Best Way to Clear Clutter — A Professional Organiser's Method
The best way to clear clutter is to work in small areas, group similar items together, and finish each session completely.
It sounds simple — but most people skip one of these three things, and that's why their home never stays clear.
This page walks you through the 7-step method I used as a professional organiser in real Australian homes
Group first, decide later
I'll talk more about this in the organising section but basically in the declutter process you decide to keep or toss an item.
“If you keep it, you need to find a home for the item”.
It is simple, but warrants repeating: Categorise; group your items together
This is important for the items we decide to keep. When we sort through items, we make piles in boxes, bags, and/or on the floor. We group like items and place a sticky note with a (temporary) label somewhere on the pile. I'll explain this more in the organising and decluttering course.
Categorise in a way to makes sense to you
One of the secrets to how to declutter (maybe even the best way to clear clutter) is categorise. Do this in a way that makes sense to you, allowing you to clear clutter in your house according to your priorities. I talk about this a fair amount in the secret to organising.
Questions to ask when you decide not to keep the item could be:
· What do I need to throw away?
· What do I need to give away?
Then ask, "How will I go about this?" Both throwing away and giving away create additional decisions. You might need to plan when you'll take items to the second hand shop or bring items to the dump, and so on.
The 7-step method for clearing clutter
It is in line with what we did previously, I am expanding the points here with a stronger focus on grouping items together. Let’s look at our list that is very similar to the; How to declutter your life page, here we go in a bit more depth.
1. Have all of your preparatory items ready
2. Choose one area or set a goal
3. Set a time limit
4. Declutter by grouping similar items together (an extension of sort through items).
5. Put away items
6. Finish the task
7. Reward
Here where we discuss the best way to declutter, our strongest focus is on Point 4, decluttering by grouping items together, as this is the basis for decluttering any space.
Step 1: Get your kit ready
This one is pretty easy, it's a good idea to have a declutter kit, with sturdy garbage bags, good markers, and sticky notes (the kind that actually sticks). Some sheets of white paper or a notebook for jotting notes and ideas on how to declutter the next area, or on cleaning or organising the area where you're currently working. When I visited homes as a Professional
Organiser I did have a kit with me which made the whole process easier no matter what situation I was in and what declutter challenge we had in front of us.
Step 2: Pick one small area only
When learning to declutter, it helps to narrow down your space and work, to start out with success on a small scale, rather than to start out with failure on a larger scale.
Example
People go wrong when they say, "I will declutter the garage this weekend." If you are like most people, you will be furiously spinning your wheels, with lots of activity, moving, shuffling, and tossing. It is, however, highly likely that we'll end up short of time, among many piles of unidentified items. We then shove the piles of stuff back in the garage for the next declutter session (next week – maybe). And we're left worse off than when we started.
Professional Organiser Experience
This is not how to declutter! A professional organiser will always come with a plan and a realistic time frame for tackling the area, with many small wins along the way.
In our example, if you have the whole weekend, it's better to divide a large area, like a garage, into multiple manageable goals.
For example break it down in 3 mini goals within one small are
Put all boxes to one side
Pick out all of the large items that can be thrown away
Sort one shelf at a time
Then sort one corner of the garage at a time
Step 3: Set a time limit
For the garage, you could set two two-hour blocks to do the work. Most of my clients are exhausted after four hours.
Set a goal before you start the timer. That way you're not just moving things around — you're finishing something. If you run out of time, stop cleanly and pick up next session.
Step 4: Group everything before you decide
This falls under how to declutter 101 in detail! It means that we have to ask ourselves numerous questions about each and every item we pick something up.
You need to be clear and make sure you make a decision on every item you pick up.
Step 5: Put items away as you go
Place the items you want to keep into categories, which are rough groupings of where the item will live.
Then we go deep and ask:
· Where will this item fit?
· What is its place in the house?
· Does it belong to a group of like items?
· Where will I look when I need it again?
If you want to keep the item in the spot you have just sorted, clean the spot and straighten the area. Put the item back in its place, with a little extra room. The actual organisation of the space will happen later. If the items you have sorted and want to keep belong in another area of the house, move them to that area, but don’t get sidetracked and declutter these new areas. If you begin in the craft room, stay there. Make sure you don’t find yourself decluttering the bathroom because you went in there with some items from your original area. We need to keep our decluttering to a single, clear, small area, and we need to keep it simple.
We can use our groups to put items away and finish our session. Not allowing for enough time to put items away is a basic decluttering mistake. Take into consideration that you still might need to walk to the trash container or the car, drive to the second-hand shop, or call friends to whom you will give things (back). It might feel as if you're not decluttering when on the phone or driving through town, but you are, this is exactly how to declutter your spaces.
“Over time you will see all of your combined efforts will pay off.”
Step 6: Always finish what you start
This final step, the completion of your decluttering tasks and the conclusion of your session, is very important. If you start this process with a project and don’t finish it, your house is going to look worse. You won't feel good about it, and will never want to sort through your belongings again. You might be reasoning that sorting through things is clearly not working for you or is something that is too hard for you. This is simply not how to declutter.
If you change the way you work, if you do one small area at a time, if you do it well, and finish all of your To-Dos, as well as finish each separate session completely, you'll succeed over time and feel great every time you finish one area.
Step 7: Give yourself a reward
My favourite part of any organising and decluttering have a reward on the end. It could be reading a book, having a cuppa or a bath.
“It is important to acknowledge your hard work, you are doing great and deserve a reward.”
The best way to clear clutter from your house
The magic is now for you to test these ideas and find out if they work for you! If you have any decluttering tips/tricks or ideas on what the best way to clear clutter is for you feel free to share!
To keep up to date with articles and musings on this site and tools that will help you find the best way to clear clutter for you sign up for my newsletter and get the secret to organising.
It will give you an email course, a worksheet, a number of videos helping you understand some key organising principles on how to get started with how to declutter and organise your life.
Ready to go deeper?
How to Organise Your Home and Paperwork is Sabine's most comprehensive guide —a skill set to get you room by room, step by step more organised, written for people with real Australian homes
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to clear clutter?
Work in one small area at a time. Group similar items together first, then decide what to keep or let go. Always finish
the area before moving on.
How do I start decluttering when I feel overwhelmed?
Pick the smallest possible area — one drawer or one shelf. Set a 30-minute timer. You don't need to do the whole
house. Small wins build momentum.
How does a professional organiser clear clutter?
A professional organiser always comes with a plan and a realistic time frame. They break large spaces into small goals,
group items by category, and make sure every session ends with the area fully done.
