Ep 38: Why I Love the QUICK Decluttering Method

Are you tired of looking around your home and seeing piles of stuff, things to finish, and just clutter that you dread going through?

I get it. I’ve been in your shoes and tried the most popular methods of clearing out the clutter from our home, but there was lots of information that just didn’t fit with our need for things to change fast.

After all, we’re a busy family. As a mom, I have too much going on in a day to take out everything I own and sort through it, like the Konmari Method says I should. I can’t remove all of my furniture and put it back like an interior designer, a la the Cozy Minimalist method. And especially with COVID looming in the air, I do not want to think about dying, like I need to with Swedish Death Cleaning.

So I combined the best tactics of these popular methods - and some fringe decluttering ideas - into the 5 simple steps of the QUICK Decluttering Method. These steps work for ANYONE and can be done at your own pace.

Start small with just one drawer, one shelf, or one room. Or go big and tackle your entire home in a weekend.

Either way, just follow the steps in order and you will banish clutter from your home quicker than you thought possible. :)

I am loving the decluttered feeling of our home and so want that for you too. Give it a try and let me know how it goes!

This episode of the Wannabe Minimalist Show will help you discover:

What QUICK Decluttering is and how it works
Why the QUICK Declutter Method is different from other methods
The exact steps to make decluttering quicker than ever
How to make sure clutter never returns
The best way to start decluttering and why this step is often missed

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Why QUICK Decluttering is my favorite way to clear clutter

Why I love the QUICK method for decluttering

TRANSCRIPT

You’re listening to the Wannabe Minimalist Show with Deanna Yates Episode number 38. I am so excited for today’s episode and can hardly believe I have not talked about it on the show yet. I’m diving into my QUICK Decluttering Method to help you concur your clutter once and for all!! Honestly, I’ve tried a bunch of different decluttering methods and this combines the best of what works and leaves out the things that don’t.

Hey there wannabe minimalist friends! Welcome back to the show. As always, I’m your host Deanna Yates, creator of LittleGreenBow.com and the wannabe minimalist podcast.

In today’s episode I’m sharing my QUICK Decluttering method with you. All it takes is 5 simple steps to turn your home into the one you’ve been dreaming about.

I’ve tried the most popular methods of decluttering (and maybe some fringe ones too). That’s what lead me to creating the QUICK Decluttering Method. QUICK Decluttering combines the best strategies from Konmari, the Cozy Minimalist, Swedish Death Cleaning, and just good ol’ fashioned functional decluttering and breaks them down into easy bite-sized steps that can work for anyone. Even if you’re a mom at home with 2 little kids underfoot all day.

I’ll walk you through the exact 5 steps (and of course it’s an acronym so it will be easy to remember). My favorite part is that you can use the QUICK Decluttering Method on one room at a time or your whole house. This can be adapted to get through all of your stuff in a weekend or you can be more methodical and do it little by little. And, don’t worry…I created a free download because if you’re like me, you finally get a minute to listen to podcasts when you’re cooking or running errands and there’s no way you can remember all of this with everything else you have going on. So, follow along with this podcast, then download the free Guide and come back when you’re ready to put the steps into practice and I will be right by your side as you do it.

Alright, before we get to the details of the 5 steps, make sure you grab the show notes for today’s episode and the free QUICK Decluttering Method Guide at littlegreenbow.com/38. Once again that’s littlegreenbow.com/38.

Now, let’s get to work.

First let’s look at why QUICK Decluttering works and how it differs from the other popular decluttering methods?

The QUICK Decluttering Method works because it keeps you focused on the task and does not overwhelm you.

Like Konmari, you will go through everything you own, but you will not drag everything out of your closets and force yourself to face a giant pile of stuff. Look, I have tried that in the past and it sucks for a couple of reasons.

The first is that it makes you feel pretty bad.

I know that Marie Kondo is trying to shock people into realizing just how much stuff they have, but I think deep down most of us know we have too much. It’s overflowing out of closets and piled up in corners for goodness sake. You don’t need it taking over your bed too. And you certainly do not need any more fuel for the negative emotions you already feel about your home.

The QUICK Method has you sort items as you take them out of your spaces so that the task is not overwhelming. It eliminates a step (making it faster), and lets you see progress right away. I love positive feedback so this method works so much better for me.

The second reason the QUICK Method works is that it takes the underlying questions about your stuff from Swedish Death Cleaning - like how you want to be remembered and what you want your stuff to say about you - but gives the decluttering process more appropriate deadlines. None of us want to think about dying, but we also can use these principles to think about how we want to live.

The third reason I love QUICK Decluttering is that it gives you a plan that works for each space. For me this is most like the Cozy Minimalist Method. With Cozy Minimalism, you remove all the items from your space and only put back the items that make the room feel cozy. There are lots of design elements that go into that method. However, instead of taking everything out of a room - not many of us have time for that with everyone home all the time and little ones to take care of - QUICK Decluttering establishes the tone, purpose, and emotions you want to feel in each room of your house. With those set, decluttering becomes much easier.

And finally, QUICK Decluttering works because it can be customized by whoever is doing it. Just like with functional decluttering you are in the driver’s seat and are in charge of the process.

But, what are the exact steps to follow with QUICK Decluttering?

As I said, there are just 5, but they are very powerful when you follow them in order. And that’s the real secret. It totally matters which step you start with.

QUICK stands for:

Q - Question the purpose

U - Uncover what you have

I - Into the piles it all goes

C - Curate your favorites

K - Keep the clutter away

Don’t forget you can get the show notes for today’s episode along with a free QUICK Decluttering Workbook at LittleGreenBow.com/38 (Click this link to download your free workbook)

Okay let’s look at each step.

Step One: Q - Question the purpose

This is the most important step! It lays the foundation for each space in your home and makes everything function like a well-oiled machine. It customizes your home to you and your family and gives you that feeling of “ah!” that you have been after.

The best way to start is by examining the purpose of each room, instead of looking at your home as one entire space. This breaks the task down and makes it much easier. When each space has a purpose, or a task/activity that takes place there, you’ll be able to make quicker decisions about the items you need in each space.

Let’s look at an example starting in your kitchen. The purpose of your kitchen is to cook and store food. You might also use the space to gather as a family at the end of the day or create art masterpieces and science experiments with your kiddos. It’s a multi-use space!

But, we can all agree that this is not where we sleep at night so we would never store our pillows, blankets, or bed in the kitchen. On the flip side, you would never put your utensil holder on your nightstand because that is not the most convenient place to grab a fork when it’s time for dinner.

Now, I know these are absurd examples, but it helps to make the point that each room has a purpose. The QUICK Decluttering method helps you determine this purpose so that you can be very clear about what items you need in each room.

Giving each room a purpose helps you figure out what items you want to have in each space, makes it easier to see what items no longer fit with the purpose of that room, and - possibly the best part - where to find your things going forward when the declutter process is complete.

This first step has a part 2 if you are looking to take it up a level and not just clear out your home, but really love being in it as well.

And isn’t that something we all want - to actually enjoy living in our home.

The good news is that it’s pretty easy. All you need to do is come up with 3 emotions you want to feel when you are in each room of your home.

For example, the emotions for your bedroom may be relaxing, sexy, and calm. Your kids room may be fun, vibrant, and playful. Have fun with this! Your home is YOUR space. Make it personal to your family and watch it come to life.

I promise this works!

But, my favorite part about attaching emotions to each room is that decluttering gets so so so much easier. All of a sudden you look at the extra single chair you have in your bedroom and think, “it might be relaxing, but I never spend time in here sitting in that chair and it’s become the laundry stand. That’s not sexy or relaxing and it definitely does not make me calm.”

See how ask if each thing helps invoke the emotion you want feel in each space makes it easier to make a decision about what to keep instead of trying to figure out if something is useful?

This is a pretty simple step, but it’s one that often gets overlooked. Start by questioning the purpose of each room and list out the emotions you want to feel when you’re there. This will make the actual decluttering process much easier as we complete the other steps.

Step 2: U - Uncover what you have

This second step is the closest to the Konmari Method. But, instead of pulling everything out, I want you to just go through every nook and cranny in the room and make a note of what you have.

The QUICK Declutter Method workbook has a worksheet to help with this so don’t forget to pick up your free copy on my website.

For many of us we just forget what we have tucked away in each space. This is why we run into trouble and the clutter and stress start piling up.

Maybe you’ve stored your tools in several different areas. Some are in the entry closet, the bigger ones are in the garage, and there are a few screws and screwdrivers in the junk drawer. Or maybe you have some kids toys in the living room and some in their bedroom, and during this process you find some toys in * gasp * your bedroom.

Well, no wonder you have a hard time finding what you need when you need it! It’s hard enough to keep track of where things are when there’s only one place to find them - but most of us have things scattered in lots of different places. There are some items here and some items there instead of being in just one location for you to remember.

Honestly, we need to be real with ourselves and be okay with the reality that there’s just too much going on in or lives. It’s okay to simplify and give each of our things ONE place to belong.

When our things do not have a place to belong they are haphazardly placed around our home. That’s how I used to do it (and how it still happens sometimes when life is super chaotic). We’ll get to giving things a place to go in step 4, but before we can create order, we need to know what we have. So in this step look through your room and uncover what you have stored and kept in each room.

This step does not take much time and after you’ve done a room or two, you may combine this step with step 3.

As you start, I recommend completing this process one room at a time. For example, if you are decluttering your bedroom and find things that belong in the office, make a pile and take those items to the room they belong in. You can declutter those things once you get to that room, in this case the office. This will help keep you on task and help you see ALL of the things you own when you get to that space.

On the other hand, if you have already decluttered your bedroom and find something later in a different room that belongs in your bedroom, you need to give it a permanent home or declutter it.

Step 3: I - Into the piles it all goes

Yay, you’re almost 1/2 way through the steps.

The third step in the QUICK Decluttering Meth od is where we start to see our progress. I’m not gonna lie things get messy, but it's all part of the process. It’s not like things are super neat right now anyway and the payoff is completely worth it!

After you have snooped around your room, uncovered your belongings, and taken some items to other rooms where they definitely belong, the third step is to sort each item left in your room and put it in one of three piles.

The three piles are:

1. Toss/Recycle

2. Keep

3. Donate/Give

I want you to resist the urge to keep things just in case. If you have not used something in over a year, the likelihood that you will need it in the future is slim. And I have found that I can often substitute for a lot of things when necessary.

Here’s an example you are probably familiar with…have you ever thought you were out of food and HAD TO go grocery shopping, but your family was desperate to eat something right then. You dug around the pantry, looked in the freezer, and magically whipped up something with items you had on hand? It’s kinda like that. Our brains can get really creative when we give them the opportunity.

Another good rule of thumb if you are struggling to declutter something, is to look at how much it would cost to replace it if you did absolutely need it again. If you can replace something for less than $20 (or $10 if money is tighter) and you’re not sure if you’ll need it in the future, it’s okay to let it go as it would be easy to replace.

From personal experience, I can’t even think of something right now that I’ve had to replace when using this method so I’d recommend giving it a try.

Now, you might notice that I did not include a sell pile in the list here. One of the most common questions I get is, “Can’t I make a lot of money if I sell my things?” The answer is you might be able to, but selling your things takes a lot of work.

If you are not working and money is tight, then by all means, set up a Craigslist account, bundle clothes in good condition to sell on eBay, and list your big ticket items.

But, if you are working full time, have a family, and still want to have a semblance of a life, my advice is to donate items you no longer want and use the time to do something fun instead.

Most likely the hourly rate you would make by selling your things is pretty low and even if you go the sell route, I would donate anything worth less than $10.

If you struggle to make a decision on an item, ask yourself the following questions:

Do I actually use this item on a regular basis?
Do I value this item or is there another reason I'm holding on to it?
Is this item in usable condition, or is it broken and worn beyond repair?
Do I have duplicates of this item that I enjoy more?
Is there someone in my life who would love to have this item?

This is a big step, but don’t get hung up here. Put on some good tunes, set a timer, and make a decision as quickly as possible. As you get more practice this will get easier. You can always revisit a space later as you get better at decluttering. It’s more important to just get through this first pass than it is to get it perfect.

Step 4: C - Curate Your Favorites

Now's when it starts to get fun! The fourth step of the QUICK Declutter Method is to put the items from your keep pile back into your room.

The secret here is use the purpose for the room and the emotions you want to feel in the space (from step 1) to determine which of your favorites get to stay here and those that need to find a home elsewhere.

For example, if you want your bedroom to feel relaxing, serene, and sexy it may not be the best place to keep your treadmill. Or if this is the ONLY place in your home for the treadmill - and you ACTUALLY use it on a regular basis - consider how you can hide it or separate it from the rest of your space. Can you use curtains, a room divider, or rearrange the furniture so that the emotions you want to feel here shine through from the moment you open the door?

Be honest with yourself and your family. This is your home and what stays in it should be decided on by the people who live there. Make sure you only display things you love (or that your family loves!). It doesn’t matter if it fits with the latest trend as long as it makes the people in your home happy. Remember, sometimes the most amazing decor is thanks to the story behind the items, not because they match or fit with the latest designs.

I also want to give you full permission to let go of anything in your home that brings you down, makes you feel guilty, reminds you of something negative, or you just don’t like. This is true even if the item was a gift.

As long as you showed appreciation to the gift giver when you received it, you are under no obligation to keep the thing until you’re 6 feet under. Got it? I know this can be a hard one so take a minute to appreciate the person and their thoughtfulness before you let the item go to bring joy to someone else.

I’ll give you a story about a very sentimental item from my life. My husband had this adorable child’s rocking chair that his grandfather had handmade for him and his brother. Our daughter used it when she was little, but it was no longer in use and was just collecting dust in our garage. We listed it for free in our local buy nothing group on Facebook and the sweetest family came to get it.

She left us the nicest thank you note and that chair is being truly cherished by another family. That stuff feels amazing!! So much better than the guilt of what to do with a chair that did not fit in our home.

So, once you have curated only your favorite things for each space, you can start to give them a home and a place to belong. If you are new to putting things back to where they belong, it can be helpful to use labels in the beginning.

I struggled with this in the beginning too because I think I’m naturally messy and always so busy so instead of putting something where it belonged, I would put it on the first surface I could see. But, having a label for where each item goes makes it easier to remember where to put things, even if it’s at the end of the day. And knowing is half the battle, right?

As things settle into their new homes, your space will become cleaner, tidier, and neater. Plus, it really does start to become a habit and second nature.

But remember, if something doesn’t make the cut and is not curated as one of your favorites (or family favorites - we’re not tossing their items that we don't like), it’s time to let it go.

And the final step…

Step 5: K - Keep clutter away

You did it! Your room is looking and feeling amazing. Now, let’s keep it that way with the final step in the QUICK declutter method. This step is to make sure you never have to do the first 4 again and make sure the clutter does not return to your home.

There is absolutely nothing worse than decluttering your whole home only to find it feels clutter again a month later (trust me!). But, with this simple step you’ll avoid the backslide and maintain your clutter-free home.

These clutter-resistant routines have worked so well for my family that I know they will work for yours too.

I have listed 3 here, but if you are interested in diving into more daily routines that we do, check out episode 17. It’s all about the routines I use to simplify everyday life as a mom. (https://www.littlegreenbow.com/wannabe-minimalist-show/episode-17-routines-simplify-everyday-mom-life)

But, back to keeping clutter out of your home…

The first clutter-resistant routine is the 15-minute clean up. Every evening - we recently switched our clean up time to right after dinner and before we get dessert - we spend 15 minutes or less straightening up our home as a family.

We put away toys or craft supplies that are out, clean up the kitchen from dinner, put away any laundry that needs to be finished, and take anything else that’s out of place back to it’s home. This is when those labels really come in handy. If I’ve just put something on the closest surface, it gets put away during this period.

I cannot tell you how much this has cut down on my guilt for not having the time to keep my home in complete order throughout the day. Now I get to enjoy life and the messes we make knowing it will get sorted before bed.

The second clutter-resistant routine is the drop zone. The idea is to have a box or basket on each floor or in the major areas of your home where you can easily put items you no longer want. Regularly go through your closet, bookshelf, utensil drawer, craft supplies, or anything else and ask yourself (or kids) if they still use or want these things. If the answer is no, pop it in the drop zone and take it all to the donation center when filled.

I ask my daughter about every 3 - 4 months about her things and we make sure to go through it all at least once a year near Christmas. We’re about to set up a desk for school and redecorate her room in Unicorns and Rainbows - seriously looking forward to showing you the results - but that will come with a big declutter of the toys she has.

Make this “stuff evaluation” part of your routine and it will never feel like a big dreaded chore to get to.

And finally, the third clutter-resistant routine is the 2-minute rule. If any task can be completed in 2 minutes or less, go ahead and do it instead of putting it off until later. This includes things like putting dishes in the dishwasher, sorting the mail, and completing that load of laundry.

If you skip doing these tasks in the moment, they start to add up and become big chores in your head. Before you know it, you’re overwhelmed and stressed so take the few seconds to complete them when you’re in the moment. You will be surprised at what you can get accomplished in just a few minutes.

By incorporating these super simple clutter-resistant routines everyday, your daily life will not change that much, but your home will remain clutter free and the big things in life will be so much easier.

So let’s recap the QUICK Decluttering Method.

QUICK stands for:

Q - Question the purpose

U - Uncover what you have

I - Into the piles it all goes

C - Curate your favorites

K - Keep the clutter away

There are just 5 simple steps, but they are very powerful when you follow them in order. These are the exact steps I use when decluttering and have been developed from years of trying the most popular decluttering methods out there.

What do you think? Ready to give the QUICK Decluttering Method a try? Which room will you declutter first? I’d love to hear about it and cheer you on!

Come on over to my free Wannabe Minimalist Facebook Group, introduce yourself, and share your thoughts. I’m so excited to hear from you and help encourage you on your journey toward less stuff, more happiness, and an awesome life you and your family deserve.

The group is totally free and you can find us by clicking on this link or by searching for Wannabe Minimalist on Facebook. I want to meet you there and hear about your journey. Learning from all of you is one of my favorite things so I hope to see you there.

And don’t forget if you would like to get all of the show notes for today’s episode along with the QUICK Decluttering Method Workbook you can find it all at little green bow dot com slash 38. Once again get all the show notes and the links for everything we talked about today on my website at littlegreenbow.com/38. (Click this link to download your free workbook)

And, before we go, as always, I love hearing from you so if you have any questions about what we talked about today, or any other topics you would like to see addressed please reach out either via email at hello@littlegreenbow.com, or at Facebook.com/littlegreenbow. You can also join my free Wannabe Minimalist group on Facebook where we deep dive into more topics to help you on your journey to minimalism - no matter what that looks like for you and your family.

That just about wraps it up for this episode of the Wannabe Minimalist show.

Thank you so much for joining me to today and if you liked what you heard, it would make my day if you would leave a review on iTunes and while you’re there please take a second to subscribe to be notified of new episodes. This helps others find the show too.

Okay last thing for today. Be sure to join me next week for another guest episode. This time I will be talking to Sarah Baehr from the Baehr Necessities about how a big life change caused her to seek a more simplified and minimalistic life with her family. Plus we chat about decluttering with kids - always a hot topic. You won’t want to miss it. See you next week.