How to Find Time to Declutter in Your Busy Day

Ever feel like there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to get to decluttering? Tune in to this episode of The Simple Joy Show, where I navigate the choppy seas of our packed schedules to discover those elusive pockets of time for tidying up our living spaces.

I provide practical and actionable steps that fit into the life you’re already leading. It’s all about finding joy in the little moments and making decluttering a seamless part of your day. Join us and start carving out your own islands of time for a clearer, more joy-filled home and life. Don’t forget to share your decluttering victories with #SimpleJoyShow and become part of our community celebrating simplicity!

Stay tuned for more episodes of my podcast, The Simple Joy Show, where we share tips on living a simpler life every Friday.

USEFUL LINKS:

How to Get Started Decluttering When Overwhelmed PDF: https://hub.simplejoy.co.uk/overwhelmed

30 Day Decluttering Challenge: https://hub.simplejoy.co.uk/challenge

Facebook Group: The Simple Living Society: www.facebook.com/groups/thesimplelivingsociety

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hellosimplejoy

Shop: https://hub.simplejoy.co.uk/shop

Transcript

Hayley Forster [00:00:00]:

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Simple Joy Show. Today, I want to cover how we can navigate our busy lives to find those hidden pockets of time to declutter our homes. Finding time isn’t always about having free hours. It’s about integrating decluttering into the life you’ve already got. So let’s look at what actionable steps you can start today.

Hayley Forster [00:02:57]:

I get so many people coming to me and they’re like, “I really wanted to declutter, but I’m so busy. How am I possibly gonna find time in my day to get it done, especially when it’s such a big job?” So without further ado, let’s dive into these tips. Tip number 1 is schedule decluttering appointments. Now this is about you honouring the commitment to yourself as you would to anybody else. So open up your calendar and find a spot that works for you. So it could be evenings,

Hayley Forster [00:03:38]:

it could be mornings. Whenever fits into your normal daily or weekly schedule. But treat this time as sacred. Basically, it’s the difference between you thinking that you’re gonna declutter someday to actually making today the day that you take action. So find those moments, find those pockets of time, and put them in your calendar. And the calendar will be there to prompt you, to remind you, and to get it at the forefront of your mind so that you actually take action and get started. Number 2 is to start taking advantage of little pockets of time. And I’m even talking 5 minutes here.

Hayley Forster [00:04:21]:

And you’re probably thinking, what can I possibly do, especially decluttering, in 5 minutes? But trust me when I say it’s more than you think. Maybe if it’s just even starting with one shelf or one part of your cutlery drawer. Just set a timer and go. Get rid of anything that you don’t need or want anymore or anything that’s broken. And before you know it, you’ve made a really small victory. And it’s those little mini decluttering wins that are really gonna add up, and they’re gonna spark the motivation for you to do more. And once you realise how much you can do in 5 minutes, you won’t be able to stop.

Hayley Forster [00:05:04]:

And it just becomes so motivating because you can see how much you can get done in such a little time, and it makes such a big impact. So never underestimate the power of 5 minutes and what that can do for you. Tip number 3 is to declutter on the go. So this is about efficiency and pairing the decluttering with tasks that you’re already doing is gonna make it so much easier for you. So perhaps when you do laundry, you can use that time to look at the things that you’re putting in your wardrobe. So anything that you’re hesitant to put away because you don’t really love or need it anymore. Or perhaps the last time you wore it, it was a little bit tight or a little a bit too big.

Hayley Forster [00:05:48]:

These things are great decluttering cues. So marry these tasks together and you will double your productivity without doubling your time commitment really. And that’s always a bonus for me. Another one I like to do as well is if I’m doing the dishes, I’ll take a little look at anything that I might be struggling to put away or things when I’m doing, the kids pack lunches, if there’s things we’re struggling to find. And again, those are indicators to actually what might need a little bit of a sort out and a bit of a declutter. So use those cues and do them at the same time. You’re in the moment. You’re getting frustrated by these things.

Hayley Forster [00:06:27]:

So take that 5 minutes again, and just have a little bit of a sort out, have a little bit of a clear out, and it will make an immediate impact. Tip number 4 is make it a family affair. Try and make it fun. Turn decluttering into a game. See who in your house can find the most items to give away or who can organise the space the fastest. Play music, make it a dance party. Just get your family involved. And not only does the work get done quicker, but actually it’s a really nice fun bonding experience.

Hayley Forster [00:07:07]:

And it helps everyone to be more invested in the space that they live in and become much more respectful of their home. Tip number 5 is use waiting time wisely. So we’ll always have that dead time when you’re waiting on things. And those are great opportunities to be turned into planning sessions. Now I’m making this sound as though if there’s any white space in your life that you shouldn’t relax – 100% relax. But try and take some of those opportunities initially to try and sort through the things that you want to. And ultimately your white space will then expand over time. And then that’s where we all want to get to, isn’t it? Where we can have that white space and we don’t need to fill it.

Hayley Forster [00:07:52]:

But any dead time that you’re waiting on can be used really wisely. So think about whilst you’re waiting in any lines or perhaps you’re waiting at the doctors. I always find myself having a little bit of a digital declutter, so I’ll go through my email, sort through my emails. I’ll look at any of my files or my photos or any apps on my phone, and just try and reduce that digital clutter a bit. Because I’m sitting there on my phone anyway, so I might as well use that downtime to just have a little bit of a sort out. And it makes things so much easier to be found on my phone when I need them. You could also think about things that you need to do, maybe put a plan into place. And mental planning makes the physical task much quicker when you eventually get to it.

Hayley Forster [00:08:40]:

So perhaps you can start putting things in your calendar about what you’re going to do and by when. Therefore making the actual doing of it much easier and much quicker. Tip number 6, and I know you’ve probably heard this a 100 times, but why don’t you try something else instead of scrolling on your phone. On average, we spend over 2 hours on social media every single day, which I think is quite shocking. But I suppose when you add it all up, the little pockets of time that you spend on it, on your phone, on your computer, it all adds up. But imagine if we just took a fraction of that and focused on decluttering instead. So start by reclaiming those 5, 10 minute pockets of time. Put your phone down, pick a small area, and get to it.

Hayley Forster [00:09:34]:

And this kind of links to all the other ones as well because I’m saying you only need small pockets of time. And you might be thinking, well, I don’t have small pockets of time at the moment, but perhaps you do. Perhaps it’s those moments where you are sitting on your phone. And just take that 5-10 minutes and schedule something else. Do some decluttering. Pick a small drawer, small shelf, and just get started. And one of the things I done a while ago, which amazed me, is that I actually removed a lot of social media apps through my phone, because I was very aware I’d got to the point where I was spending far too much time on it. And I didn’t like it.

Hayley Forster [00:10:13]:

It wasn’t feeling great. Now I’m a big fan of social media. I use it a lot. I think there’s a lot of benefits to it, but sometimes It does get me down and sometimes it does get me in a negative mindset. And I know exactly when those moments are, and I can pick up on the cues, and I know when it’s time for me to kind of step back, take a bit of a break. And a couple of years ago, I removed social media apps from my phone. And I didn’t quite realise the impact that would have on me at the time when I was doing it. But it freed up so much time in my day.

Hayley Forster [00:10:52]:

I was actually shocked. So even if you just do it for a weekend or a day. I ended up doing it just for a weekend, just to have a little bit of a break. And I liked it that much. I kept it up for like a couple of months. And in that couple of months, I got so much done because I wasn’t just fannying on and scrolling through my phone. I was actually using those moments, those pockets of time, either resting and recuperating, or I was doing some little mini projects that I wanted to get on with, things that I’d been wanting to do for ages that I’d never got around to. And in your case, that might be getting some decluttering done around the house.

Hayley Forster [00:11:32]:

So never underestimate these small (what you may think are small) changes just can actually really amplify and make a much bigger impact than you might think. So there we have it. There’s 6 tips there. As I say, whenever I give you these tips sections, don’t necessarily do them all at once. Try just taking 1, give it a go, and see how it pans out. Send me a DM, join my Facebook group, the Simple Living Society. Let me know how it’s going. Let me know which one you tried and how it went.

Hayley Forster [00:12:09]:

But these tips that I’ve given you today aren’t just about cleaning up. They’re about mindfulness, they’re about intentionality, and it’s about really just thinking about how you use your time, because every moment that you choose to declutter is a step forward to having a more peaceful and joyful living space. And as I alluded to earlier on in this episode, the more time that you spend decluttering and organising now and getting into a routine and getting into those habits, the more white space you’re gonna create yourself over time. But before I wrap up, I really do encourage you to just share your own decluttering wins. So if you tried anything from this episode or any of the previous episodes, no matter how small it is, come and share your achievements. So pop it into my Facebook group, pop it into your social media. I’ve got a hashtag #simplejoyshow – tag it with that so I can see it, and let’s just celebrate our collective journey of decluttering together. As always, I’m grateful you’ve tuned in.

Hayley Forster [00:13:16]:

I hope you find some pockets of time this week to declutter, and I hope those moments bring you a greater sense of calm and joy. I’ll be back with you next week, but until then, enjoy the journey and the joy it will bring.