Decluttering has always been a challenge for me. I grew up in a cluttered home. It’s always been hard for me to let go of things – I tend to get sentimental. I think the tendency to be cluttered runs in families – I get it from my parents, and I see the tendency in my children.

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I want to break out of that cycle and set a great example for my kids! One of the best things we can do as parents is to model the behavior that we want to see in our children. I want my kids to have a healthy relationship with things and a good attitude about homemaking. So that is something I strive for in myself! If I am motivated to declutter, I hope that motivation will rub off on my kids!

I wrote another article about spring cleaning and how to do it when you don’t really want to. Click here to read all about spring cleaning and making a cleaning routine.

This article focuses not on the dirt, but on the clutter.

Why You Should Declutter

Do you need some motivation for decluttering? Think about these things:

A neat home helps you clear your mind. Less overwhelm leads to less stress. Less stress leads to more relaxation, a happy family, and even better sleep!

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A decluttered home is easier to clean in the future! Be kind to future you and make her life easier!

How to Declutter

A fashionable catchphrase recently is the “KonMari method.” I bought Marie Kondo’s book last year that talks about tidying up and explains her method for doing so. Guess what – that book became another piece of my clutter.

It’s not that her ideas are bad – her ideas are great, obviously, as millions of people have bought her book. But her ideas aren’t right for me. Her idea is to gather all of your things in one place and go piece by piece through them and decide what brings you joy. That’s a nice idea – but I don’t have time for that. I have some time here and there, but not days to commit to getting it finished.

So when I have tried focusing on decluttering and reorganizing all at once like that, I end up not finishing because I run out of time. And then my old mess turns into a new mess of labeled piles that I intend to get to…and they get forgotten.

A New Way of Decluttering

Happily, I’ve found a new way! I signed up for a FREE challenge. The Amazing team at Ultimate Bundles teamed up with Dana K. White, the founder of ASlobComesClean.com to bring us the Declutter Your Scariest Space Challenge.

I tried it out last spring. I started with my bedroom, which is a space that’s been cluttered for far too long. Dana’s method works well for me because it is focused and it doesn’t move the mess around.

When you join the challenge, you are given a video to watch that explains her method, and you also get a free workbook to download. It can help with your motivation for decluttering because you see results right away! You can make progress without putting too much time into it.

The challenge ended in April 2019, but Dana’s ecourse, the 5-Day Clutter Shakedown, is available in the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle 2019. The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle includes tons of stuff, including 15 different courses/workbooks/printables/videos to help you on your decluttering and cleaning mission. And I have great news – October 15 & 16 only, the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is on sale!

And here is something awesome: If you were to buy Dana’s course by itself on her website, it would cost you $40. But if you buy the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle, you only pay $29.97 for the full bundle! So you get her course, which is made up of classes that you can use in either audio or video form, and you get to keep it forever…and you get 103 more products worth a total of $2294.37! What the what?!?!

Motivation for Decluttering

How do you keep going? Make it fun! Or at least make it pleasant!

1. Put on some music! Put on your favorites – for me, that’s 80’s music. OR think outside the box! Put on some Motown! Showtunes! 90’s alternative! Old-school hip-hop! Or if you’re like me…all of it! I don’t know about you, but when I here a song I haven’t heard in awhile that I love, it makes me happy!
2. Open the windows – let in some fresh air! Get rid of the clutter, get rid of the stale air.
3. Diffuse some oils! Choose some essential oils with a fresh scent and help your home to smell nice while you are making it look nice.
4. Set a timer- challenge yourself! How much can you get done in 15 minutes? 20? Pick a goal and go for it!
5. Pick one space to start with and FOCUS. This makes the difference between before and after exciting! Which is MOTIVATING!
6. Plan a reward! What do you get after you’ve focused for your set goal time? A cup of coffee? Half an hour of Netflix? Some online shopping? Choose something and look forward to it.
7. Buy yourself the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle 2019 and get some fabulous tips from experts for 98% off! Hurry, it’s only on sale until October 17, 2019.

If you want to learn more about why I think the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is a fantastic choice for busy moms, click on over to my article explaining all about it: Ultimate Homemaking Bundle