Episode 365 – How long will it take me to declutter my house?

Ingrid: How long will it take to declutter your whole house? It's the question everyone wants answered, but the truth is.

We can't answer that in this episode. We're diving into all the reasons why that's the case.

explore the factors that impact how long it might take you, and more importantly,

control to keep momentum going.

Whether you've just started or stuck in the messy middle, we'll chat through what to expect and how to move forward with your decluttering one decision at a time.

Lesley, I am really happy we are talking about how long does it take you to declutter that your house, because. It's like the million dollar question, right? It's what we get asked all the time, either by clients that we work with, podcast listeners, the members in our membership, we get Ingrid and Lesley, how long does it take to declutter my whole house?

How long will it take me? But

it's like an impossible question, but we do really wanna answer it, right? We do really wanna say, oh. Three months, six months, one year. But we can't because it's like how long is a piece of string?

Lesley: Exactly, No, it's a really, really interesting question. And one that we get asked all the time and I think people want to understand, you know, you do want a

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: on things, don't you? So you can sort of work towards those things.

So I think it's super important to have a think about it, but to think about all of the different components that form part of. How long it takes, really. Of course, it's different for everybody, is the overreaching kind of answer to this question. but we've got some really good things to talk about that are really gonna focus your mind,

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: a slightly different direction to the way that you were thinking. Now. what is the right amount of timing? Do you know what I mean? Like, so, Nobody ever wants it to be as long as it is, probably. people, you know,

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: if it's only gonna take somebody a month, people probably want it to be a week. If it's gonna take a year, people want it to be a month. Do you know what I mean?

You don't want

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: and drawn out, do you? Because you

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: the end result. You know, you you want to get that clutter-free home and that's what this is all about. So, it's an interesting one as well, Ingrid, because This is something that we get asked when we're out with clients as well, you know So when we go to clients and we do a consultation somebody comes gets an idea I've got I can get a professional organizer into my home to help me and one of the first things that we get asked on That consultation call whether it's a phone call or whether we've gone round to their home is like how long is this gonna take? And

our answer is exactly the same as the kinds of things that we're gonna talk about today. We cannot say how long it's gonna take and we will not

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: it's gonna take. And

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: think that's a bit of a cop out, but it isn't

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: many factors and what we want people to do, we want to manage expectations. What this is, that's what this is all about.

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: get stuck into why this is such a difficult question to answer and why we're not gonna answer it, even though we're doing a whole podcast about it.

Ingrid: Yeah, I think Lesley, I think it's, I think there's three kind of overarching things. First of all, every home is different, every person is different, and every situation is different. But let's dive into that a little bit then. So first of all, I think one of the things that we need to think about is the volume of stuff, right?

How much. Stuff is there in a house, because whether it's two years of stuff or 45 years of stuff is different. It's all, you know that. So that has a massive impact. It's the house. Absolutely. Full and choke a block and packed to the rafters. And I'm not necessarily talking about that somebody necessarily has to be a person with hoarding disorder.

I just mean a very full house. Some people have just very full houses, but when you come in, it, it, looks nice. But you can see that all the cupboards are bursting at the seams. Everything is out and everything is very full and everything.

is it like, oh, okay, yes. I, there, there's room to walk around when I open the doors.

Not, there's not stuff falling out everywhere. So that's already I think where it starts, how much stuff is there? I.

Lesley: Yeah, I think that's really interesting, Ingrid, because I think what you've got to sort of factor in is the fact that every single item that you come across, whether or not you're gonna let it go or or decide to keep it, A decision needs to be made on an individual basis about every single thing that you see.

And so. But that volume of stuff that you have in your home doesn't necessarily need to go from a lot to very little overnight. But even if you decide ultimately you want to keep some things, you still have to make that decision that you want to keep it. the thing that dictates very much, of of course, yes, the volume you clutter, the amount of things that you've got, also how easy or difficult it is for you to be able to make those decisions.

Ingrid: Yeah. Yeah.

Lesley: I can put it in the context of A client, for example. Now imagine the scene, professional organizer has gone into a home to help somebody we've talked about things. We've set the scene and we're getting stuck into the actual doing at this stage. There are some clients who are very focused, very determined. All they want us for really is to get the job done logistically to help them with the kind of schlepping with the sorting with the reorganizing. And things like that. And the decision making is not difficult. And so,

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: know that they've got too much stuff. They've made a decision that they ultimately probably want to get rid of 25, 30, 40, whatever percentages of their stuff.

And they can make those decisions quite easily. Some people can make... Multiple decisions in a minute, like 10, 15 decisions in a minute. Other people might take 15 minutes to make one decision it, it ultimately it deter. it is depe, determined by what the item is, what, whether it's a sentimental item, whether it's a practical item, how difficult that item is to make a decision on is determined by lots of different factors, but ultimately it's about the speed of your decision making.

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: And that is a very, very key part of how long it's going to take to declutter your home,

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: or whether it's with a professional organizer. What a professional organizer can do is not speed up the process, 'cause that's not what we're there for, but we can ask the right questions and that helps you to come to your decision more quickly. So I just want to put that in. So what we're not there is to speed through things and make you go faster than you want to go. That's not what is there. something very empowering about having somebody with you Ingrid isn't there to kind of 'cause you know a decision needs to be made one way or the other and you can't just put it in a

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: pile. And so,

Yeah.

so that's a a big, a key factor, isn't it?

Ingrid: Yeah, absolutely. And I think what you already mentioned is the, the emotions that sit behind the stuff as well. because some people are just more emotionally attached to things than others. Some people kind of treasure every little. drawing from their kids, all the outfits that they wore can even remember that they wore this thing themselves or the ornament that their friend, they know the story behind every little thing.

others are maybe a bit more. Practical and go, they've outgrown it, I can let it go. So I think the emotions that sit behind the clutter is massive and really influences, again, that's very closely connected to how long does it take you to make a decision to let something go. So I think those two are absolutely connected with each other.

Lesley: Yeah, definitely. I think decision -making is really key. I think, you know, we've talked there a little bit, Ingrid, sentimental items, but forget sentimental are

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: The emotional stuff, the emotional side of things that sit behind the stuff, You know, pe you, you, you guys know, your listeners have been with us long enough, unless you're brand new, and if you are, welcome, to know that the emotions are everything, and so whether that's worrying about, know, the environment, it could be that might stall you, stop you in your tracks.

It could be worrying about money. It could be worrying about waste. It could be guilt. It could be all of the things that we talk about all the time or all the things that we think we can make an easy decision on something. And then something stops us

And so, and it's not just sentimental items.

It is everything. So yeah, so I just wanted to sort of drop that in.

Ingrid: Yeah, absolutely. I think it also really depends on how much. Time you've got available. So because we, what we see sometimes is, especially with our members in the Declutter Hub, is that people join us. They want to, they're like, we need Ingrid in our lives. We're gonna join the membership. We wanna have that, opportunity to ask Ingrid and Lesley questions.

We wanna be part of that community. We wanna do the learning. And some of the members who have more time to, to vote to decluttering and organizing, you can see. Not everyone, but most of them make great strides forward because they're like, I'm here now. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna focus, I'm gonna spend my time on it.

And you can see them go through the rooms at a nice pace because we are teaching them like. Slow down. Don't rush. Take your time. Do it one step at a time. Do it one category at a time, but they have the time available while of course other people might go, but I'm trying to build this in around everything else that I'm doing in life as well.

So it's very different than if you've got, I've got, Half an hour every day, or, wow, I'm, for example, retired. I've literally just retired. I don't have all the hobbies yet and all thought out, but I wanna do it all the time that I used to spend on working. But I know my first priority is my house.

So I'm gonna spend the time that's become available on my house and I've got a block of two hours in the morning and another one or two hours in the afternoon available. So I think that really influences as well. On how long does it take? Because some people just have less time available than others.

Lesley: Yeah, because there's no point in saying it's gonna take me three months if what you've gotta do is, you know, manage a big, a busy family. And if you're lucky, you've got half an hour, 45 minutes. You know, in your day where you can devote to decluttering.

an argument that says that you have to reshift focus from other places to find the time if this is what you wanna do.

'cause ultimately we

Ingrid: yeah.

Lesley: that decluttering is gonna save your time in the long run once you've sort

of

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: it. but but it is different for different people. So therefore we can't answer that question until we know your individual circumstances.

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: there are. Other things that come into play.

One of the things I want to talk about is logistics, you know, Ingrid spoke about right at the beginning of the podcast, we talked about very full homes. And so whatever that looks like for you, and you will know whether you feel that your home is very full or too full for you, you know, of different levels of what very full means, but the logistics. slow you down and so if it's difficult if you've got a lot of stuff even just Finding space to be able to sort to be able to gather like with like To be able to kind of put boxes out and things like that to be able to move things from a to b All of those things take additional time the more full your house is and so you have to factor in The logistics is, and it might be just one room.

It might be your whole house. So logistics absolutely plays a part. If you've got a nice clean slate to work, work in, you can put tables up to sort into, you've got space to put boxes down, then it's gonna take you less time because you're able to make progress through that more quickly.

Ingrid: Yeah, and of course connected to that. That's the beginning of the decluttering, but of course, also at the end of the decluttering. How, in the beginning you're trying to sort out your exit plan, your where am I going to donate? What can I, give away? What do I, I'm gonna give, put on a free giveaway app, and how does that free giveaway app work?

so that is gonna take a bit of investing of time in the beginning, but once you've got that exit plan nailed. It's easier. It's easier, and you will then also speed up. But in the beginning, you're going to need to figure that all out a little bit, but it will help you in the long run. So much

Lesley: Yeah, you know, we talk about building up your deary muscle and and normally we talk about that. In terms of an emotional muscle, don't we, you know, kind of build up your

Ingrid: I,

Lesley: To to make those decisions. But of course, it is all about process as well, and, and the

Ingrid: yeah.

Lesley: time to talk about it. Have you got help? You know, this is gonna

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: If you are doing this on your own, day in, day out, A, of course, you're gonna get decision fatigue and physical fatigue. But if you've got somebody that you can outsource, that you can ask to help, With some of the logistics, with some of their exit planning, taking stuff to the tip, taking stuff to the charity shop, if that's possible for you, that's gonna really help.

Cause all of those little trips and things that you need to do, take more time. And if you can

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: your time to doing the actual decluttering and Organising and somebody else can do the sort of peripheral things, then that's really gonna help you speed things up and use your time where it's best place, which is.

To do the kind of emotional decision making rather than do

stuff, which can be outsourced. You know, person that can make decisions about the stuff in your home is you. but other people can take stuff to the charity shop 'cause that's just a practical, practical process. So that's very

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: as well.

Who have you got around you that you can outsource things that don't need you?

Ingrid: Yeah. And I think that's one of the things, Lesley, that's, underestimated as well, like how to get these things in place. And that's why it's so nice to know. I think it was somebody who said, mentioned something on the Facebook group. It was the other day and somebody said, oh, did you know?

She said, oh, my problem is always getting stuff out. And, And somebody said, have you tried this charity? And they collect nationwide? And she was like, oh my gosh, this is like brilliant. So suddenly one of her obstacles was like solved by the help of other Facebook members and it was just fantastic.

we are helping each other to find solutions and I think that is for her, is gonna cut down on the time, how long it will take her, because a barrier that was in her way is now solved.

Lesley: I think it is about investing the time in the beginning to do the research, to do the planning, to find these little wins that are gonna help you

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: It's like everything in life, isn't it? You know, you can spend some time sorting a few folders out on your computer, sorting your bookmarks out, whatever that might be.

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: saves you these nanoseconds all throughout the day all ultimately

up to saving you

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: in the long run. And decluttering is

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: to that. talking about... I want to talk a little bit about energy. Now this is something that we talk about all the time really, Ingrid.

So,

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: there's no doubt if your health is playing a part in your decluttering process, or in your life actually, Then that is potentially going to slow you down. And whilst you may have the best of intentions, sometimes your time is not Your own because something else is taking over, whether that's mentally or physically to stop you in your tracks and stop you from achieving what you want to to achieve that day. So we have

in as well. So if you're somebody who struggles with mental health struggle with struggles with physical health, even neurodiversity as well. We really need to factor that in and think how is this sensible for me to do it for so long? What's the right amount of time for me to invest in this, you know, so people like me if I need to I can Sort of hyperfocus on my decluttering.

and We're used to doing it. We do it all the time with clients We can easily go 5, 6, 7 hours. Well, not easily four or five hours is probably our max as well. But we could, we could keep on going for 5, 6,

Ingrid: Yep.

Lesley: But there are many people where that would just wipe you out.

You would do one day and then you would never come back to it for another week or two weeks because you were so wiped out. So some of it is about recognizing your own energy levels and the restrictions that you've got and, and what you are kind of working with. Writing grid.

Ingrid: Yeah, absolutely. And I think a lot of people underestimate that. Really. It's why can't you not just get it back and put some stuff in and just focus on this thing and just do it? And it's if it was that easy, we would all do it. And we have to really, take. All of these things into consideration.

And one person's energy is just not another person, And, I think that's really important. And one people's quick decision making is not another. Some people have oodles of time and others don't. So all these things have an influence on how long it will take. So let's go for a break and we'll definitely return with some more after.

Hi everyone. Welcome back. After your break, we are talking about the million dollar question. How long will it take me to declutter my house? And before the break we talked about all the things, why it's so difficult to tell.

So let's continue. Why.

Lesley: I just, you know, it was all like, oh, it's hard. This is gonna be hard. That's gonna be hard. That's gonna take time, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So we need to flip this around and go, okay, so how do you break through the hard to actually make

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: Because it is entirely possible to declutter to your whole house.

We want to say that. And it is. we just need

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: on how to do that the best way that we can. so I think for me, When somebody asks, how long does it take to declutter my house, it's less about else dictating what that might be, and it's more about you deciding, in principle, How long you would like it to take to declutter your house. So I think one of the key things within any kind of big project is to try and put some kind of timescale on it. Now that timescale might be a difficult thing to get to 'cause it might be tricky for you to work out at this moment in time. But we've all got ideas, you know, we do, you know, when we go on other transformational journeys, you know, and weight loss is a really easy example of that.

You know, we go, I've got a holiday in August and I would like to have Lost this much weight by that time. So we've got this kind of arbitrary deadline, haven't we? That that sort of sits there. and it may shift, it might not happen, but we've still working towards some things. We've got something in there that's kind of going, oh yeah. I need to do that because that deadline is looming and I think it's the same with your house. Now what I think happens is is people typically underestimate how long it will take to declutter their house, because they're not thinking about all of the things that we've spoken about before the break, not thinking about the emotional, journey that you need to go on, not thinking about the decisions that you need to make repeatedly, you know, the learning that needs to go on to build that declutter muscle, All of the other factors, the exit plan, thinking about what storage is gonna look like, thinking about organization, thinking about curve balls that are gonna be thrown your way. So obviously give yourself a little bit of leeway, but I think it's really important to go. Do you know what I would like to get my house done? And we are really lucky actually, at, aren't we, England in the membership because people, you know, we, we, we sort of, we talk quite a lot in things like our challenges, things about the podcast.

We talk about taking it slow and not kind of. overegging a little bit and kind of going. Oh, yeah, I wanna do this in two months and you know, we Yes, it's possible to do this in a month or two months But you probably get a better result if you take a little bit longer So I think

into our membership and go.

Do you know what i'm gonna commit to a year? And i'm gonna see how I get on within that, within that year 'cause even if you've decluttered your house within Three four months There's loads of other resources in the declutter hub that are gonna help you with routines with life admin with with seasonality. So it is not just about decluttering your house, there's many, many other things in there. So a

Ingrid: Year timescale. So we see that kind of one year timescale all the time, and it's definitely something that a lot of members work towards Ingrid.

Yeah, I think so too. And of course then you can start to break that down a little bit, right? So in the first month I would like to do my kitchen, and by month number two, I would like to do maybe my bathroom and cupboard, and then I want to move to the bedrooms or, and then, although I know for, example, the toys in the kids' room.

Are later on the roadmap. It's nearly Christmas, for example, or a big birthday is coming up. So I want to do that next. So I think you can start to really then see things develop, because we know that decluttering is not a, it's not a one-time project. It will forever be in your life. But it will become better.

That first phase is really, important. That first phase of decluttering. When you work your way through your rooms and you build up your decluttering muscle over time, that is when you probably

not always.

will probably do most decluttering But mostly some people just came off the surface, but along they go, they learn more and more.

And sometimes in the second time in their kitchen or their bedroom or their books, they

are far more like ready to let go of because they've learned much more. So it's so much hangs on you as a person,

and how you do the learning and if you're taking it on board that if you already. But I think

yourself, okay, I have a deadline of the end of the year, or I am,

I retire and I want to actually have my house ready for when I retire, or

my daughter-in-law is pregnant and I need to have my house ready for when the baby comes, which gives me nine months or something.

that will help you to have that focus and maybe help you with the timeline as well.

Lesley: It is really interesting, Ingrid, talking about that kind of phase one and phase two that we, is definitely a part of our membership and, and our our members journeys.

And so, you know, you talk about some people get better, get braver, some people go for it all in one go at the beginning. And then it gets to a stage with a phase two where it's fine tuning. So again, even

that

Ingrid: yeah. Yeah.

Lesley: that you are going for it 'cause you, one of those very determined people that we spoke about at the beginning, who doesn't struggle with the decision -making, or it could be that you're somebody who is really struggling with those emotionals.

Cause that's something you've been wrestling with for a number of years or decades even. And

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: that is like. And until you come into our world or become one of our clients, we don't know, you know, until we have that.

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: when we have our initial consultation with clients, for example, or even when we get that first email from one of our members.

We dunno how it's all gonna unfold. And the answer probably is you don't know how it's gonna unfold either.

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: have to allow yourself an opportunity to reflect along the way. So that's,

Ingrid: yeah. Yeah.

Lesley: of what we do constantly like pondering projects, how has this gone? Was I being realistic with the goals that I set? You know, am I being, you know, kind of saying, Oh, I'm gonna get my kitchen, my bathroom, and bedroom done in July, for example, or August. You know, Is that, is that sensible? It just changes, doesn't it Ingrid?

Ingrid: Yeah, Lesley. And also what I was thinking about when you were talking, it is also some people think that the decluttering is the thing that's tripping them up. they actually find out quite soon. It's not the decluttering, it's more the where am I gonna put it? Where does it make sense? How much is enough for me?

Why is there so much overflow? Because they, they have to switch their mind from, I need to buy baskets and containers to get organized to. It's not the baskets and containers, it's actually what makes sense for me in my house to have these items. Actually, I'm actually not too bad at the decluttering, but it's the organizing, it's the storage, it's the logical, it's the feasibility.

It's the, I can't tidy up because I need to do my cupboards first. Whole turnaround in their heads and it's, oh, and that's why it's so amazing to be.

Have this membership, isn't it Lesley? Because we see the transformations that happen with our different members and how they

just go through it in all their different ways and that there's no wrong way, but, and they.

All, in their own way get there. And some of them take a long time. they're like self-confessed tortoises and others are like, wow, I'm actually going a lot better. Or gosh, it's taken me a month to do my kitchen. I had no idea.

they see, they've learned so much and they use all of that learning in the later room.

So that can actually be much. Quicker in later rooms, and I didn't expect that at all. It's that I, that's my favorite bit, I think, of being, having a membership and seeing it all.

Lesley: we are lucky 'cause we're not doing the hard work, are we, Ingrid? We just talked about that. We're okay. We're like yay. But I think it's, you know, we talk about things like, oh, it's taken me a month to do our kitchen, but it's jump. but just jumping back to what we were talking about right at the beginning, that might have taken a month for somebody to their kitchen when they've got three hour spare a week.

So therefore, Actually, it's only taken them what might be a couple of days for somebody else if they set their mind to it, you know, and

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: it's just I, you know, I'm very conscious that this has been a kind of this is hard type podcast and there's no answer to this, but I think really. What we wanna say and within this is go into it with your eyes open.

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: Some of the things that you've done in the past and some of the, in inverted comm failures that you've had, if you've had failed attempts or what you would consider to be failed attempts at decluttering or if the clutter is crept back in and go, What was it about that process? that didn't quite work.

You know, was I exhausted 'cause I did too, too much? Did I, you know, overstretch myself? Did I start in a too difficult of a room? You know, there's lots and lots of different things that mean that you might. just come against, up against these barriers that stop you in your tracks. And that's what it is. So it's about it's all, this is all about reflection all the way through reflection at the beginning, reflecting back on what you've done in the past, a reflection about where you'd like to be and what your deadline might be going forwards. And then once

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: into the process. reflecting constantly about how it's going, what you're finding easy, what you're finding difficult, what you need to find, -tune, where it's falling short. you know, reflection on where are you ready for the next room? Do you need to have a little break before you you go again? reflection on which bit of it you find most difficult. Is it the decluttering stage, the Organising stage, the storage stage, the donation stage, or indeed the routine stage? So many people are like, fine with the decluttering, fine with the Organising, fine with the storage house is looking ticky -boo, but actually I can't help myself with a reset every day And it's just going back to square one every day.

So this whole process is about reflection at every single level

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: think

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: that we obviously hammer home all the time That this is not straightforward for many, many people. Certainly the people that are in our world. For some people it is, they're fine, you know, and we can see those people on Instagram on reels and doing an amazing job and that's all good, But if you're somebody that struggles, you need to go into

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: and really refocus your mind and think

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: on this process as you go along.

Ingrid: yeah, definitely. There's no size, one size fits all. Absolutely. And we really want you to celebrate your wins and keep seeing that progress instead of having this picture perfect image in your head, go, you know what, no, I'm going to be proud of myself of what I've achieved.

And I think that's why, that's what. We love so much in the membership as well, is to celebrate those wins, to celebrate that progress, to have the tools in place for people to follow our roadmap, follow, our system

and but have that flexibility to do it how you wanna do it, and how it's gonna work for you.

you know what, I think Lesley, I would love our listeners to really think, have a ponder about what we've talked about in this podcast and go. Okay, I'm taking, it is all on board. And now with all the knowledge that Ingrid, unless you've talked about, I'm gonna go and ask myself. What would work for me?

What timescale is realistic? Am I looking at after the summer? Am I looking at, the end of the year? am I need to go? Okay, I am. Whatever something big is happening next year and that's going to be a deadline that's going to help me. So listeners, let us know in the comments in the ost Anywhere. Has this helped you to go and go step away and go right.

Okay. They cannot tell me how long it'll take me to do my house, but all things considered what would be a realistic timescale for me and what can I work towards and keep in the back of my head. I think that would be, I would love to know this from the listeners, Lesley?

Lesley: Definitely. I think it's just all about having that end goal rather than it just Keeping going. What we don't want you to

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: yes, decluttering never goes away and you always have to be decluttering, but you don't need to be on this full-blown decluttering process that a lot of people are at the moment.

If you have that end goal to say, you know, I want to be happy with where I am and know that I've just

Ingrid: Yeah.

Lesley: tune and tweak after that by

Ingrid: Yeah,

Lesley: of 2025, the end of 2026, by the end of September, whatever that looks like for you. Set those goals, set those deadlines and give yourself that intention. That's the most important thing.

Ingrid: yeah. Yeah. So that's what we have for you today, listeners. We hope you've enjoyed this podcast. We appreciate you listening in week out week, in, week out, and if you're brand new and if you're brand new here and very well welcome and we hope you are back next week for a brand new podcast. Thanks so much.