What to tackle first - house clutter

[edgeware]

I am in the first trimester with nausea and tiredness which doesn’t help matters, but I swear my home is making it worse. There is crap and chaos everywhere and I really, really need to get started somewhere with decluttering and organising, but everything feels overwhelming because I’m so tired. It’s not cleaning so much as decluttering that needs to happen. I just don’t know where to start.

Does anyone have any great tips for a method of tackling my house?
(I know Marie Kondo, of course, but the categories seem too time consuming! If I pull out every scrap of clothing in the house I’ll be here for days!)

Congratulations!
start with a drawer/cupboard/alcove and sort that. Bag items for donating or selling and tidy and rearrange what’s left. If you have the satisfaction of a tidy and easily accessed area it might give you a boost to do more. Don’t get overtired and be kind to yourself.

Start with the kitchen. Do the drawer of doom (the one with old bills, elastic bands, random cables etc) then move onto the pantry, fridge and utensils drawers.

Also you’ll most likely feel better a few weeks into your second trimester so give yourself some grace to ignore it for a few more weeks x

It doesn't matter where you start.
The vital bit is to start. Somewhere.
Get a (small) bin bag. Fill it with stuff fit for the bin. Or stuff for the charity shop. And then bin it or donate it.
Then sit and have a cup of tea. Do the same tomorrow.

Start small. One cupboard or one drawer or one worksurface a day. If you do more, great. If not don't worry.

You'll soon start noticing a difference and that will motivate you to do more.

Thank you all. Really appreciate it. Just some direction helps. I know I could just wait it out but everytime I sit in my house it brings me down! I’ve started in the kitchen with the miscellaneous crap littering the place. I am just going to chuck things in the boot of the car and take them to charity tomorrow.

Yes this
I buy blue bin bags off eBay do those are charity and can't be mistaken for rubbish
I have given up on eBay etc . I am broke but I am self employed and chasing after 5:6 an item for a second hand pair of mini boden trousers doesn't seem like a good use of my time and I picture how delighted someone would be to find them.

Also try setting a timer. It feel overwhelming to do too much at once. Set a timer for an amount of time you can handle and see how much rubbish you can find in that time. Once the junk you don't need is gone it will be easier to find a home for everything.

This is a good thread. I'm also totally overwhelmed by clutter and very short of time/energy.

I recently did the hallway. It took ages but it's so much better having a clear entryway into the house and a place for everything. We've been keeping it tidy since and it has definitely helped me feel better.

I've got one box of assorted crap I gathered up which I still need to go through so I'll try to get that done this week.

When things get out of control I make a rule for myself that when I go into a room I have to sort out five things. Any five things, so it could be putting five items of clothes away or into the laundry basket, five bits of rubbish in the bin, five bits of cutlery in the dishwasher, five empty envelopes out of the pile of letters into the trash. When I feel enthusiastic I do five harder things, when I’m tired I do the low hanging fruit. Things start to look better quite quickly and that usually makes me more motivated to finish, it’s the feeling of overwhelming chaos that stops me getting going.

I did my whole house in a week. One room, a day. Sort all the big things first. Say there's clothes, put dirty in the laundry basket, clean put away. Any big random things, do they have a home elsewhere? Are you not sure whether to keep or get rid? Any 'maybes', put in a another room, for another day. Work through all the big stuff, then the medium stuff. Small stuff goes last. You can sort through drawers another day, just get through the main eyesores so that room is clear.

I'd had depression for two years and had only kept up with the basics. My partner did his part but not as good as a deep clean! I used the time that my kids were at school to get done, them coming home would be my finishing time. It was so tedious but years later, I still live in a mostly minimal home and know that if I had to, I could get through all three floors in a day.

Oh! And when you're out shopping, think 'where will I be keeping/storing this?' before buying. Everything must have a home. You can organise things later, but definitely I'd remove the big things first. Give your eyes a break and your mind some mental space before starting on the smaller, more mental headspace to sort, stuff.

Last oh! Work starting from the far corner, working towards your door, so you can throw things into piles that you can put away/take to the bin/ charity bag at the end. The main drive is to leave the things you want, in its place Infront of you, taking all other things out towards the door as you work on the bigger things.

I did a big declutter a couple of years ago. My tips are:

Always have a small goal - eg I'll do this shelf (and I usually then went on and did the next one or two as well).

Stuff for the charity shop left the house immediately - so I either took it straightaway or put the bags in the car - nothing is more dispiriting than spending ages decluttering to see the place looking a mess due to charity shop bags everywhere.

Try to feel good about what you give away - I posted on a parents' email group that I had lots of craft stuff and children's books to give away and various families came with carrier bags to fill. Seeing the children getting pleasure from helping themselves made me feel happy. One of them even used some of the stuff they took to make me a thank you card! Also some charity shops have a scheme so they can claim gift aid on donations and send you a letter each year to tell you how much they made from selling your stuff - again it makes me happy to see that they have raised funds from my stuff.

Have a plastic box or similar for things you are going to sell to keep them tidy. If you can afford it have something in mind you'd like to buy with the money you raise (eg I told my DC I'd increase the budget for their Christmas stockings from what I made on selling their disused stuff - they got a lovely surprise on Christmas Day and I had fun looking for more expensive things to go in the stockings).

As you clear stuff create places for what you keep so that when you come in you don't just dump stuff as you now know where to put things away. It helps to prevent the problem building up again.

I also joined a decluttering thread on here - great support and after a couple of months I was able to look back over my posts and see just how much I'd done.

This is all really great thank you all!

I set a timer . I have to do as much as I can in 5 mins in each room each day . Sometimes I want to do more and that’s ok as long as I do the 5 mins . I listen to my audiobook at the same time .

I start with paper. Magazines, letters, doodles from kids just go in the bin/shredded.

lovely practical ideas and thoughts. I myself being an OCD person wrt everything must be in its place that i hv run out of places and am having a difficult time to declutter or rather part ways with remainder. Would love to hear some ideas if any to help out.

I cupboard/ wardrobe/room at a time
Start with the cupboards with all the bowls, cups, plates and serving dishes, chuck whatever you haven’t used since last November. It’ll clear up space for things on the counter.
Knicker drawer next, then wardrobe, it’ll be easy to be brutal here as you will need new clothes anyway, if something wasn’t worn last winter, out it goes. Reality also tells you, if it didn’t fit then, it’s not going to fit in 8 months time.
After that, you’ll be in a mind set to be realistic as to what you need to keep, rather than want to keep.
Don’t try to sell anything for a few quid or use one of the free sites, it’s usually more work than gain. Bin or donate.
Slow and steady

Start in your bedroom so you have a space to rest. Do a drawer a day to start with, and then a rail or surface once they're done. Look at where things are stored and whether there are better options.