22 Decluttering Mistakes You Need to Stop Making

Inside: Learn the most common decluttering mistakes that you need to stop making to make more progress in clearing the clutter.

Do you have a great process for decluttering?

People often get stalled in the process at different points and for a variety of reasons.

These are the most decluttering mistakes and they can keep you from reaching your goals.

Once you identify them, you’ll be able to course correct so that you can start making more progress with decluttering your home.

Decluttering Mistakes

There are great processes and methods for decluttering. But what happens when you start out with a great plan and find yourself sidetracked during the process?

These are the decluttering mistakes you need to stop making.

1. Stop over scoping your projects

When you’re decluttering, be realistic with the size of the project that you have time for. This is where you want to be a time realist, not an optimist.

The first time I decluttered my closet, I made the mistake of taking every item out at once as I was convinced that in the 90 minutes I had that I could go through it all. That was incorrect and it left me frustrated and with a bigger mess to deal with.

Scope your projects small. Take it one drawer or cabinet or item type at a time. If you finish and have more time, pick another small area. The goal is to keep it manageable and not create additional headaches for yourself through the process.

2. Stop buying storage containers

I know I know. People LOVE their storage containers, which is how we have a whole store dedicated to them.

Before you buy any containers, declutter first. You may find you didn’t need a new container after all or that you already had something on hand that would work.

Sometimes storage containers add to the clutter problem rather than solving it. When you declutter first you get a better sense of what you really need.

Check out more thoughts from other organizing professionals on mistakes you’re making here. It’s clear I’m not the only one who has seen how storage containers can become part of the problem.

3. Stop decluttering other people’s stuff

This can be a tough one if you want a decluttered home, but you live with someone who loves their stuff. The challenge here is that what’s clutter to one is not clutter to another. Everyone’s definitions are different.

If you want to keep peace in the home, do not declutter other people’s things without their permission. I’m guessing you wouldn’t want them to get rid of things you want to keep so don’t do it to them either.

When it’s kids things you want to declutter, work with them on the process. Give them guidelines but let them make the decisions. This will help them learn responsibility for their things

4. Stop getting distracted

Have you ever tried to do a task you weren’t too thrilled about where anything and everything became a distraction? That can happen with decluttering.

Phones can be a distraction during the process too so be wise in what you bring with you in the area you’re working in. As you find items that belong in other rooms, set them aside until you are done decluttering that space.

Often when you go to put something away you find another area that needs to be worked on and suddenly forget what you were doing in the first place. When you focus on the task at hand, you’ll get much more accomplished.

5. Stop keeping decluttered items in your garage or trunk

Once you’ve put in all the time and effort to declutter, please don’t keep the unwanted items hanging out around your house, garage, or the trunk of your car. You can’t feel the full results of decluttering when those items are still taking up space in your life.

Complete the decluttering process by going ahead and dropping off those donations. Get them out of your car and home and enjoy your newly reclaimed space.

6. Stop worrying about what if’s

As you’re asking yourself questions as you try to determine what stays and what goes don’t let yourself get caught up on what if thinking. Creating hypothetical (and often unlikely) scenarios is one of the reasons people hang onto clutter.

Don’t worry about imagined situations where you may want that item. Be realistic with yourself as you declutter and decide what needs to go.

7. Stop beating yourself up

Decluttering can bring up a variety of emotions. Sadness, guilt, buyer’s remorse and a variety of other feelings can show up.

As you process through your thoughts and feelings, don’t beat yourself up from past decisions. Beating yourself up is one of the decluttering mistakes because to continue to make progress you need to keep a positive state of mind.

Keep your focus on what you are working toward, not what you did in the past.

8. Stop associating people with things

Do you have items in your home that you don’t like and don’t use but you can’t seem to let it go because of who you got it from? Whether the item was a gift that you didn’t want or if it was from a relative or friend who has passed, it’s time to stop associating people with things.

As you work through sentimental items, remind yourself that people are not their things. Also, your memories with them are not erased because you decide to let some things go.

You should not hold onto items out of guilt or duty. Your house should be a place you enjoy with things that are meaningful to you rather than a history museum of other people’s belongings.

9. Stop letting negative people ruin your progress

As you work through decluttering your home you may encounter some naysayers along the way. Some of them may even live in your house.

Work on controlling what you can. You and your stuff. Don’t get caught up in other people’s drama or unhealthy behaviors.

This is one of the decluttering mistakes because negative people can take you down and halt your progress if you let them. Don’t let them. You’re better than that.

10. Stop getting distracted from the end goal

Decluttering can be a long process particularly if the clutter has been adding up for many years. As you work on one project at a time it can feel a bit daunting.

To continue making good progress, remind yourself of the end goal you’ve set. That goal will help motivate you to continue with the process.

Distractions are all around us with different things constantly vying for our attention. Prioritize decluttering in your schedule and keep your mind set on your end goal.

11. Stop thinking you can hire someone to do it for you

I’m a professional declutterer. I work with clients to help them declutter their homes. The keyword there is ‘help’. You should not hire someone to declutter your home and expect them to do it without you.

There are various reasons for this. One is that an outside person won’t intrinsically know what is important to you. Also, the process of decluttering brings about many realizations and changes that can’t occur if you have someone do it for you.

While you may want to consider hiring someone to help you with the process, do not expect that someone else will take care of it for you.

12. Stop having unrealistic expectations

While it’s great to have clear end goals on how your house will look and function, keep in mind that you live with other people and no house is perfect.

Decluttering does have many great benefits, but it won’t solve every challenge in your home. Your home will still have its quirks and so will the people you live with.

13. Stop holding onto things waiting to make a decision

Decluttering requires making a lot of decisions. If you are someone who has difficulty making decisions, it can be tempting to postpone the decluttering process as you wait to make decisions.

Do not keep boxes of ‘maybe’ items. Decide to decide and move forward.

The good news is that decision making does get easier as you go, but the more you work at being definitive more quickly the greater progress you will make.

14. Stop keeping things to sell for extended periods of time

Have you ever been ready to let something go, but convinced yourself that it would or should be worth a certain amount? While it is ok to try and sell items you no longer want, make sure to put a deadline on it.

Otherwise, your unwanted items can sit in garage purgatory indefinitely as you aren’t using them but are waiting for them to sell.

15. Stop nagging others in the house

I sometimes wish everyone in my house perceived things the way that I do. I wish that the clutter annoyed them as much as it does me and that everyone would be proactive in getting rid of it.

That’s just not realistic though. In the decluttering process, it’s important to not nag everyone else in the house to try to get them on board with your plan. That will only serve to annoy and alienate rather than motivate.

You can, however, come up with compromises and for kids create boundaries and structure for decluttering.

While I don’t tell my kids what they need to get rid of, I do provide them with what I feel is appropriate sized storage containers. They get to decide what they want to put in them and what doesn’t fit has to go.

16. Stop trying to do it all at once

On tv, you can watch home shows where in 22 short minutes a house is completely redone. Some shows let you see remodeling or decor changes and others, like Tidying Up highlight decluttering the home.

It’s easy to have unrealistic ideas of how you’ll be able to get the whole house decluttered and looking great quickly. Initially, you may feel like you’re ready to tackle it all at once.

Most people aren’t able to get all their decluttering done in a weekend or week. It’s generally a slower process and that’s ok. Don’t overdo it and stop focusing on the mountain ahead or you may get overwhelmed which can stop your progress.

17. Stop focusing on how much you paid for it

As you go through your items don’t make one of the biggest decluttering mistakes by focusing on how much you spend on the item. What’s done is done and keeping expensive items that you don’t love or use doesn’t benefit you. It simply reminds you of past purchasing mistakes.

Don’t count on recouping much of your cost. It’s easy to think that because you spent a lot on something that it should still be worth something, but in most cases, the value decreases rapidly after you buy it.

Do not let the expense of an item be a reason that you keep it.

18. Stop going down memory lane

As you look through items, refrain from going down memory lane with how, where, and when you acquired each item. I have a good friend who has memories attached to every receipt he has.

When you focus on the memories, it makes it harder to let things go. It also significantly slows down the decluttering process as you spend a lot of time reflecting.

There is a time to look back and reminisce, but the whole decluttering process shouldn’t be that way. Refer back to the decluttering questions as you make decisions and keep focused on what you’re keeping and what it’s time to let go of.

19. Stop jumping in with the tough stuff

Don’t start with sentimental items. The decluttering process should start with the easier rooms and items and work your way up to the more emotionally charged ones.

Jumping straight in with the tough stuff doesn’t set you up for success. Ease into the items that are harder to make decisions on. That may not make it easy, but it will be less difficult as you’ve gotten practice.

20. Stop saying you can’t

Let’s all agree to stop making decluttering excuses. Saying I don’t have time, it’s too hard, or I can’t because of who I live with. That may feel true, but if it’s important to you, you’ll make it a priority and figure it out.

When we tell ourselves that we can’t do something, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

If you have limited time or energy, you can start with ten-minute decluttering tasks. You may be amazed at what you can get done in short focused periods of time.

Post decluttering mistakes

You’ve completed the decluttering process! That’s great. Now here are the post decluttering mistakes to avoid so that you don’t end up back where you started.

21. Stop shopping the same way

After you’ve decluttered your home, you want to avoid habits and behaviors that landed you with a cluttered house in the first place. Work on shopping more intentionally and purposefully.

Choosing to live more simply in a consumer culture doesn’t come easy. It takes planning and thought. Going against the grain isn’t always fun but the benefits are worth it.

22. Stop ignoring other habits that need changing

How you shop isn’t the only habit you need to look at. You may need to reconsider how you celebrate birthdays or holidays. It may mean having discussions with family members and talking about your goals.

Experience gifts are a great choice. Choosing to enjoy less extravagant birthdays and a simpler holiday season will help keep your home decluttered.

Daily habits are also something to consider because even when you own fewer things everyone in the home needs to be in the practice of putting items away so they don’t become clutter.

Have you been making these decluttering mistakes?

If you’ve been making any of these decluttering mistakes, I hope this has helped you identify them so you can stop making them and have greater progress with decluttering.

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