7 Clutter-Free Tricks If You Feel Frustrated When Decluttering

If you feel frustrated when decluttering, don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s easy to feel frustrated and overwhelmed when you are letting go. These clutter-free tricks will provide some relief.

Simplifying and decluttering is not all sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes you will feel frustrated when decluttering. You may also feel sad, stuck and annoyed. It’s natural that we’ll feel all of the emotions when embarking on a task like decluttering. Because letting go of stuff can take a long time and require you to make hard decisions it’s understandable that you may feel frustrated while decluttering. AND, you deserve some relief.

Even though these decluttering tricks can save you some frustration, remember that you are allowed to feel your feelings. When I feel frustrated and wish I had it all figured out, I remember that the messiest times of my life have inspired the most change and growth. We are messy. It’s part of the human condition. Highs, lows, ups, downs … all of it comes with being human, even when we’ve simplified. On the days when you aren’t your best, and when things are messy, be gentle with yourself. Don’t expect or demand more than you have to give. We can’t simplify our way into a perfect life. Remind yourself that “perfect” isn’t real. The messes have something to offer.

7 Clutter-Free Tricks to Try If You Feel Frustrated When Decluttering

I’ve used all of these tricks during the times I felt frustrated when decluttering or while doing other things I didn’t really enjoy. These reminders if you struggle to declutter will help too. As you let go of the physical clutter, like clothes you don’t wear, coffee cups that never come out of the cabinet and other things you don’t adore or use, let go of the emotional clutter too. Say goodbye to the guilt, sadness, anger and other things that may come up as you release your stuff.

1. Host a yard sale where everything is free.

Take all the pressure off what to donate and what to sell by giving it all away. You won’t have to drive your stuff to the donation center or the dump and everything will find a home. Invite friends and family first and let them take what you don’t want, then open it up to the public. If there are organizations in your area that will do a donation pickup, schedule it for the end of the yard sale so everything goes.

2. Add music to your decluttering efforts.

It’s hard to feel frustrated when decluttering if Dancing Queen by Abba is playing in the background. Music is one way to to shift your mental chatter. Instead of listening to your doubts and frustration, tune in to a fun decluttering playlist like this one or this one. Make your own playlists too for when you want more energy or good vibes while you continue to let go. Using a playlist is a good way to time your decluttering sessions too. Create playlists that are eleven minutes, an hour or something in between depending on your time and energy availability.

3. Make it easier to decide what to sell or donate.

One of the most frustrating things about decluttering is deciding what to do with all of your stuff. Instead of making a decision about every single thing you want to declutter, make it easier by creating a rule. For instance, when we were decluttering our home, we were also paying off lots of debt. We wanted to sell as much as possible without getting too bogged down in yard sales and classified ads. We decided to sell anything worth $50 or more and donate anything less. Once we were out of debt, we gave even more away because it wasn’t worth the time and energy to sell it.

Everyone is different so choose a rule that will work best for you. If you want to donate most of your things, you could use this list of where to donate things or make it even easier and put everything outside, take a picture and post a classified ad that says, “FREE STUFF” and see what happens. We had great success with this strategy and it removed a bunch of frustration when we were decluttering.

4. Gamify your decluttering efforts.

Sometimes the way to deflate frustration when decluttering is to have a little fun. Turn decluttering into a game, challenge or experiment so it doesn’t feel like so much of a chore. Gamifying if you are frustrated when decluttering can help you make progress, include other people for more help and it can encourage you to keep going. Try a minimalist scavenger hunt, The Mins Game, or this Decluttering Burst where you’ll let go of one hundred items in less than an hour! If you need a decluttering list, try this list of 75 things. For something less formal, try tracking your progress by the number of items you let go of or the time you spend decluttering.

5. Stop decluttering to rest and reflect.

The one thing that won’t make you less frustrated while decluttering is pushing through at all costs. Even when you need to declutter quickly, you can take breaks, rest and reflect. It may even be time to stop decluttering. We’ve carried the “no pain, no gain” mentality around for so long and frankly, it’s getting heavy. What if we didn’t wear ourselves out when decluttering or doing other things? What if tiny, gentler steps actually worked better? Schedule regular breaks throughout your decluttering sessions and prioritize consistency over intensity. Decluttering a few items every day is going to feel better than trying to get rid of everything in one weekend. If you absolutely must declutter when you don’t feel like it, these tips will help.

6. Hide it all instead of letting go (at first).

If your decluttering frustration is causing ongoing stress, give yourself an opportunity to sample simplicity and more spaciousness without actually letting anything go. Instead, box up anything you might consider decluttering (even if you aren’t sure). Tape up the boxes and get them as out of sight as possible. If you don’t miss anything and/or really enjoy the space you create, you will be able to let go with more ease when it’s the right time. I recommend not labeling the boxes. You may even forget what felt so hard to release.

7. Temptation bundle your decluttering tasks.

According to an article in Forge, an online publication on personal development, the term “temptation bundling” was coined by the behavior researcher, Katherine Milkman and her colleagues in a 2014 study. Here’s how it works: Basically, you “bundle” a source of instant gratification (like checking Instagram or watching a show) with a beneficial but less fun “should” activity (like running on the treadmill, working on a spreadsheet, or…going through your piles of papers or photos). In Milkman’s study, the researchers gave participants iPods with four audio novels they wanted to listen to—but they could only access the iPod while working out. By and large, the participants’ gym attendance increased when an indulgence was tied to it.

To use temptation bundling to help you declutter, try this: When you are decluttering photos or paper, work on piles while you listen to a podcast or watch your favorite movie. You could declutter a junk drawer while chatting with a good friend or clean out your closet while listening to an audiobook. So often we reward ourselves with these things but I recommend enjoying them along the way.

Whether you are frustrated when decluttering because you feel guilty for holding on to stuff for so long, or because you don’t know how long it will take to get rid of everything, give these 7 clutter-free tricks a try. Look forward to feeling some relief and enjoying a frustration-free, clutter-free space.