9 Decluttering Reminders When You Need a Boost of Motivation

If you’re looking for a boost of motivation to declutter and simplify your home and life, you’re in the right place! Today, I’m sharing 9 important decluttering reminders to help you get back on track if you feel stuck on your decluttering journey. Or if you’re simply looking for a way to get motivated to clear the clutter and create a home you love!

9 Decluttering Reminders When You Need a Boost of Motivation

1. Reclaim Your Time & Space

When you’re decluttering, one of the best things to remember is that everything you own not only takes up some of your space but also some of your time.

The things you own aren’t passive. They actively take time, space and energy from you. You have to take care of each item, clean it, clean around it, organize it, pick it up, put it away, look for it, etc. All of which takes time and energy from you.

It might not seem like a big deal for each item individually. But when you add up the time all of the items in your home take from you collectively, it can be a lot!

Remind yourself that the more you declutter and get rid of what you don’t use, need or love, the more time and energy you’ll have for the things, people and activities you love and value most. You have the power to reclaim a good portion of your time and space. Simply by clearing the clutter you don’t even need!

Plus, if you ever feel like you don’t have enough space, you might just need to declutter. You might have all the space you need once you get rid of the clutter.

2. Long Term Gains

There’s no way around it, decluttering is a lot of work. Sorting through and making decisions about every item you own takes a lot of time and energy.

But the more work you put in in the short term, the more time and energy you’ll free up for yourself later. Remind yourself of the long-term advantages you stand to gain by doing the work to declutter now.

Every piece of clutter you get rid of is one less thing taking up your time and energy in the future.

3. Improve Common Sources of Stress

Decluttering isn’t the solution to every stressful situation in life. But it is amazing how many sources of stress can be improved by clearing the clutter!

From creating more time in your days and space in your home, to helping you feel less overwhelmed by mess in your home. From reducing financial stress to making it easier to maintain and take care of your home. Clearing the clutter can even help you feel more confident in yourself and clearer about your values, goals and priorities.

If nothing else, decluttering means the amount of stuff in your home won’t be adding to your stress. Your home will be easier to manage and take care of. And keeping up with your home won’t feel so overwhelming or daunting.

Reminding yourself of these benefits of decluttering and the other ways it can improve your life and reduce stress is a great way to stay motivated while you’re decluttering.

4. One Step at a Time

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unmotivated to declutter, it’s often because you’re focusing on all the work ahead of you to declutter your entire home.

Instead of thinking about everything you need to do to declutter your entire home, simply focus on one small task at a time.

For example, instead of thinking about decluttering your entire wardrobe, focus on decluttering your sock drawer, your pyjamas, or your sweatshirts. Breaking the work down into smaller, more manageable, less stressful steps is a great way to make decluttering feel less overwhelming and more doable.

Anytime you feel overwhelmed about decluttering, think of one small project you can tackle. Remind yourself that each small decluttering project will add up to give you great progress over time.

5. Focus on What You Can Control

Another barrier to decluttering many people face is when a spouse, partner or kids aren’t as excited about decluttering as you are. Or maybe they are downright resistant to the idea of getting rid of anything.

When this happens, a great decluttering reminder is to focus on what you can control. You might not be able to get your spouse to declutter their things. But you can certainly work on decluttering your things. Your clothes, your books, your make-up, your shoes, etc.

You can make your life easier by decluttering the stuff you have full control over. And when you start experiencing the benefits of decluttering for yourself, you just might inspire your spouse or family to give it a try too!

6. Small Steps Lead to Big Progress

Sometimes it can feel discouraging when you’re not making big dramatic changes in your home while you’re decluttering. Sure you’re decluttering. But it’s a little bit at a time and it’s hard to see the difference it’s making right away.

Remind yourself that every piece of clutter you remove from your home is taking you one step closer to reaching your decluttering goals. Small steps, repeated consistently, add up to big results.

Sometimes, when you’re decluttering slowly, it’s easy to lose sight of the difference you’re making in your home. You get used to the clutter-free spaces you’re creating slowly, one at a time. And forget how much of a difference that work is making. It can be helpful to take before, during and after pictures of your spaces. Use them to remind yourself of the progress you’re making, even when it’s easy to lose sight of it.

7. Progress, Not Perfection

It can be tempting to want to declutter your home and create a “Pinterest perfect” home quickly when you’re decluttering. Then feel disappointed when you can’t declutter and create that perfect home as quickly or as easily as you expected to.

Instead, focus on making progress when you’re decluttering, rather than achieving perfection.

For example, instead of expecting to declutter an entire room in one day, plan to declutter one shelf, drawer, box, or section of the room at a time.

Or instead of expecting to create a perfectly organized, clutter-free space with matching containers and perfect lighting, aim to create a functional space with less clutter, regardless of what it looks like in the end.

Aim to improve your space by reducing as much clutter as you can. Focusing on making progress, not setting expectations of perfection.

8. Remember Why You Started

Another great decluttering reminder to keep you motivated and on track is remembering why you started decluttering in the first place.

What do you want to achieve in your home and your life? What do you want more of? Less of? What do you want more time and energy for? Why do you want to reduce the amount of stuff in your home?

The clearer you can get about why you want to declutter, the more it will motivate you later on to keep putting in the work.

9. Embrace Your Own Pace

And finally, one last decluttering reminder is to embrace your own pace while you’re decluttering.

Some spaces might feel quick and easy to declutter. Others might be more challenging and time-consuming.

Some days you might feel motivated and excited to declutter. Other days you might drag yourself to do it and feel like you didn’t make any progress.

Some items might be easy for you to let go of. Others might be a struggle and take more time to be ready to let go of.

Wherever you’re at on your decluttering journey, embrace it. Accept it and be kind to yourself. Decluttering isn’t always easy, but you’re putting in the work. And every single piece of clutter you let go of is one less thing taking up your time, space and energy.

Use these decluttering reminders to keep you focused, motivated and on track. You’ve got this. Keep going!