350+ Categories You Can Declutter in 15 Minutes or Less

Grab your free printable checklist of 350+ categories in your home that you can declutter in 15 minutes or less! Start making the very most of the margins in your day!

The Decluttering Problem

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When I talk to people about decluttering their home and organizing their spaces, I feel like I hear the same phrase over and over again:

“I would love to be more organized, but I don’t have enough time!”

Girl, I hear you! With jobs and kids and school and church and hobbies and volunteering and sports and alllllllllll of the other commitments that we have on our plate, life gets busy fast.

But there is one giant misconception about decluttering and organizing that I want to make sure I clear up right now.

Everyone thinks that you have to clear a big, long chunk of time out of your schedule in order to get organized. But that’s just not true.

Can it be done in a big, long chunk? Sure! But the problem is that we rarely have a lengthy, uninterrupted amount of time free. So we tell ourselves that there is no way we can possibly be organized.

Related: How to Declutter When You Have Trouble Letting Go of Things

The Solution

Over the past year or two, I have been really working on making the most of my “margins.”

Wait, remind me what a margin is again…

I’m so glad you asked! Margins are those little bits of time we have throughout our day, usually when we’re waiting for something.

Maybe we’re waiting for our kids to get their shoes on. Or for the dryer to finish so we can fold the laundry.

Maybe we’re waiting for the oven to preheat. Or for our spouse to get home from work so we can leave for a family activity.

Maybe we’re waiting for an email response we need. Or for our favorite show to come on TV.

All of these short waiting periods create bits of margin in our days.

If you’re like me, my automatic reaction in these little periods of margin is to pick up my phone and scroll through Instagram or play a quick game. (I’m addicted to Threes! Anyone else?!)

However, all of those short little bits of time can really add up! So rather than fill them with mindless scrolling, I have been trying to fill them more intentionally. One of the ways I do that is by using my margins to declutter.

Now, it sounds really easy to say, “Less Instagram! More decluttering! Great!”

But the problem is, even when we are able to train ourselves to recognize these short periods of margin, there often seem to be SO many possibilities of how to use it! We feel overwhelmed, give up, and just return to our default mode of playing on our phone.

The Ultimate ” Declutter in 15 Minutes ” Checklist

Enter, the ultimate ” declutter in 15 minutes ” checklist! [Fanfare sounds! 🙂 ]

I recently went through room by room and tried to break down the decluttering tasks into the smallest pieces I could so that they would be bite-sized enough to tackle in those margins of our day.

I then compiled allllllllllll of the different categories into one helpful checklist. So anytime you find yourself with a bit of downtime, you can just consult the list, choose a task, and get moving!

How to Use the Free Decluttering Checklist

Once you download the checklist, you will see that the clutter is listed in each room. While there are a ton of things to go through in your kitchen, start with one drawer or cabinet at a time.

You can always work in small increments while you are waiting on your kids or simply just have a few minutes to spare. If want to be more intentional about decluttering, set a timer for 15 minutes. Start in one place on the checklist and put all of your focus there. You will be in shock at what you can go through in such a short amount of time!

If you prefer pen and paper and checking things off, you can print the list and keep it in a central area of your home where you can consult it easily.

If having it on your phone would be easier, simply save it to your phone or take screenshots of each page. Then you can pull it up on your phone and know what to tackle next!

Click here to download your free printable 15-Minute Decluttering Tasks checklist!

[Pssstttt… You can get even more free organizing printables by becoming one of our VIPs and gaining access to our free printables vault! Click the button below to join our crew!]

A Little Caveat

Though I tried to break down each area of the checklist as thoroughly as possible, there are still a few areas– such as paperwork and items in storage spaces like the basement and garage– that will probably take multiple 15 minute sessions.

Because everyone has a different collection of items in their home, it’s hard to make a checklist that is truly “one size fits all.” But I gave it my best shot! I also left three blank spots in each section of the list so you could add items that you own that I may not have thought of.

It will take a little bit of “retraining your brain” to move toward making the most of your margins rather than just defaulting to mindless phone time. But I have been shocked at how much more I accomplish in my days simply by taking advantage of those short periods of downtime. It really has been a game changer for me!

For More In-Depth Decluttering

You might be inspired to do a full on, whole house declutter after seeing what you can easily do in 15 minutes. Here are some resources that can help with that:

If this decluttering strategy will be helpful for you, be sure to pin the image below so you can reference this post later!

And see all 65+ free printables that we offer on the blog in our Free Printables Library!

Thanks so much for following along! Have a wonderful day!

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.