How to Declutter Your Home During COVID-19

Spring cleaning is a little different this year — but for the better. Due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and social distancing, you’re locked inside. Any clutter you’ve been shoving away physically and mentally is staring you in the face.

Now’s the time to take action. Here are some tips for decluttering your home during COVID-19.

Start Small and Go Room-By-Room

Decluttering your entire house seems daunting. Instead, break up your home by room and start small.

The bathroom is an excellent starting point. Knocking out your bathroom first will give you the momentum to keep decluttering. Take everything out of every cabinet and drawer and wipe down the cabinets and drawers. Then, you can decide which items you truly need and what you can get rid of.

After that, move from room to room. Don’t proceed to the next room until the room you’re currently decluttering is finished.

Create Separate Bins

Organization is key to a successful declutter. Create several bins for

• Donating
• Trash
• Recycling
• Shredding
• Moving to other rooms

And label each one as such. Use clear bins so you can see exactly which items each bin contains.

As you move from room to room, you can identify which item should go in which bin.

Once you’re done decluttering, you can decide on which items in the “other rooms” bin go where. If you can’t decide where the item should go, you can leave it in the “other rooms” bin and store it away for another time.

Don’t Keep Old Mail

A lot of people let mail pile up on their counters, promising to themselves that they’ll look at it later.

If you didn’t open it when it arrived, then it probably wasn’t important in the first place.

Set a basket or bowl on your counter and only put genuinely important mail in it. Even then, don’t let the mail sit there too long or you’ll be defeating the purpose. Ditch any unimportant mail the moment it arrives.

Getting Rid of the Clutter

Normally, you’d be able to donate all your old items in your bin labeled “trash”. However, many donation centers, such as Goodwill, have closed their doors during the pandemic.

Don’t throw your stuff away, though, because you could sell it online for some cash. Sites and apps like eBay, Poshmark, ThredUP, and Mercari are still operating — although your items may ship slower.

Find a Home For Every Item You Kept

Now’s your chance to reduce your need for future spring cleaning! To make your annual declutter easier for many years to come — and to reduce your chance of losing stuff — make sure everything has a “home”.

Your keys, for example, should hang on a hook or sit in a dish near your door. Don’t put them on your bed, in a bag, or on the table.

You should keep similar objects in the same room, too. Don’t put some office supplies in your study and others in a kitchen drawer. Keep them ALL in the study. You’ll be able to find everything much faster — plus, you’ll be able to more easily identify items you no longer need.

Remember to Sanitize Your Home

Given the COVID-19 situation, you should sanitize your home as you declutter it. Wipe down every area where your items sit and spray with disinfectant. Let the disinfectant air dry.

Times are stressful right now. By following these tips, you can reduce your home’s clutter and bring down your stress levels — vital to staying sane while you’re locked inside!