We all know that to declutter and organise your home, we need to get rid of clutter in 99% of cases. Before you start running backwards and forwards to the recycling, the second-hand shop, and the bin, let’s check if you are ready to declutter and organise your home.

How do you know if you are ready to declutter and organise your home?

This is the scary and exciting part of the overall organising process, getting rid of clutter. To ascertain if and how ready you are, to declutter and organise your home.

Let’s start by asking two key questions that will reveal if you are ready to declutter and organise your home:

Are you ready to dispose of your items?
- Ready to get rid of clutter?
- Do you feel ready to declutter and organise your home?
What will be the benefits of getting rid of clutter?

When I ran my business as a professional organiser, I visited houses, and I would asses very early on if someone was ready.

The key questions organisers ask to decide if you are ready to declutter and organise your home:

Are you truly ready to declutter and organise your home? Or are you simply saying this in a flurry of inspiration? This was one of the predetermining factors we had before working with someone; sometimes, this journey takes a little longer. Your mind might say you are ready to declutter and organise your home, but does your heart feel up to parting with the items? Inspiration and perspiration are two very different things when it comes to decluttering and organising your home.

What happens when you are not ready to declutter and organise your home?

If clients were not yet ready, we could come, make some progress, teach several principles. However often the process would come to a grinding halt.

How you could unconsciously stop or boycott Your progress to declutter and organise your home.

For example:
You can't part with any item, because “it might become useful one day” - meaning there is still guilt and indecision.
You are unable or willing to make a decision. Decision-making can be hard but making easy decisions and slowly working up to harder decisions will happen over time.
Are you moving from room to room not focusing on one particular area or decluttering task.
Do you want to change but don’t want to invest the time and money to learn how to declutter and organise your home?
Do you keep complaining your house is too small? Sorry for the though love, it is not, you have too much stuff!

You are ready to declutter and organise your home when there is a level of pragmatism present.

You need to have established the fact for yourself that you have too much stuff for the space you have available. You know that something needs to change at the super pragmatic level you either decide start to own less stuff or get a bigger house.
You know that you have to make decisions, what is in what is out? In reality, you have decided to bring all this stuff in your house. You can now declutter and organise your home, it will take time but that is okay.
You work on your ability to stay with an area or decluttering task even if it feels uncomfortable.
You know that your living spaces didn’t get messy in one day, month or year. You will need to invest the time and sometimes a little money to declutter and organise your home.
You know that your house is not too small, you have too much stuff for the place you are living in and are willing to reduce this stuff for more space physically and emotional, a better life and better finances.

“The internal work comes before the external change, I call this the level of readiness to organise .”

— Sabine Straver

Test yourself - Are you ready to declutter and Organise your home?

Are you **willing** **to throw things out**?
**Follow and action instructions**, which will help you get more organised (this can range from purchasing additional furniture to **changing behaviour** which works against you being and remaining organised).
**Can you work on this as a project for the next couple of weeks?** (In some cases, months; it all depends on how much time you have available and how quickly you work.)
**Do you have enough space** for the items you want to keep?
If you answer yes to all the above statements. I will consider you ready to declutter and organise your home, but you are your own best judge.

What if you are not ready to declutter and organise your home yet?

Don't worry if you answer no to these questions; you might be ready in a little while or need help.

Be mindful of what tends to happen.

If you pay attention, you may find that when you try to organise, you move items from one side of the house to the next or get very distracted in the process.

Where do you get stuck, what are you doing? For example, often people start to get organised but then somehow end up working in circular movements, not making decisions or finishing tasks.

Are you having trouble establishing a plan and continuing to follow it? Something, internal or external, might be blocking you.

In some cases, external help will be the catalyst you need. In other cases, giving life some time to allow you to create the mental space (internal belief) to get organised might be needed.

What can You do to become ready to declutter and Organise Your home

if I am not there yet?

Make sure you visit this page again in a month from now and see how you have evolved. Are you now ready to declutter and organise your home or just need a little inspiration? If you want to start with a small action to get very organised, you can put a reminder in your calendar to come back here in a month.

Also, let me know in the comments how your organising journey is unfolding. Everyones path is different!