19 Helpful Decluttering Tips for Moms in a Hurry

Decluttering Tips for Moms in a Hurry 

I don’t know about you, but I am Busy. Like, all the time. My mind is constantly jumping from one to-do to the next. 

And when my house feels overwhelming, it’s like scratchy radio static in my head. I want to get all the things done, but the mess also clutters up my brain. 

Today I’m sharing my favorite decluttering tips for moms in a hurry. Tackle one each day or each week, and your home will soon start to feel more manageable with overwhelming you. 

Set Aside Time Each Week

Instead of trying to tackle your entire house in a day or weekend, bite off a little bit at a time. Set aside some time (think 10-30 minutes) to declutter one small area in your home.

This could be a single drawer, your purse, or something else. Instead of doing a big, huge decluttering haul once a year, set aside a little time each week to declutter. 

It doesn’t have to be everyday (but it could, if that works for you), but dedicating a small amount of time to a decluttering task will feel less intimidating, and thus, be more likely to actually happen.

You are more likely to stick with it, and less likely to get overwhelmed. Plus, decluttering is an ongoing process. Most people are continuously bringing new things into their home and therefore need to continuously work to remove the clutter. 

Don’t Declutter in Moments of High Stress

If a loved one has recently passed, you have a big project at work coming up, or are due to give birth within the next week, try not to take on a big project. This is solid life advice in general, but when it comes to decluttering, it definitely rings true. 

When you are decluttering, you want to be able to make calm, rational decisions about the things in your home. Chucking all of your kid’s toys right after a fight with your husband is probably nor going to end well. Make sure you have the time (and mental capacity to take on a big project.

Give Everything a Home

One of the reasons that clutter occurs is that we tend to set things down instead of putting it away.  You can avoid this by making sure that your belongings have a place to go. 

I struggled for a long time with the mail being all over the kitchen island because it didn’t have a home. Once we began 1. Going through the mail immediately and 2. Putting important documents into the correct folder of our file system, we no longer had paper clutter all over the island.

Create Routines

If you are regularly in the habit of going through the mail as soon as you get home, you are less likely to have mail piling up on your counter. Likewise, if you have a regular habit of using something until it is completely gone before getting more, you are less likely to stockpile it. 

When you create a cleaning routine or even a personal morning routine, it gives your days a sense of balance. It can keep you from leaving piles of clutter around because you have already created a routine that involves putting stuff away when you are done with it.

Avoid Guilt by Donating

I used to have such intense guilt over parting with things because they were a gift from a loved one. Even though the item was causing me stress by cluttering up my house, I felt like I wasn’t being loyal to the person who gave it to me. 

Let me tell you what I now think: I think the purpose of a gift is to be received with love. If it no longer serves me or my household, it is actively making our lives more difficult. 

You can avoid this guilt-spiral by donating items you no longer use to someone who will. There are so many consignment shops and helpful organizations that can give your unwanted items to someone who actually needs them. 

Be thankful you are blessed with so much and be humble enough to know when the item can be better used elsewhere. 

Practice Buying Less

It can be hard enough when family members are getting your child new toys often, and a friend just gave you two trash bags worth of clothes, and your life has been so busy you haven’t decluttered in years. But making a point to buy less can help you have less clutter overall. Here are a few ways you can do this:

Unsubscribe From Emails

You won’t buy it if you don’t see the ad. Plus, it automatically means less cluttering in your inbox. Win-win. In fact, I’ve got a whole post on decluttering your phone that makes your digital life less stressful.

This is one of my favorite decluttering tips for moms because you always have your phone with you, so you can accomplish this task pretty regularly.

Don’t Peruse the Aisles

I used to wander through TJ Maxx for fun, just looking at all the cute things on the shelves, which inevitably led me to buying many-a-thing I did not need. If you do need to go to a store, go in and straight to the aisle that has what you need and walk to the checkout line. Don’t meander up and down the aisles. 

Do a Grocery Pick Up

I started doing Walmart’s curbside grocery pick up and never looked back. Every time I went into the store, I was buying extras of something. By having the groceries brought out to my car, I avoid impulse purchases. Save time grocery shopping with more tips here.

Designate Drop Zones

We all get busy and have to set stuff down in a hurry once in a while. If you make dedicated zones for this purpose, you are less likely to have clutter all over the house. 

I like to keep a basket by the stairs to take stuff up or down so that I am not making extra trips throughout the day. 

Keep a basket or cabinet available by the main entry (ours is by the garage). This allows you to set stuff down that you need to take with you the next day, without causing visual clutter. 

Don’t Keep Stuff in the Hopes of Fixing It

Unless you are a regular handy-woman, you’re not going to get around to repairing that lamp that’s been in the back of your closet for three years. I don’t blame you! Being a stay at home mom is a lot of work! But save yourself the stress and either give it away or toss it. 

I used to keep multiple bins of craft supplies I wanted to use one day. After schlepping it to the fourth home in a row without opening the bins, I decided it was no longer worth it to keep the supplies. 

I donated them to a summer camp program in my town and they were used almost immediately. I felt good about it and I don’t have as much clutter in my house. 

Focus on a Different Area Each Month

If you give yourself an entire month to work through one area in your house, you are more likely to declutter than trying to do it all in one day. Combine this with my tip above about doing one small area at a time, and you’ll get rid of a lot of stuff. 

For instance, do only one cabinet in your bathroom one night, and then another the next and another the next. In less than a week, you have completely decluttered your bathroom cabinet! Then you can move on to the master closet, working through one rack per night (or whatever works for you). 

Add More Storage

While the goal of decluttering is to get rid of the extras in your home, sometimes you don’t actually have all that many extras. 

When we moved into our current home, I knew that storage was going to be a problem. It is a newly built, builder grade home and it definitely lacks in the storage department. 

By purchasing some shelves for the pantry, I doubled the amount of storage I had, making the space much more usable. I built shelves for the closet under the stairs and got cube storage for my son’s room. 

These additions made it easier to not only see what all I had, but to make sure I wasn’t constantly buying more because I couldn’t find what I was looking for. By adding storage, you can save yourself from ever having some of that clutter in the first place. 

Organize What You Have

While the clutter can feel oppressive, it can become much more manageable with a few tricks. Buy cord organizers for your office or tv console. This keeps the wires from getting tangled and causing visual clutter.

Use accordion binders to organize important documents. I dream of having a built-in drawer filing cabinet one day, but until then, I keep our accordion binders organized in pull out drawers like these. 

Set a Time Limit

If you are avoiding decluttering because you think it will take too long, set a timer for twenty minutes. This keeps you from getting too overwhelmed, but you can still make a dent in the clutter. 

By doing this regularly, or even a few times throughout the same day, you will be able to eliminate the excess on your home. This is one of those decluttering tips for moms that sounds so simple but it actually works.

Involve Your Family

If you are struggling with finding time to go through everything, involve your family! Working together can ensure that you don’t get stuck waffling on decisions. 

When I declutter alone, I tend to put things to the side ‘just in case’ my husband wants it. When we do it together, he can make a decision so that we can move forward without holding on to the clutter. 

Declutter Common Areas Regularly

Areas such as the kitchen, bathrooms, garages, and closets can get hit the hardest with extra clutter. Revisiting these areas throughout the year will keep the clutter from becoming too overwhelming. 

When I was trying to come up with decluttering tips for moms in a hurry, this was one I kept coming back to. By regularly attending them, your house won’t ever become overwhelmed with clutter.

Declutter After Holidays

I’m not just talking about Christmas here, but rather any holiday you decorate for. Before you pack away all of the Valentines Day or Independence Day decor, assess whether you actually enjoy it. If you no longer enjoy the way it looks in your home, don’t store it for another year. Put it in the donation box and get it out of your house. 

The same goes for any items that are damaged, chipped, torn, etc… Don’t keep it just because you already paid for it. If it no longer serves you, responsibly dispose of it. 

Holidays with presents are key (think birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, Hanukkah,etc…) times to declutter after. You just brought more items into your home, so it is a great time to get rid of what is not working.

Use the Poop Test

I heard this somewhere on the internet – it is not my idea, but it is so effective, I needed to share. If you know who created this, let me know so I can give credit! 

If you are really struggling to decide whether or not to keep something, imagine this: Your toddler got a hold of this item and took it in the backyard. When you finally found it, it had been dragged through dog poop. Would you clean the poop off of this item and use it, or would you toss it in the trash?

This is a hilarious (albeit crude) mental exercise but I swear to you it works! It makes it so much easier to decide if you still want something when it is covered in dog poop. 

Do any of these decluttering tips for moms work for you? What’s your favorite? Let me know in the comments below! 

For even more decluttering tips for moms, check out my Instagram page or these blog posts:

• Quick & Easy Decluttering Guide
• Decluttering Without Getting Overwhelmed
• Decluttering Your Kids Stuff