6 Quick Decluttering Wins That Make A Difference Fast

Quick decluttering wins that need almost no decisions at all, and might be just what gets your home moving again when the big jobs feel too much.

You’ve got twenty minutes. The kettle’s just boiled, the house is quiet for once, and you know there’s decluttering to be done.

But the loft feels like way too big a task. The spare room will definitely need more than a day. And the wardrobe that won’t shut? That’s a job for a version of you with far more energy than this one.

So you sit down with your tea instead, and nothing gets tackled.

Here’s the thing, though. Not every decluttering job has to be a big one to count. Some wins are small, quick and almost decision-free – and they’re exactly what gets you moving when the big jobs feel like too much.

Momentum beats motivation, every time. One quick win makes the next one easier, and before long you’ve cleared more than you would have if you’d waited for the perfect free Saturday.

Here are six to start with. Pick one, pick three, or work through the lot over a week.

1 – Duplicates

Two potato peelers. Three phone stands. A drawer of black vests that are, if you’re honest, the same black vest.

Duplicates creep in for all sorts of reasons. You couldn’t find the first one, so you bought another. Someone gave you one as a gift. It was on offer. And now there are two of everything, taking up twice the space and doing the job of one.

This is one of the easiest decisions in decluttering, because you’re not losing anything you use. You’re simply keeping the best one and letting the spare go.

Do this today: Pick one drawer or cupboard – the kitchen utensils are a good bet – and pull out anything you’ve got more than one of. Keep the one you actually reach for. The rest can go..

2 – Things That Aren’t Yours

Your friend’s Tupperware from the barbecue in July. The book you borrowed and finished a few weeks ago. The cake tin your mum keeps asking about that you borrowed for that party a couple of months ago.

None of these are yours to declutter in the usual sense of the word. They’re not clutter to get rid of, but they’re clutter for you because they don’t belong in your house at all. They’re taking up space in your home, and most of them come with a side of guilt attached every time you see them.

Getting them back where they belong clears the space and the guilt in one go.

Try this: Gather everything that belongs to someone else into one bag by the front door or in your car (somewhere you’ll see them so you don’t forget about them). Let each person know it’s coming back, so you have some accountability. Then just drop things off as you pass – or hand them over next time you see them.

3 – Freebies You Never Chose

The conference tote bag. The hotel miniatures. The promotional mug with a logo on it. The free calendar from the takeaway. Three pens from the dentist and a stress ball from a company you’ve never heard of.

These things came into your home without you ever deciding you wanted them. They were handed to you, and it felt rude or wasteful to say no.

Which makes them some of the easiest things to let go. You didn’t choose them on the way in, so you don’t owe them a long decision on the way out.

Do this instead: Keep anything you genuinely use and like – a good tote bag usually earns its place, for example. Everything else can go. And next time someone offers you a freebie, it’s absolutely fine to say “no thanks”.

4 – Handbag And Wallet Clutter

You go to pay for a coffee and have to dig past crumpled receipts, two lip balms, a loyalty card for a shop that closed and a hair bobble to find your card.

Your handbag and wallet fill up faster than almost anywhere else, because you have them with you and can easily add to them every single day. A receipt here, a voucher there, a snack for later that’s now very much earlier. Each on its own is small, so it builds up unnoticed… until the bag won’t zip up any longer.

The good news? It’s a five-minute job with a big payoff, because you’ll feel the difference every time you reach in.

The tweak: Tip everything out onto the kitchen table. Out-of-date vouchers, loyalty cards you never use and old receipts can go. Put back only what you need day to day, and give the loose change a pocket of its own.

Related -> 3 Crucial Things To Declutter From Your Handbag And Wallet Today

5 – Car Clutter

If your car is anything like mine, then the door pockets are regularly full of stuff. There’s a water bottle rolling around in the footwell, the boot has about 15 bags for life in it, not to mention a random pair of walking and something that was meant to be taken to the charity shop ages ago….

Car clutter builds up fast because things come out with you and never quite make it back in (similar to your handbag). And because you’re always on your way somewhere, there’s never a good moment to deal with it.

It’s one of the most satisfying quick wins, though. A clear car makes every journey feel calmer, and it takes about as long as drinking a cup of tea to finish.

Try this: Next time you get home, take a bag out to the car and give it ten minutes. Anything that belongs in the house comes in with you. Anything that doesn’t belong anywhere goes. Then make it a habit: take one thing out every time you get out of the car.

Worth a read: 13 Things That Don’t Belong In Your Car…

6 – Digital Clutter

Two thousand screenshots. Fourteen near-identical photos of the same sunset. A downloads folder full of PDFs you opened once in 2023.

Digital clutter on your phone doesn’t trip you up in the hallway, it’s sneakier than that, but it does slow things down. It’s the reason you can never find the photo you want, and the reason your phone keeps telling you its storage is full.

This is the decluttering win you can do from the sofa, with your feet up. Which, after the car, feels only fair.

The question to ask: Will I ever look at this again? Start with your photos – most of the screenshots on the photo roll were only ever useful for a day. They can pretty much all go now… Another quick win are duplicate photos – pick the one you like the best and let go of the rest (you’ll never use them!).

Start small. Start today. Let the momentum do the rest.

And if you’re ready for the next set of quick wins – with a side of help from me each day, you’ll definitely want to check out the totally free 5 Day Declutter Challenge picks up where they leave off, with one clear, doable task each day, so you keep the momentum going without having to work out what’s next.→ Join in now!