How to Declutter & Organize your entire house with a busy schedule

how to declutter and organize your home with a busy schedule free guide stylish pharmacist

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If you are looking for a declutter your house in 24 hours blog post, then this is probably not the right guide for you. I’ve read those guides tried them and failed miserably every single time. Why? Because I’ve accumulated a lot of stuff throughout the years that I’ve had a hard time letting go of and 24 hours is just enough for me feel overwhelmed and give up.

This is not to say you can’t declutter your entire house in 24 hours, but most of us work full time and have a family to take care of, so the decluttering takes place whenever we can spare a free moment.

So I decided to make this guide for us busy humans, whether you work full time with or without kids, or you are a stay at home mom this guide is for you! This will be a one year project, 365 days to get it together, let go, and declutter. But of course you can do this in less than a year if you really don’t have that much stuff you need to go thru.

What can you expect from this guide?

Real life tips from a busy mom who works a 9-5 (sometimes 9-9) and also blogs full time.
Printable templates that I actually use to help you have a plan of action
Tips on organizing
Tips on decorating as you declutter and organize your home
Weekly tips on my Instagram page so make sure you are following me on Instagram @stylishpharmacist
Monthly decluttering blog post for every part of your house

Why Declutter?

There are so many reasons why you should declutter, for me clutter makes me anxious. I am a visual person so too many things pilled up on top of each other just drives me nuts. But I could never seem to let go and get rid of all the unnecessary stuff that I have accumulated. Until one day I had a AHAH! moment.

If I have less crap in the house that’s less crap for me to clean and organize!

So I started watching lots of YouTube decluttering videos, and read lots of blogs and failed miserable every time.

Then I realized I kept failing because I was trying to declutter like these other women whose lifestyles were not the same as mine.

I definitely did get lots of great tips from lots of the videos and blog post I came across that I will pass on. But in order for this to work for your home, you can only take the tips that fit your lifestyle.

So if you are determined to declutter your home this is my first advice to you, find what works for you and your lifestyle.

Now time to get decluttering!

STEP 1- Make a list of everything in your life you want to declutter

Now split that list into different categories. You can use this template that I made pictured bellow, click here to DOWNLOAD and PRINT it. I also included a blank copy that you can DOWNLOAD and PRINT here, you can fill it with your own sections if you would like (also pictured below).

Go into each room of your house and see what needs to be decluttered. Be detailed, don’t just write declutter kitchen, write all the spaces in the kitchen you want to declutter. For instance I want to declutter my mugs, plates, bowls, all the papers I have on the fridge and the never ending junk drawer.

This list doesn’t have to be done one one day, but the sooner you do it the sooner you can plan your decluttering schedule.

STEP 2- Decide the type of person you are.

Do you like starting with the hardest task first to motivate you to do more? Or do you like starting with the easier task first to feel accomplished?

I am honestly a mixture of both depending on my mood and what else I have going on. So whatever you are stick with that.

STEP 3- Decide how you are going to split up the different task

There are so many different ways you can go about this, I will give you a few tips and let you pick the best one that fits your lifestyle.

If you have a pretty set schedule and routine you can try this:

Pick a room to focus on each month and write that down in your monthly calendar. Then refer back to your decluttering list to fill in your calendar (will go into more details about this in STEP 4). You can plan this for the entire year or you can plan this quarterly (every 3 months). Remember whatever you decide its okay if plans change.

If you are like me and don’t have a set work schedule then you can try this.

You can still pick a room to focus on each month and write that down in your monthly calendar. But instead of planning your schedule out for the entire year plan it on a weekly or biweekly basis.

Just figure out what works for you, and fits your lifestyle.

If you have a room or section of your house like the garage or basement that is a dumping ground for boxes and junk.

I would suggest doing a small section of that room each month. For us that is our basement, its an unfinished basement so EVERYTHING that we can’t find a spot in ends up thrown in the basement, literally thrown in there… not exaggerating…

So each month I will dedicated one hour to the basement.

Tip: Pick the more daunting rooms/areas on months that you don’t have as much going on, for instance no planned vacation that month, no family members visiting etc.

STEP 4- Start planning

Now take out your calendar or better yet print out this monthly template and calendar I made, pictured below. Click here to DOWNLOAD and PRINT it.

Now fill out all of your obligations for that month on your calendar, such as your work schedule, appointments, date nights.

Now look to see which days you can carve out time to declutter, be realistic if you are working a 12 hour shift chances are you will not be doing any decluttering that day.

Remember based on your lifestyle you can plan this weekly, monthly or for a few months in advance. Just find what works for you, because if you don’t you will just get overwhelmed and give up.