July 2025 - Top 8 Decluttering Mistakes

🥸 You think more space is the answer - The likelihood is that with a bigger house, loft space, or a storage facility you will just fill that up too! Until you address what you're holding onto - and why - no amount of space will feel like enough.

🥸 You treat the symptoms not the cause - By focussing on physical clutter you are only addressing the what and not the "why".

🥸 You are not considering your habits - Clutter is not just accumulated by what doesn't leave your home but also how and why it is coming in. Where is it coming from and what part are you playing in that?

🥸 You store instead of solve - Clutter being unmade decisions can put a stark light on the dilemma of storing vs. solving. What makes the decisions so hard that boxing them up and not facing them now the preferred option?

🥸 You're thinking all or nothing - This is common especially with neuro-divergent brains but swinging between doing nothing or trying to do it all at once can leave you really stuck in terms of your decluttering.

🥸 You confuse busy with productive - Clutter contributes massively to overwhelm, stress and the constant need to refocus. All of this can make you feel super busy when you're actually not really getting much done beyond surviving. What are your priorities and are you really focussing on them?

🥸 You are making excuses - It is easy to blame external influences such as messy family members, lack of time or even create your own "rules" to explain your clutter. You don't have to explain it to anyone of course but if you are on one hand complaining about it and on the other hand excusing it then it might be less effortful to pick which is most important to you.

🥸 You ignore your emotions - Emotions are an important part of the decluttering process and trying to suppress guilt or sentimentality in the hope of "getting through it" quicker is counter productive.

How many can do you recognise?

Decluttering is a tricky business and you need to have compassion for yourself and not beat yourself up if you notice any of these mistakes happening for you. I just hope that by calling them out it will help you make more progress 💪