical soles), try clearing away some clutter by donating or selling duplicate pairs and keeping only your preferred pair. This will save space and money by cutting unnecessary purchases.
The Five-Minute Rule
Start small when decluttering – the five-minute rule can help. By breaking tasks into short bursts of five minutes each, this method has proven invaluable to many – including Instagram CEO and co-founder Kevin Systrom himself!
The key to using this technique effectively is eliminating distractions and giving each task your full focus for five minutes. Once you get used to working in short bursts, it becomes much easier and faster to complete larger projects. Starting small will build your confidence and motivation to continue decluttering!
Set a five-minute timer, and focus on one area you need to clean at a time—this could include your email inbox, messy desk drawer, digital photos, or videos. Take breaks between sessions to rest and refocus before diving back in.
After completing your work session, begin sorting and disposing of items you no longer require. Donate them directly or have a local charity pick them up so that your donations will not return to your home again. It is helpful to designate one area as a storage spot so they will not just add clutter to your life!
This decluttering hack is an excellent way to begin living a less-cluttered life and begin the minimalist journey. Just make sure not to get caught in a perfectionist mindset: sprint when possible and crawl when necessary, but stop adding new clutter! Sign up for my FREE three-day decluttering Challenge here for more tips and advice on starting and maintaining a minimalist lifestyle.
The 30-Second Rule
Organizers advise setting a 30-minute timer daily or weekly to dedicate to decluttering. This approach makes the task manageable and less overwhelming, mainly if time is short and manageable quickly. Plus, progress will be seen over a longer time rather than feeling like work that always seems connected to bed.
Start with visible clutter areas, such as your kitchen or living room, before transitioning into drawers and closets. This way, you’ll have an accurate understanding of how much stuff needs to be removed before undertaking more ambitious tasks such as clearing an entire home or garage.
Professional organizer Mary Ann suggests that starting small is critical to maintaining momentum and staying calm about the task. She advises enlisting family members’ assistance when decluttering your home; their ideas on what can be removed may provide helpful ideas about where to focus your efforts. She cautions against “doom piles”, as not all items should go straight into donations – some should even go towards charity organizations if appropriate.
“If you find yourself giving away items you aren’t certain of, consider selling them online first,” she advises. This can be an easy and lucrative way to clear away clutter while making some extra cash.
Is minimalism for you? Check out Messy Minimalism, now available wherever books are sold. This accessible, grace-based approach to minimalist living teaches how to let go of stuff while living within what resources there are and creating a home that uniquely represents who you are.
The 60-Second Rule
Deliberately eliminating clutter requires considerable mental energy, which can make it easy to feel overwhelmed and give up. However, by breaking the task into smaller components, progress will be faster.
Start decluttering immediately by choosing a small area, like a closet or drawer, and setting a timer for 10 minutes. Work on this area until then – similar to using the Pomodoro technique of 25-minute blocks followed by 5-minute breaks.
After 10 minutes are up, set the timer back and move on to another small area until everything has been cleared away. This will ensure a steady pace as opposed to starting and stopping abruptly. To facilitate your efforts more effectively, have large trash bags and empty boxes on hand for discarding items and an organized plan for where donations should go in case they remain too long in your home.
The 60-second rule can help you declutter both physical and digital spaces quickly. Dedicating just one minute a day to these tasks ensures they will be completed before leaving work, preventing late fees or other consequences down the road.
Minimalism requires us to choose what matters to us most and prioritize that over anything else we possess. Surround yourself with those special, well-curated objects that add the most joy or value to you while giving up anything that does not add value or bring any joy or satisfaction—thus freeing up time to spend more on people and activities that matter the most to us.
The One-Hour Rule
Decluttering can be a daunting task that never seems to end, but TikTok star and lifestyle blogger Britt Scaffedi has some super-smart tricks that will make it easier to tackle the clutter in your home. She recommends one hour daily decluttering a particular room or area in your home—over time, this will transform it and keep it tidy and organized!
The one-hour rule is a practical, straightforward solution that fits most busy lifestyles. Identify an area or room you struggle to keep clean – such as your bathroom, bedroom, or pantry. Once you know your goal and set a timer for an hour, work as efficiently as possible toward it before celebrating your success when the clock goes off – an excellent way of motivating yourself to declutter more frequently!
Filing away mail and papers regularly is another excellent way to reduce clutter, as this will prevent paper clutter from piling up and help you quickly locate important documents. In addition, it’s good practice to eliminate duplicate items – for instance, if you own multiple pairs of identical shoes that do not feel comfortable or fit well – reducing duplicates while saving space!
The one-hour rule can also help in other areas of your life, like email inbox or wardrobe organization. For instance, if clothing no longer fits you, you could make room in your closet by donating or selling them. Moreover, if an overwhelming volume of unread emails accumulates daily and requires answering each time it arrives, spend just 30 seconds each morning replying to avoid building up further pileup.
