Day 17: Get Rid of Some Stuff

Most homes accumulate things faster than they lose them. Gifts, impulse buys, freebies, things kept "just in case", hobbies abandoned and clothes that no longer fit all quietly fill drawers and cupboards. Today's challenge is to let some of it go.

Why clutter matters

Clutter isn't a moral failing, and tidiness isn't a virtue in itself. But for many people, a crowded home feels heavier than it needs to. Things are harder to find, cleaning takes longer and there's a low hum of unfinished business every time you open a stuffed cupboard.

In a small 2010 study, psychologists Darby Saxbe and Rena Repetti asked dual-income couples to give video tours of their homes. Women whose descriptions used more words related to clutter and unfinished projects showed less healthy daily patterns of the stress hormone cortisol and more depressed mood over the day. It was a small study and doesn't prove clutter causes stress, but it fits what many people report: a clearer space can feel like a clearer head.

Start small

The most common mistake is trying to declutter the whole house at once. It's overwhelming, it takes days, and you end up with every room in chaos. Instead, choose one small area you can finish in under an hour:

• The kitchen drawer full of random utensils.
• One shelf of a wardrobe.
• The bathroom cabinet.
• The pile of paper on the hall table.
• Your phone's photo gallery or downloads folder (digital clutter counts too).

The five-box method

Get five bags or boxes and label them:

1. Keep: things you use, need or genuinely love.
2. Donate: useful things in good condition that someone else could use.
3. Sell: things worth enough to be worth the effort of selling.
4. Recycle: items that can be recycled locally.
5. Bin: broken, worn-out or unusable items.

Take everything out of your chosen area. Handle each item once and decide which box it belongs in. Don't overthink; if you hesitate for more than a few seconds, ask the questions below.

Questions to help you decide

• Have I used this in the past year?
• If I lost it, would I buy it again?
• Do I keep it because I love it, or because I feel guilty?
• Does someone else need this more than I do?
• Could I borrow or rent one if I ever needed it?

Sentimental items deserve more care. You don't have to get rid of meaningful things. If space is the problem, consider keeping a small selection, or photographing items before letting them go.

Get it out of the house

Bags of donations have a habit of sitting in the boot of the car for months. Today, take them to a charity shop, list the sale items online, and put the recycling and rubbish out. The job isn't finished until the stuff has gone.

Keep it clear

A few simple habits stop clutter creeping back:

• One in, one out. When something new comes in, something old goes.
• A donation box. Keep a box by the door and drop things in as you notice them.
• Pause before buying. Wait a day or two before non-essential purchases.

Today's challenge

Choose one small area, clear it using the five-box method, and get everything that's leaving out of the house today. Note how the space feels afterwards.

Related: garbage in, garbage out and save your money. Tomorrow: update your resume.

Sources and further reading

• Saxbe & Repetti (2010), No place like home: home tours correlate with daily patterns of mood and cortisol, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin