Should I declutter by room or by category? It depends who you ask.
When decluttering, something that’s worth considering is if you will declutter by category or room by room. By category means sorting all books at once, then clothes and so on. Or you can tackle the house room by room.
Everyone has an opinion on which method is better, including Marie Kondo. Kondo is the author of The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. She believes that you should tidy by category not by place. She also thinks you’d declutter the same space repeatedly if you went room by room.
I think there are pros and cons to each. Let’s look at each, in turn, to help you decide whether to declutter by category or room by room.
Tidying by Category
Tidying by category is good in theory but it’s unachievable for most. If you have everything in its home already (for example, all your books on a bookshelf) then this works great. If, on the other hand, you have books all over your house, I would say, work room by room and place things in their home as you go. As you come across other books, for example, you can then relocate them to their new home or purge them as you go.
Although Marie Kondo thinks working room by room means you’ll repeat a space, I’d disagree. Working room by room means you actually declutter your whole house. You don’t have to redo your books again, you just bring books you find onto your decluttered shelf. More importantly, working room by room means you will touch and assess every object in your home. Nothing will be left unturned. If you are forced to look at everything in the one room, you know the room is completed. You then, with awareness, bring items into this completed space as you find them. Placing them in their home.
If, on the other hand, you were to sort and declutter by category, you may miss whole sections of your house. This could happen because you didn’t think to sort paperclips or that “drawer of stuff”.
If on the other hand, you’re already fairly organized, decluttering by category will work for you. You have a shelf of books, you look through them… done!
Sorting Room by Room
When working with my clients, I always go room by room. It means we’re sure we’ve completed everything in that room before moving onto the next space. It’s clear to both of us what you own, and where you have and haven’t decluttered. Newly located things, that belong in the room you’ve sorted, will enter that space with awareness. Sure, sometimes a category will need to be reviewed because it no longer fits its home.
For instance as you’ve decluttered the rest of the house, you’ve unearthed more books that you couldn’t get your hands on in the first sweep. As these new books enter the shelves you’ve already sorted, you realize you have more than what will fit on the shelf. Now you choose to fit them on the shelf. I think these secondary sorting sessions are a necessary evil to ensure it’s done right.
The fact is, most of us can’t get our hands on, for example, all of our craft items this minute to declutter and sort. It’s spread throughout the house and we don’t know what we have until we’ve looked in every drawer, cupboard and corner. That’s why I work room by room and then reassess particular areas once the house is decluttered and sorted.
Do What Works for You
In saying that, sorting by category can work well for those that already have a home for everything in their house. It also works well if you have a bit of time, say five minutes, and you want to achieve something. You can work through your stationery drawer and move on. It’s an easy way to get something done.
When making the decision to declutter by room or by category, the decision is really up to you. Most importantly, do what works best and you'll see noticeable, quick results.
Declutter Deck® and Hack Decks™
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