Decluttering isn’t easy. If you don’t know where to start, it can feel like a huge challenge that no one really wants to start.

The goal of decluttering is to only surround yourself with items that bring you happiness or provide a service to your life.

If you find your life is full of chaos and clutter, then it might be time for a declutter.

So, ask yourself these questions while you free your life from clutter.

Do I use this item on a regular basis?

There are things in your home that you use every single day and make life easier. These are usually things like your kettle, your everyday jacket, your most worn pair of shoes, or your cosiest blanket for the colder evenings. The things that you grab regularly are providing a service to you and are work keeping. Yet there are probably things in your home that you use once a year at the max but they are still taking up space in your home. For me, this was my coffee machine. I don’t drink much coffee anymore but I held on to it because I occasionally had one. That coffee machine took up counter space and it took up my time when I had to clean it. It wasn’t worth it for me. So I said goodbye to my coffee machine and now if I fancy a coffee I can pop to Starbucks.

Do I love it?

One of the simplest ways to declutter is by getting rid of the things you don’t even like. Look at each item in your home and ask yourself if you love it. Some things will be an obvious yes, but there will be other things that you don’t have a need for and you don’t even feel the slightest happiness for that item. You may even notice that an item you once loved is no longer bringing you happiness.

Would I buy this item again?

If this item broke right now, would you rush to the shops to buy a replacement? Or would you just forget about it and continue with your day? If you wouldn’t re-purchase this item, the odds are that it’s probably not that important to your life. If you’d be willing to live without it in the hypothetical world then you’re probably good to get rid of it in this world.

Am I keeping this item because I might need it “someday”?

I think we are all guilty of this. We don’t want to waste things so we keep everything we can on the chance that we might need it in the future. But the thing is, we are likely not going to need all our “just in case” items. And what is the worst that could happen if we did? We could always buy it again, or better yet, borrow it from someone.

Related post: Borrow It Before You Buy It

Do I already own this or something else that will do the job?

Have you ever bought something just because you couldn’t find something you know you already own? We’ve all been there. But now we own two of the same item. Duplicate items are pretty simple to declutter so there’s no need for them to be taking up valuable space. We may also find ourselves with two items that serve the same purpose and we can consider these duplicates too. Just because something comes in a different colour or it’s a different brand, doesn’t mean we need both.

Am I keeping this item because it was a gift?

Receiving gifts is lovely and we should all be grateful for everything that someone chooses to give us. The fact that someone went out of their way to buy you a present is so sweet but sometimes we don’t actually have a use for the gift. We keep it in our homes because it was bought for us and that’s special. But I’m going to say something that not everyone will like. We don’t have to keep everything that is gifted to us. You could keep it to regift or donate it. The odds are that the person who gave it to you would never even notice. I know that this might make you feel guilty, but if someone cares about you enough to give you a gift in the first place, they care about you enough to understand you want to declutter.

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By asking yourself these questions, you should be able to eliminate a lot of clutter from your home.

Are you planning a declutter? Is decluttering something you’ve been thinking about?