It might sound like a spot of wizardry, but yes, it is possible to declutter your home in just 10 minutes, but you have to commit to a schedule of 10-minute sessions to get it done.
The point of this method is that it is not a one-hit wonder. It is a change in your habits to help you see the clutter, rather than becoming immune to the sight of it, and tackling it daily, or even multiple times a day in short bursts that feel manageable until it becomes a part of your daily routine.
Our home organizers and mental health pros reckon this decluttering tip is fabulous for anyone who struggles to focus on tasks or is short on time but looking to make an impactful change with minimal effort.
How to declutter your house in 10 minutes
Orna Fathers, home organization pro at Grace This Space Interiors, specializes in creating family-friendly spaces that are both beautiful and easy to live in. She says, ‘Part of that comes down to systems that work in real life, especially when time is tight.
‘One of the simplest and most impactful ways I’ve helped clients declutter in just 10 minutes is with what I call the “Reset the Room” ritual. It’s exactly what it sounds like, spending 10 focused minutes returning a single room back to its intended function.’
Clearing the clutter might mean simply folding the throw blankets scattered around the space, clearing toys off the coffee table, or returning the coffee mugs and mail pile to the kitchen.
If your mail builds up, use a segmented mail organizer like this to help you organize your paperwork as you go. This one can be used as a freestanding storage solution or mounted onto a wall.
‘You’re not deep cleaning or organizing, you’re just restoring visual order and the mental reset that comes with it is incredibly powerful!’ adds Orna. ‘I always tell my clients: Don’t underestimate the mood shift that happens when a room feels finished again, even if the drawer contents are still chaos.’
This method works especially well for busy parents, professionals with limited attention bandwidth, or anyone expecting last-minute guests. Orna uses it in her own home daily, especially in high-traffic zones like the entryway and kitchen. She adds, ‘Though no tools are required, a catch-all basket or tray can be helpful.’
I love this trio of seagrass lidded bins from Amazon as they instantly tidy up how a space looks without the need for a deep decluttering session. I have them in my living room, office, and kitchen-diner by way of the desire-path decluttering method, which sees a catch-all storage solution placed in the areas where clutter keeps accumulating time and again.
Orna adds, ‘A tip I often share: set a timer, pop on your favorite playlist or podcast, and treat it like a reset, not a chore! It’s amazing how quickly 10 minutes can reshape a space when you have a clear goal and defined stopping point.’
You can also use task-stacking and body-doubling to make your 10-minute decluttering session even easier, which is especially helpful if you find it hard to keep focus when decluttering.
I often watch a film or TV series I love, so it feels like I’m doing something I enjoy, rather than a household chore.
How to turbocharge your 10-minute decluttering session
Focus first on high-yield areas that will give you the most return on the energy you spend decluttering
Diane Quintana is a Certified Professional Organizer in chronic disorganization and works primarily with people challenged by an over-abundance of things, many of whom also have ADHD.
She teamed up with Jonda Beattie, another professional organizer, to produce a deck of cards that will come in super handy for this quick decluttering challenge: Organize Your Home 10 Minutes at a Time, available at Amazon.
Diane explains, ‘Each card in the deck has one task. There are no more than six step-by-step instructions on the card that explain what to do to clean and organize that small spot.
‘We created this deck of cards for people with ADHD, as well as for people who are short on time, don't know where to start or what to do, and want to do something towards organizing their home.’
It even has cards labeled child-friendly so you can turn decluttering into a family bonding activity.
Diane adds, ‘We firmly believe that everyone in the family can get involved in organizing the home. Also, many hands make less work. Plus, when you make organizing a game, it becomes less onerous.’
The psychological benefits of decluttering for just 10 minutes
Clear areas with minimal clutter settle down any visual noise in your home that can be a blocker for relaxation.
It’s not just your space that will benefit from 10-minute decluttering sessions, but your emotional wellbeing.
Shula Melamed, senior mental health coach and relationship expert at Headspace, explains, ‘Tidying up your living space can be the gateway from feeling totally overwhelmed when decluttering, to having one small accomplishment to build upon. A clean space can be a visual cue that gives way to a sense of calm and can help you make sense of all the other things that are on your mind.’
It's why visual clutter can be a source of stress, and coupled with clutter blindness, lead to our home's mess becoming obstructive to our wellbeing, or hinder progress in clearing things out. A quick 10-minute declutter than therefore be transformative.
Shula notes how the state of your physical space can be, and oftentimes is, a reflection of your mental state. ‘Clutter can exacerbate a feeling of out of control that's showing up in other areas of life,’ she adds. ‘Though 10 minutes might not be enough to do a deep clean or complete an organizational overhaul, it can be a wonderful block of time to start chipping away at the larger goal of getting one’s house and life together.’
If you struggle to find the time to do an extended self-care routine, it’s certainly possible for cleaning and tidying to be a form of self-care, even if it’s something as simple as clearing out a drawer in your vanity to make your mornings less stressful.
I found this to be true when I sorted out my daughter’s sock drawer. Every morning, finding a pair that didn’t trigger her sensory sensitivities had become a stressful task. Decluttering and organizing her sock drawer and figuring out together which style she liked and hated certainly made our mornings run more smoothly.
Shula adds that any repetitive and somewhat ‘mindless’ activity that you can complete on autopilot can create an opportunity to dip into a mindfulness practice.
Much like the five-senses cleaning method, you can achieve this, Shula says, by ‘engaging the senses by feeling the texture of the clothes, or smelling the freshness of laundered towels, can help ground yourself in the present. Engaging your senses during these chores provides the opportunity to ease your mind and give yourself a moment to reset.
I tried it
I am disabled and live with chronic pain, as well as having limited mobility and only capacity to stand for 90 seconds at a time without injury or pain. These can be obstructive for me when completing household tasks, even when using adapting pacing for cleaning, and for decluttering with health challenges.
However, when I tried decluttering my house in 10 minutes, I found it entirely achievable while sitting down on a good health day. I tackled the spaces that were most impactful for me. For instance, I cleared out my nail drawer and found that I had a lot of dried-out varnishes, colors I no longer liked, and old equipment I no longer used weekly to touch up my manicure.
Next, I decluttered my nightstand as it has just two small drawers and was perfectly doable in 10 minutes. I managed to clear out loads of things I’d shoved in there to keep the surface clear and regain space for my medicine bag and drink.
It made a tangible difference to my nights as I often wake up with breakthrough pain and need extra medicines that are now easy to find. It also means a quicker return to lights off and sleep, helping break long periods spent awake overnight.
I even gave the 10-minute decluttering task a go with my daughter, who is eight, and we picked a spot she wanted to tackle in her bedroom – her pajama drawer. It was a jumble of winter and summer sleep sets or dresses that she’s grown out of, so we were able to quickly make an impact in her room, especially now as a series of summer heatwaves are upon us, and it's getting harder to sleep in the heat.
Verdict
Decluttering your house in 10 minutes is entirely doable and a method that’s great for busy households, those in pain, struggling with mobility, or keeping focus for long periods. I love that it brings instant satisfaction and doesn’t feel overwhelming.
With this method, I have seen firsthand how tackling manageable 10-minute decluttering activities around the home, sometimes multiple times a day, can help streamline your entire home in a way that feels quite effortless.
Whilst it can be time-consuming and a physical hardship to declutter your entire house top to bottom, it is not labor or time-intensive to laser-target your efforts in 10-minute impactful sessions.
Focusing on the areas that are bothering you the most, such as a clutter-tsunami prone kitchen cabinet, a bathroom shelf that is rattling with old pill bottles and expired items, or a living room surface that makes you cringe for the mess every time you look at it will bring a cumulative effect that’s worthwhile.
Over a matter of just weeks, this method made a huge difference to my home and I highly recommend it: It gets a 10/10 from me for ease, impact, and satisfaction-factor.
What to shop
Once you’ve got your key areas sorted in 10 minutes, keep them that way by investing in smart storage ideas and organizers. Here are three I swear by in my own home, and ones that professional home organizers recommend to Homes & Gardens time and again.
All prices were correct at the time of publication.
Customize your drawer space with four different sizes of organizing trays in this handy set. They're non-slip for ease and wipe clean for easy sanitation.
Enjoy easy installation and instant vertical shelf space with this sturdy cardboard closet organizer that fastens onto your railing with Velcro.
Keep things neat and compartmentalized on longer shelves with clear dividers.
Meet the experts
Orna is an award-winning interior designer and home organization expert, blending aesthetics with practicality. Orna has worked with both residential and commercial clients, transforming apartments, homes, vacation homes, commercial short-term and mid-term rentals into spaces that reflect her clients' lifestyles and visions. Her expertise has earned her a prestigious Detroit Design Award, and she has been featured multiple times in Detroit Design Magazine for her standout projects in Northville and Detroit.
Diane N. Quintana is an ICD Master Trainer, certified professional organizer in chronic disorganization, owner of DNQ Solutions, LLC and co-owner of Release Repurpose Reorganize LLC based in Atlanta, Georgia. An accomplished speaker and author of five books, she teaches professionals and working parents how to become organized and provides them with strategies and solutions for maintaining order in their busy lives. She specializes in residential and home-office organizing and in working with people challenged by ADHD, Hoarding, and chronic disorganization. She has been featured in Real Simple Magazine and has appeared on the Atlanta Friends and Neighbors show.
Shula is an experienced mental health coach and relationship expert at Headspace with a strong background in public health, psychology, and behavioral health. She has a Master of Arts in Psychology from the New School University and a Master of Public Health in Sexuality and Health from Columbia University. Shula has spent the last decade working with individuals, couples and groups who are looking to identify and address challenges in their lives head-on. She also helps people create possibilities in their lives and approach challenges from a place of curiosity, rather than fear. She’s been featured in Women’s Health, Elite Daily, Bustle, Brit + Co., Redbook, and Insider. She currently lives in New York City.
If you like a quick decluttering challenge that has an end time, try the 10-10-10 method, or delve into our decluttering library for useful tricks and hacks to try. It’s organized by time, clutter-hotspot, or decluttering blocks such as overwhelm or guilt.
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