How to Start Decluttering Even When You're Overwhelmed

This is my specialty, y'all! I'm an expert at breaking through the paralyzing feeling of being overwhelmed because I have to do it regularly.

[kathleenscharf]

I joined Take Your House Back last April and it has been an amazing help for me. Although the course itself has been incredibly helpful in establishing habits and routines that make my life so much easier and satisfying, it’s Dana’s No Mess Method that has made the biggest impact for me. I used to get so overwhelmed every time I tried to organize anything, not realizing that I had to declutter FIRST. I would just end up with piles that inevitably had to be shoved back together to “take care of later.” Then it would start all over again with no progress and feeling worse than ever. Now I declutter one item at a time and deal with it, whether it goes where it belongs, to trash, or a donation bag.

What a game changer! Progress is real now, and even though I am a ladybug, sometimes I leave a cupboard door open just so I can walk by and enjoy the tidy space.

The course is worth every penny. I had watched videos from Dana, Dawn and Cas for several months before I bought the course, but it’s the structure that made all the difference for me. I can go back and read, listen to, and watch whatever I want whenever I want. It’s a very well-designed course, and new information is added on a regular basis through videos, audios and blogs. It’s one of the best investments I’ve ever made!

[madamlt]

Who else loves that feeling of having just dropped off a whole load of crap you didn’t need at goodwill. It’s wonderful 🤩

[LB]

I just started something today. I am overwhelmed now with a 4 month old but I have decided that every diaper box that I buy (I buy the jumbo ones) will be filled with donatables before it leaves the house. That way I can slowly fill the box and it's a constant declutter!

[colleenarthur]

I broke up the room into zones (ex. Floor, stove top, sinks) 10 in all. Assigned each zone a number 1 - 10, then rolled a 10 sided die. That's where I started. Then my niece called. We wound up video calling and cleaning our respective problem rooms. We're now cleaning buddies.

[brookerafferty]

You know when you get that feeling of someone who is talking directly to you and understands....

😭❤️

[sherrilindstrom]

Your method works so well because I am not pulling everything out and making a worse mess. It always looks better.

[kellyrozenel]

I struggled with depression for a few years and my home suffered. I’m now in a much healthier headspace and ready to get things outta here and under control. But….overwhelmed is an understatement because I also feel guilty and embarrassed for letting this happen

[beverleyb]

After watching the video, I started typing this out to prep myself as I get up to get started for the day, and thought it may be helpful for others as well. I HIGHLY recommend reading Dana's books and watching her videos! They have been so helpful for this overthinker to settle down and just get started.

Here are the decluttering steps that I have learned from Dana over the past month from her videos, blog posts, books, and podcasts:

1st: Grab a trash bag and a donatable donate box
2nd: Begin in the most visible place possible (Usually the place where visitors would enter your home)
3rd: Using your trash bag, look throughout that area for anything that is obviously trash. (old sales ads, wrappers, empty boxes or grocery bags, ect.)
4th: Once it looks like you have gathered all of the trash, grab your donation box and look for anything that is an obviously easy(to you) donate item to put in the donate box. This can be things you don't like, won't fit, doesn't work in the space anymore. This isn't the time to make tough decisions; this is when you are looking for those easy donations.
5th: After you have made it through the steps of removing trash and removing the "duh"(obvious) donations as Dana calls them, you now want to look for items that have a home elsewhere in your house but they have ended up there somehow. When you spot those items, don't waste your energy asking yourself how it got there, and don't just sit it down in a pile to deal with later; this is the key step to Dana's no mess method... TAKE IT THERE NOW! With that item in hand, take a quick glance around the area to see if you can spot anything else that also goes to that same area of your home, and if you spot something, grab it too. Now, walk to that other area and put the items in their pre-designated home. If that space is already full, look for enough trash or "duh" donations that you can grab to make room for the item that you are placing there. If the room is too cluttered to get far enough into for you to put the item in its actual home, place it as close as you can to that home and grab any obvious trash or donations to make the space for the item you just delivered. Now that the item is in its pre-designated home(or as close to it as you are able), take the trash or donations that you grabbed to make space for the item back to your original starting space and place them in your trash bag or donatable donate box. Keep doing this step until you don't see anymore items that already have pre-designated homes within your house.

At this point you should already see progress within your space! This is when you cheer and pat yourself on the back for making such great progress to move the space forward toward better because better is GOOD! By following Dana's "Take it there now!" method, you should NOT have large sorting piles sitting around or any keep piles or boxes; all you should still see is your trash bag, your donatable donate box, and the items still remaining in that space that aren't obvious trash, donations, or have an already pre-designated home. If you are at a point where you are just exhausted and need to rest, all you should have to do is take the trash bag out to the bin and load the donate box in your vehicle to drop off. When you are ready to start back, go through these steps again but this time you should be able to progress through them quicker since you already made progress in the space.

Once you are through the easy stuff (trash, obvious donations, and items with pre-designated homes) you can now begin working through the items that do not belong in that space and do not yet have their own space in your home. You do this by following Dana's decluttering questions with each item.

With the item in hand, ask:

- If I needed this item, where WOULD I look for it first? Go with your gut instinct here; that first place that popped into your mind. Take it there now!

If you were unable to answer that question because you have no idea where you would even begin to look for it, then ask yourself the next question:

- If I needed this item, would it ever occur to me that I already had one? Be honest here. If I wouldn't remember that I had one, there is a strong chance that I would just go and buy it yet again which would add to the clutter, so I can allow myself to donate it knowing that fact. If I WOULD remember that I had one, then where WOULD I look for it first when I started searching? Take it there now.

The final step is - Make it fit - This is for the items that are to remain in this space.

- Consolidate: Put like things together.
- The Container Concept: Purge down to the natural limits of the space that I have. Every item needs to be placed use-ably and get-to-ably in this space.


All of this with three things in mind:

Less=Success
Better is GOOD!

If I try to keep more than can physically fit, use-ably and get-to-ably, in this space that I have, there is literally no hope of my house being under control; it can't be under control if I have more stuff than space.

[rhondaogles]

18 trash bags at curb, 3 explorer loads to goodwill, 3/4 trailer load given away, and 1 car load given away this month. Yes, I bawled at being overwhelmed, but I just kept saying: "it can't hurt me anymore" because the crap is gone from my property permanently. So, frozen in anxiety, no energy, but just do a 15 minute here & there during the day can add up like this. It sure is like moving: get the room emptied & loaded. Just keep going somehow. Peeling the onion back of 40 years worth...past time
Time for experiences over things...time to find your happy place


.

[janiemcneil]

I literally do listen to you non-stop. Even my husband and kids know a declutter is about to start when they hear your voice. You are my declutter companion and I’m grateful.

[lorreinekennedy]

At 62, and a life long consumer, I am overwhelmed by keeping the house tidy when everywhere is over run with stuff. I work silly hours (my choice) with the result that I often treat myself with stuff. The house is huge and there are 2 of us. Every room is stuffed with our goodies. I’m a minor league hoarder. Someone who likes to have things just in case. 37 full bottles of kitchen/bathroom cleaner to name one such thing. I see a moisturiser that I like the look of, or it’s on offer, and I buy it, before I know it, my dresser and makeup cupboard overflows. Dozens of airplane make up bags. All so useful, but not used. I have a home in Spain, a 1 bed place that we have to keep tidy, and we only have what we need. So why can’t we do it with our main home. Ok. Some incredibly good stuff here. VERY USEFUL!

[kix]

I so appreciate you saying that it's OK when you freeze and don't know what trash is etc. And yes. I so agree with if you are overwhelmed with what you need to do to achieve your goal then break it down to smaller steps.
For me I have difficulties in distinguishing what I need vs what I don't need. I've tried this method of grabbing a big black garbage bag and going through my apartment. But after going through all of my rooms I only had very very little in it. I went in so motivated and came out so demotivated because: Again, I couldn't find much and declutter my apartment.. For example I have SO many eye shadows and nail polish I have had for over 20 (!) years and still think that I MIGHT use them.. Soon.. Or all of the magazines (some also over 20!!! years old) I wanted to read so badly so I THINK I still want to read them.. I get motivated almost every day to at least start to declutter my apartment only to be confronted with all of the things I "might" need. And I've watched SO many videos on this topic that I just don't understand how I can STILL think this way. But today finally I think I had an AHA moment: I took a SMALL plastic bag (the ones you get from take outs - so I found a way to get rid of them! Yay!) and again went through my apartment and FILLED that one with garbage! It wasn't much but it was still more than I would have put in a big black bag. I guess it's just the mindset of getting something full which amongst other reasons prevents some of us to be able to declutter in a big scale. I also used a list of very specific things (this time for the kitchen only) which helped me a lot in finally coming to the conclusion that I REALLY didn't need some of the things on the list and filling that bag.
Plus this thought process made click today: The reason that something is old and UNUSED is because I DIDN'T NEED it -> If I didn't need it for over one (!) year than I will most probably NEVER NEED it. I know this has been talked a lot int decluttering videos. But this time my focus was on the reason of it being "unused" and that for whatever reason made the difference (I guess me thinking over the things I REALLY didn't need for my kitchen helped me in actually understanding it as well). If it's been unused then I don't need it. This is the mantra I'm going to tell myself from now on whenever I'm decluttering. I even made some post it notes in case I forget it. 😊
If you are overwhelmed - no matter how small the step is - if it's the biggest you can do right now - that is what matters.

[PrettyInPink]

Everything you say resonates with me and I just needed to hear it to move forward and not give up on piles of clutter. I think my biggest issue is feeling so overwhelmed, especially with paper clutter (bills, mail, junk). I don’t have a system in place and need to just dive in and start with the paper junk mail and start sorting. It will eventually get easier as you train yourself to do this everyday. Even if it’s only for a few min a day.

[nnylasoR]

I really, REALLY appreciate you taking that moment @6:33.
Compassionately acknowledging, validating, and speaking to those of us who have difficulty recognizing / differentiating *trash* is what sets you apart. God bless you, Dana.
♥️♥️♥️🥺♥️♥️♥️

[maggiemceneaney]

Some great tips here. I’m in that stagnant stage where I don’t know where to start…. Something I like to do is try to de clutter (WITH BLACK GARBAGE BAGS) on the day before garbage pick up. Because THEN, you won’t be tempted to go back, second guess and retrieve any of those items you already parted with. They will be gone quickly.

[Janet-bfdt]

The timing of this video was unbelievable!
I am so overwhelmed!!!
I told myself after Christmas (because of all the wrapping, boxes...everywhere!), that I was going to make some decisions.
I am a box (and bag), hoarder, but now with the gift giving season over, I will take the first big step to break down boxes for recycling. I know it may seem small, but if you could only see, it will make a huge difference!!
Thank you for helping me take the first step.

[generalleia]

I've read your book, 'Decluttering at the Speed of Life', twice! It's the only one that stuck in my head. I read it again because I thought I must've missed something in it because applying the steps was too easy as I was going along. Nope, you taught me well the first time around. Still a fun read the 2nd time, though. Thank you for taking me from a crying overwhelmed embarrassed mess staring at several mountains of clutter to a happier, freer human again. You'll never truly understand what you did for me. Thank. You.

[mkmstillstackin]

Very helpful thank you. As a single guy with years of accumulated clutter, I realize that mindset is the key, but getting there is the challenge. This definitely helps in doing just that!

[Pajali]

I can’t tell you how much “you don’t need to be better organized, you just have too much stuff” and “you’re not decluttering your whole house, you’re just dealing with this one item” helped me get my house under control. Those ideas really helped me identify what my next steps were so I didn’t get lost in the sauce trying to do everything at once. I’m still working on some areas, but that’s SO much better than having the ENTIRE house in need of some work.

[dreamweaver]

Thank you for making me know that I am not the only one paralyzed by the feeling I can't do it. I felt like a failure for not being able to "conquer" the mess.