The art of decluttering and organizing your home can often feel like an endless battle—one filled with piles of things that seem to multiply overnight. If you’re feeling stuck, sometimes all it takes is a few simple, guiding questions to turn the chaos into calm. In fact, professional organizer Tracy McCubbin can boil it all down to five.
Take a deep breath, start with one room (or even one corner) at a time, and if—ahem, when—you get stuck, don’t fret. “When you’re stuck and can’t choose whether something should stay or if it should go,” says McCubbin, founder and CEO of dClutterfly, “ask yourself these five questions to make the choice easier.”
The answers should guide and simplify your decision-making.
- Tracy McCubbin, organization expert, author, speaker, and founder and CEO of dClutterfly a premiere decluttering home service
Do I have the space for this?
miniseries / Getty Images
We all want our homes to feel spacious and open, but that’s hard to achieve if we constantly add more without removing anything. When considering whether to toss or keep an item, ask yourself if you really have the space for it.
“Not shoved into a closet so that every time you open the closet door, it falls on your head. Not tucked away in a back corner that makes it inaccessible,” McCubbin is sure to note. “If it has a designated home, like a drawer that it fits neatly into, it can stay. If you don’t have a space for it, you have too much stuff and it needs to be decluttered.”
Do you use it on a semi-regular basis?
When it comes to everyday items like kitchen appliances, tools, or even clothes, ask yourself whether you’re actually using them. You don’t need to keep something just because it was expensive or because you’ve had it for years. If it hasn’t seen the light of day in a while, it’s probably not going to make a reappearance anytime soon.
As a rule of thumb, McCubbin says to reconsider items that aren’t used at least once a year. “I have a huge silver platter that I use every year at Thanksgiving when I cook the turkey. It takes up so much space in my garage, but I won’t get rid of it because I know I use it once a year,” she says. “On the other hand, if you have sleeping bags that haven’t been on a camping trip in 10 years, they should go.”
Do you love love LOVE it?
Daniel Ingold / Getty Images
It’s simple but effective and one of the most powerful questions to ask when you’re overwhelmed with clutter. Sentimental items are often the hardest to part with. But it’s worth asking yourself whether keeping something truly honors the memory or if it’s simply taking up valuable space.
According to McCubbin, “If this item makes you happy and you really truly love it, it can stay. If you are holding onto it because someone else loved it, it was a gift from someone or any other reason that has nothing to do with your own emotions, it can go.”
“Keep something because YOU love it,” she says.
What’s the worst thing that will happen if I get rid of this?
“Trust that you can let it go, and the world won’t come crashing down around you,” says McCubbin. Sometimes, we hold onto things because we’re afraid we’ll regret it later. But when you ask yourself, “What’s the worst thing that will happen if I get rid of this?” you’ll often realize the consequences aren’t nearly as dire as you imagined.
“If you are holding onto something for the ‘someday’ that you might use it, have you considered [the difficulty of] getting it again in the future?” McCubbin asks. “You can let go of the bike pump that you have just in case your tires deflate on the bikes you haven’t ridden in years, and know that you can borrow one from a neighbor.”
She adds, “In my 20 years of decluttering, I almost never see anyone who finds that they actually need those items once they let them go. ”
Is it making you money?
zeljkosantrac / Getty Images
“Do you use it for work, or does it help you generate income? If yes, it stays,” says McCubbin. “If you are hanging onto it because you think it may be worth money and you might eventually put it up on eBay, get rid of it. Most of the time, things aren’t worth as much as you think they are and rarely sell for what you expect them to, so wouldn’t you rather have that space back in your home?”
The reality is that if something is not currently serving you, it’s just taking up space. Focus on items that you actively use or that are truly meaningful. If the item doesn’t enrich your life or wallet, it might be time to let it go.
