Try these ten 10-minute decluttering projects. Use the momentum of quick progress to avoid procrastination and get excited about decluttering. Not to mention, these little wins will help you simplify and make space in your home and heart.
Instead of spending the whole weekend deluttering, carve out ten minutes a day. That means you can complete most of these decluttering projects in a week! 10-minute decluttering projects are small enough that you can finish them quickly. That feeling of accomplishment will make you excited to move on to the next 10-minute decluttering project. The momentum you create will help you overcome procrastination moving forward. Break big decluttering projects into tiny steps.
Ten 10-Minute Decluttering Projects to Simplify Your Life
Before you get started you might be wondering, what the best decluttering method is. It’s always the method that works best for you. Declutter with a timer, or while watching one of your favorite movies. Make a decluttering playlist (or use this one) if you like listening to music. If you are the competitive or collaborative type, send this to a friend and see if they want to do it with you on a video call.
1. Declutter your wardrobe.
You might not get your whole closet done but this 10-minute decluttering project will help you make space and eliminate some of the closet chaos you are dealing with. Set your timer and spend 10 minutes removing anything you haven’t worn in more than a year. You can probably donate any of these items but if that feels like too big a step, box it all up and get it out of sight for a few weeks before letting go.
2. Declutter your phone contacts and apps.
If you’ve been adding apps and contacts to your phone for years, it might be time to delete a bunch of them. Remove any that are outdated or that you don’t use to declutter space on your phone.
3. Declutter your pantry.
It’s hard to think about food as clutter, but take a look in your pantry or the cabinet where you keep food. During this 10-minute decluttering project, start by removing anything that has expired. You might think canned food and other dry food will last forever, but it does not. Toss the old stuff. Next remove what you don’t eat. You may have purchased something for a recipe you never made or perhaps you changed your mind on gluten-free pasta. Pack up any unopened, unused, unexpired food and set it aside to deliver to your local food bank or community refrigerator. These 10-minute decluttering projects can be good for you and the people in your community.
If your pantry is all decluttered, look at your spice cabinet. I love to cook and try new recipes and my spices were really building up so I finally decided to prioritize the ones I use every day and box up the rest. I even labeled the box with the spices I saved. It’s one of the few organizing projects that have actually worked for me. You can see my spice cabinet here. Here are the jars that come with labels.
4. Toss all of the shoes that hurt your feet.
Life is just too short to wear uncomfortable shoes. If you have shoes that you never wear or only wear occasionally because they give you blisters, let them go. If they are too small, too big or don’t fit well in another way, say goodbye. This might not even take 10 minutes because you know which ones need to go.
5. Declutter your purse or handbag
Declutter the thing you carry things around in. From handbags to totes, wallets, and briefcases to purses and backpacks, empty them out. Chances are, there are a few Tic Tacs, old movie stubs, pens that don’t work or a half eaten protein bar in one of them. Set your timer for 10 minutes and empty everything onto a tabletop. Wash out your purse/wallet/briefcase and then put the things that you actually use back in. Declutter as many bags as you can in 10 minutes and then decide if you really need all of those bags. Experiment with carrying less around so you can travel more lightly through your day.
6. Declutter your duplicates.
This is a fun one because you can see how many times you purchased the same (or almost the same) exact thing. During your 10 minutes, you’ll find duplicates in your kitchen (wire whisks, measuring cups, coffee cups). Then head to your closet to find that shirt you bought in several different colors even though you only wear your favorite one. Your office or desk may be home to duplicates too. What can you let go of without even missing what’s gone?
7. Declutter your inbox.
For a daily approach to email (to keep email clutter at bay), I recommend opening your inbox 1-3 times a day, clicking “select all” and then, at a glance, unselect anything you want to keep. Delete the rest. This will save you so much time and energy. If you are starting with hundreds or thousands of email, you can try this approach and spend a few minutes each day on the older emails or you can declare email bankruptcy and “Select all. Delete.”
8. Declutter your social media feeds.
Review your social media accounts and unfollow pages and different people that make you feel bad or don’t support how you want to feel. Add more simplicity inspiration by following me here on Instagram or Facebook. If you can’t slow your scroll or you feel depleted from time spent on social media, delete apps from your phone and take a break from the internet. It will surprise you how quickly you forget your feed and how much better that makes you feel.
9. Declutter those pesky paper piles.
Break this big decluttering project into tiny 10-minute chunks. That might mean decluttering one small pile of paper or setting a timer and seeing how far you can get. Temptation bundling can help you declutter paper. Pair this decluttering project with a great podcast or audiobook, or watch your favorite movie while you sort and shred. Stop paper clutter from coming in with these great tips. If you have questions about how to get rid of paper, read this.
10. Declutter your brain.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, or just have a lot of mind chatter going on, take ten minutes and declutter your brain. There are two techniques I like for this. First, grab a pen and notebook and start writing down your brain. Don’t edit or worry about about typos or where the commas go. Just write every little thought that pops up. At the ten minute mark, crumple up your paper and move on.
If writing isn’t your thing, take a voice note on your phone. Chat it all out. It doesn’t have to make sense and no one will ever listen to it, not even you. Say it all and clear your mind with a good brain declutter. Once you finish, hit delete.
After a few 10-minute decluttering projects, celebrate by doing something you enjoy, even if that means doing nothing at all. Repeat these projects any time you have an extra ten minutes. To make more progress, try these 12 decluttering projects.
