11 Easy Things to Declutter You’ve Never Thought of Before

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It is so common to declutter items throughout your entire home, and many do it throughout the year. You take a decluttering list and go through and declutter each room of your house. Honestly, I love the decluttering process, and I do it many different times throughout the year. I’ve written several posts about decluttering different areas of the home.

However, there are many of these decluttering lists and posts that don’t have you declutter everything. Here are 11 things to declutter in your everyday life you might have forgotten or haven’t thought of before!

1. Phone

Have you ever decluttered your phone before? It may sound weird to declutter your phone, but it is probably full of things you never use or even need anymore! Here are a few of the most common things you can easily declutter on your phone.

I’m sure you have pictures of things you tried to sell years ago, and the photos are still in the photo gallery. There are probably plenty of screenshots you don’t need. Have your kids taken 100+ pictures of their feet, or do you have blurry pictures you can delete? 

Even if you organize your apps in folders on your phone, there are still apps you don’t use anymore. Maybe you put on apps for the kids to use during the airport that they haven’t played with in months. Delete and free up that space!

You can also go through and update your contacts. How many are there you haven’t talked with in years or ones you don’t need anymore? Do you have an endless amount of grocery or to-do lists in your notes that you won’t ever use again? Consider deleting those too! 

Your phone only has so much space to work with, so it’s a good idea to declutter your phone every few months to maximize your storage.

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2. Email

When was the last time you checked your email? Do you have more than 500 emails in your inbox? Do you leave emails hanging out in your inbox after you read them? If you answered Yes or I don’t know to any of those questions, it’s time to declutter your inbox!

More than likely, you don’t need all the emails in your inbox. Go through your emails and delete what you don’t need! Also, work on unsubscribing to emails you no longer wish to receive. The less stuff you have incoming to your inbox, the less stuff you will have to clean out in the future. 

For the rest, put them in folders. Try to keep as little as possible in your inbox. Mentally, when your inbox is clean and empty, it is a lot easier to focus and work! It might sound silly, but it will make a huge difference when you finish. The best way to be the most productive is to eliminate your distractions. 

Related Post: Simple Life: De-Cluttering the House

3. Mind

Your mind is probably filled with feelings, thoughts, and a never-ending to-do list. Our minds are constantly full, and it is overwhelming and rather heavy. However, most people don’t know how to declutter their minds. 

A great way to help with an overwhelmed mind is to write down some of the ideas, thoughts, and lists going through your mind.

You can also write down all your thoughts and feelings in a journal. Journaling is one of the easiest ways to declutter your mind. Find a journal and pen, and do a brain dump. Write down everything that is on your mind, even the random things. Slowly, everything built up in your mind will come out. See how good you feel when you finish! 

Self-care is one way you can relax and unwind. Even if you can be alone for five minutes, try to relax and unload. Every little minute counts. 

You can also declutter your mind by meditating and practicing mindfulness. Similar to self-care, even just five minutes can change your entire day! We are naturally happier and can focus better when our minds are clear. 

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4. Bills, Coupons, and papers

It is natural to keep bills, receipts, and tax papers. But do you need all those from years ago? If you have papers from such a long time ago, try going through your important papers file and clean it out. Switch the old papers you no longer need with the current year. 

It is also so easy to hold onto every coupon we receive because we just “know” we are going to use it. Then you forget and have a huge stack of expired coupons around the house. See how many expired ones you can find!

Use a coupon organizer to keep your coupons organized and in order!

I like to go through my coupons before going to the store. Doing this helps me keep them cleaned out, and it reminds me to use the coupons I’ve accumulated!

Related Post: Simple Life: Reducing Digital Clutter

5. Sheets and Towels

How often do you go through your sheets and towels? Usually, when you buy a new one, you forget to trash the old one, and then they just pile up and up until your linen closest is a mess. If you’re like me, if it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind. If you have a huge stack, consider getting rid of the ones with holes or lots of wear and tear.

Also, make sure that the ones you keep can actually fit the beds in your home.

6. Plastic Bags

Even though there are plenty of ways to control and keep plastic bags all neat, you probably have thousands, which you know you don’t need.

I am an avid reusable bag user, so I recycle plastic bags regularly. Go through, clean out your plastic bags, and keep a few on hand (you never know). Otherwise, switch to reusable bags!

7. Books

Do you ever go through your bookcase? This is one of the hardest things for me to go through. I get attached to my books and want to keep them all. Chances are you put many books away after you read them and never get them out again (because I do the same, lol).

If you truly will never read the book again, why keep it? Donate them and let someone else enjoy the book you love!

Related Post: De-Cluttering Your Home, Mind, & Life

8. Souvenirs

You get at least one souvenir in every major place or country you visit. These eventually pile up in a container or drawer you look through once every ten years or so. Go through that container or drawer. If you cannot remember the vacation or why you have it in the first place, it is time to let it go and clear up room for new ones.

You could start a new tradition with your souvenirs like we did!

You can also take pictures of the items and clear them out! That way, you keep the memories but have more space.

9. Crafts

Do you have a bunch of unfinished crafts you saw on Pinterest? If you’re like me, those crafts didn’t turn out exactly like you thought, or you never finished them. Go through these, and decide what you’d like to continue working on and throw away the rest.

If you have a bunch of crafts you want to save for your children, get a keepsake box for them. Only keep yours and their favorites and get rid of the rest.

You could even try and digitize their crafts and put them on a flash drive for them to look at in the future.

10. Chargers

Chances are you probably held onto plenty of chargers in case you need them. Unfortunately, you probably don’t own many of the electronics you have chargers for! This might be a long process but try to organize your cords and get rid of ones that don’t work, ones you don’t need, or ones you have an excess of.

11. Social Media

As you spend time on social media, Are there posts from anyone that get you mad or annoy you? Take some time to scroll, and whenever you get upset, unfollow that person. Social media is so powerful and can easily clog and overwhelm our minds; you don’t need that negativity in your life.

After you unfollow those pages, you will enjoy social media more. You will be filled with more happiness and less negativity when you scroll. This will have a huge impact on your mental health.

Have you ever thought to declutter these 11 places before? If not, go through as many as you can today! Decluttering not only keeps our house clean but also takes a big mental load off our minds too. Start with one of these and see how much it positively affects you.

I hope you found these ideas helpful! I would love to know if there is something you declutter that I haven’t mentioned.

Until next time,

Catherine