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Chores, cleaning and home care

Decluttering

Clearing out what a home no longer needs by sorting belongings into what to keep and what leaves the house, one small area at a time.

What It Means

Decluttering is going through the things in a home and deciding what stays and what goes: donated, recycled, sold or thrown away. University extension services in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Michigan all describe it as small, steady sessions instead of one huge clear-out. The goal is a home that holds what you use and value, with a place for each of those things.

Try It: Count Your Piles From One Area

After you clear one small area, count what landed in each pile. These starting numbers are only an example.

Items sorted38
Leaving the house18
Share leaving47.4%

Put the donate pile in the car or by the door today, so it leaves the house.

How It Sounds at Home

  • "I'm decluttering the hall closet this weekend."
  • "Half of this can go to the thrift store."
  • "Why do we even have four can openers?"

The Breakdown

How to do it, per university extension guides

  1. Start small. Pick one drawer, one room or one pile of mail, the kind of starting point the extension guides suggest.
  2. Set out four piles or boxes and label them: keep, donate, recycleRecyclingCollecting used materials such as paper, cardboard, glass and some plastics so they can be processed and made into new products. See more and trash.
  3. Take every item out of the area and put each one in a pile. Decide as you go, so no "not sure" pile grows.
  4. Put the keep pile back, each item where it belongs.
  5. Get the other piles out of the house the same day: trash to the curb, recycling to the bin, donations into the car.
  6. Keep a donation box somewhere handy for the weeks between sessions. Illinois Extension calls it a castaway container, and it goes to a donation center once it's full.
  7. Make a short upkeep session part of your routine, so the area stays clear.

Try it today. Pick the drawer you open most, set a timer for 15 minutes, and sort everything in it into the four piles.

Good to Know

Ask your local donation center what it accepts before you drop off a full box. Papers need more care than the recycling bin: the Federal Trade Commission advises shredding documents with personal or financial information before they go, and looking for a community shred day if you don't have a shredder. Go through papers one at a time, since a bill or letter that needs an answer can hide in a pile.

FAQ

Where should I start decluttering?

With one small area, such as a single drawer, one room or a pile of mail. University of Illinois Extension and Penn State Extension both suggest starting small so the job doesn't become overwhelming.

What piles should I sort into when decluttering?

Extension guides suggest three or four: keep, donate, recycle and trash. Label them before you start so each item has somewhere to go.

How do I keep clutter from coming back?

Make a short upkeep session part of your routine, and keep a donation box handy. Illinois Extension suggests taking the box to a donation center once it's full.

Do It in Buhata

Tasks with a repeat, Household Rewards

Add "Declutter one drawer" as a weekly repeating task in Buhata's Tasks, and in a Household Space pay it out through Household Rewards.

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Related Terms and Categories

  • Clutter

    A crowded, untidy collection of things, especially things that aren't useful or needed, spread over the surfaces and spaces of a home.

  • Clutter hotspot

    A spot in the home, such as the kitchen table, where things without a permanent home get dropped and keep piling up.

  • Swedish death cleaning

    Döstädning, the Swedish practice of clearing out unneeded belongings over time so the people you leave behind don't have to sort them.

Chores, cleaning and home care

Sources

Federal Trade Commission, "Protecting your personal information: Which documents to keep and which to shred" (June 2025); University of Illinois Extension, "Decluttering Your Life"; University of Illinois Extension, Family Files, "Spring forward with clearing the clutter" (March 11, 2024); Penn State Extension, "Decluttering with Less Hassle"; Michigan State University Extension, "Declutter your life and improve your health"

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