Decluttering tips from professional organizers

This spring, you’ll probably discover how to “deep clean” your finances or “tidy up” your wallet.

But doing a proper spring cleaning is a good financial decision in itself.

After all, how many times have you lost an invoice in a pile of papers on your desk? Or have you had to replace something you lost only to find it again later? Or missed a bus and had to call an Uber because you couldn’t find your keys?

“When people declutter and get the house in order, it saves time, money and stress,” says Lori Reese, professional organizer and owner of Consider It Done in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Here are three tips from organizing professionals to help you tackle your spring decluttering project. If you don’t do it for cleanliness, do it for your wallet.

You may want to declutter the entire house, but facing a huge task can lead to analysis paralysis, organizing professionals say.

“It’s actually easier to take small bites over a long period of time, instead of delaying, delaying, delaying and trying to do it all in one weekend,” says Mindy Godding, certified professional organizer and owner of Abundance Organizing in Richmond, Virginia.

Godding recommends starting with small, low-stakes areas, “for example, the medicine cabinet, under the bathroom sink, linen room, hall closet, junk drawer, pantry – places where it will be much easier to make these decisions.”

Once you’ve started, prioritize tackling the areas where clutter most interferes with your routine.

“Which part of the house is driving you the most crazy right now?” Gayle Goddard, CPO and owner of The Clutter Fairy in Houston, Texas, says she asks customers. “What irritates you the most? What gets in the way of your daily life? I ask people to find that pain point, because that’s what needs to be cleared up.”

On the other hand, starting where sentimental value might be attached will definitely slow down your process, pros say. “You don’t want to access your photo collection right off the bat,” says Godding. “It’s a recipe for disaster.”

Maybe you know you need to declutter a certain space, but you’re not sure how to choose what to get rid of. Start by taking stock of the purpose of this space.

Take your bedroom closet, for example.

“Obviously, it’s for storing clothes and accessories. That’s where I need to get ready for my day,” Godding says. “So right off the bat, based on that definition, I’m going to look at this space for anything that doesn’t fit that definition.”

That means the box of knick-knacks you’ve put on a shelf or the pile of tote bags you have on the floor needs to find a new home, she says.

From there, ask yourself how the items in your home fit into your life. If you own something because you love it or because it serves a vital purpose in your daily life, keep it. If you’re examining why you own something and it’s because you feel too guilty to throw it away or it’s related to how it made you feel in the past, it might be time to abandon it.

“When you get rid of things that are no longer relevant in your life, it opens the door to new things,” says Reese. “You want to look to the future and accept where you are right now.”

Phew. You donated a bag of clothes and your bathroom counter is finally empty. Now, how do you avoid ending up back where you started in a few months?

You’ll need to create systems that prevent you from letting the same things pile up, organization experts say.

A helpful tip is to think of your spaces as finished containers.

“A closet is a container – a limited container. You can’t make the walls bigger,” Goddard says. “If you want the density to stay the same, make it easy to hang clothes and find what you want, then when you add something, you have to take something away at the same time.”

You can think of a space like the junk drawer in the same way. Don’t wait until it overflows to clean it.

“When you start to outgrow your container, that’s your mental trigger telling you it’s time to go in, take out all the contents, and figure out what needs to stay and what can go,” explains Goddard.

One way to prevent clutter from steadily piling up: give it a place to go. Godding sets aside a basket for incoming mail and papers. Once a week, she searches the shopping cart and takes appropriate action while watching her favorite Sunday morning TV show.

“The trick is to add this action to a habit, so you stick to that routine,” she says.

Another solution that has been “life-changing” for clients, Godding says, is setting aside space in the home for a trash can or bag for the specific purpose of decluttering regularly.

“Whenever you’re going about your normal routine and receive that item and say, ‘I don’t really think I need this anymore,’ instead of just putting it back where it was and waiting for the big clean, direct “You walk over to your location and put it in the bag or trash can,” she says. “Then the rule is when that bag or trash can is full, you just take it to your favorite charity.”

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