70 things to declutter and let go of this year

You'll be surprised how much lighter your home and your heart feels after each decluttering session!

Moving slowly and thoughtfully decluttering for a few minutes each day will help you build momentum while you protect your time and energy. Each of these categories and recommendations involve several items so by the end of the year, you’ll declutter and let go of hundreds of things, maybe thousands. You’ll be surprised how much lighter your home and your heart feel after each decluttering session!

Closet Items: you can reduce a significant amount of stress simply by eliminating items from your wardrobe.

We don’t realize how much of our emotional energy is attached to our physical clutter. When I started dressing with less, I noticed that there were so many things in my closet that made me feel bad. For instance, clothes that didn’t fit, things I paid too much for or things I got on sale that I never wore.

1. Duplicate items.

2. Anything with tags still hanging.

3. Clothes that don’t fit.

4. Shoes that hurt your feet. Life is too short for uncomfortable shoes.

5. Things (gifts) people gave you that you don’t like to wear.

6. Things you haven’t worn in more than three years.

7. Formal attire you’ll never wear again.

8. Clothes you are saving for your children.

9. Expensive things. Just because you spent a lot on it doesn’t mean you have to keep it forever.

10. Cheap things. If the best thing about the item in your closet is the price, you probably don’t wear it.

11. Aspirational items. Things you bought for a life you don’t have, and don’t want anymore.

You may not notice the emotional weight the things in your closet carry until you get them out of sight. Declutter and let go, or simply hide the excess so you can experience the relief that comes along with it. Eliminate the physical clutter, and the mental clutter goes with it. For more support and inspiration to dress with less, read Project 333.

Digital Clutter: declutter and let go of the stuff on your phone, tablet and computer.

Even though you can’t see digital clutter, you know it’s there because you are paying for additional storage or having trouble finding things you've saved. These items are only taking up space. In my experience, we pull things out of digital folders as often as we take them out of physical folders or filing cabinets.

12. Digital photos. If you spend way too much time trying to organize your digital photos, consider my approach. The only organization I do is by year so every photo I saved in 2024 lives in a folder called 2024. Every photo I took in 2023 lives in a folder called 2023. Many storage systems have tagging or other categorization available but unless you are a professional photographer, this is probably enough. You can easily delete duplicates and photos (like screenshots along the way). Don’t just simplify your photos, simplify your process.

13. Screen time. Spend less time on screens by setting boundaries around when and where you use screens. 

14. Remove email from your phone.

15. Remove apps from your home screen.

16. Clean up desktops.

17. Delete podcasts you don’t listen to.

18. Delete downloaded music you don’t enjoy anymore.

19. Email. For a daily approach to email (to keep email clutter at bay), I recommend opening your inbox 1–3 times a day, clicking “select all” and then, at a glance, unselect anything you want to keep. Delete the rest. This will save you so much time and energy. If you are starting with hundreds or thousands of emails, you can try this approach and spend a few minutes each day on the older emails or you can declare email bankruptcy and “Select all. Delete.”

Declutter and let go of kitchen stuff.

The kitchen is often the gathering spot of a home. When you declutter and let go in the kitchen, you make more space to connect, to create and to enjoy what is often the heart of your house.

20. Small appliances that never see the light of day.

21. Food in cabinets, refrigerator and freezer that you’ll never eat.

22. Duplicates (wire whisks, wooden spoons, can openers, measuring cups and spoons).

23. Decor that isn’t useful and gets in the way.

24. Food storage containers you thought you’d use and never use.

25. Things that have passed down to you that you are never going to use.

26. The good dishes (or start using these and get rid of the others).

27. Spices, sauces and condiments you never use.

28. Coffee mugs (you always use your favorite one anyway).

Declutter photos and paper.

With paper and photos, it’s not about getting organized. It’s about saving less. Most of these things to declutter are things that feel important but also things you never revisit.

29. Children’s artwork and homework (save some but not all).

30. Bills, statements and receipts you can get online.

31. Files and folders. All of that stuff in your filing cabinet you never look at.

32. Photos: declutter and let go of blurry photos, duplicate photos and photos of things you don’t remember or don’t want to remember.

33. Old newspapers and magazines.

34. Anything you’ve ever ripped out of old magazines.

35. Coupons or mailers you aren’t using.

36. Tax records you don’t legally have to save anymore (check with a local accountant).

Saving photos and paper has become a secret hoarding project for most of us. 

Declutter and let go of journals and sentimental items.

37. Journals. If you use your journals for anything other than memory keeping (like venting, processing, etc.) shred or burn them on a regular basis. Definitely let go if you wouldn’t want someone else reading them.

38. Sentimental items. Don’t start your decluttering journey here, but when it’s time, unless you are enjoying your sentimental items, release them. If it helps, take a picture of the item first, then let go. Less doesn’t mean nothing, so if there are sentimental items you can enjoy, display or actually use, try that too.

39. Your children’s sentimental items. You may save report cards, artwork, and other childhood milestones that your children can enjoy as an adult. That said, they may not want it. Give it to them at the appropriate age and honor their decisions.

Mind and heart clutter.

Our hearts and minds carry so much. It’s not always easy but so important to examine what weighs us down. For most of these suggestions, it’s a daily practice. You didn’t create the habits overnight so don’t expect to let go of them overnight either. Be gentle as you consider how to make more space in your mind and your heart.

40. Regrets.

41. Being bothered or frustrated all the time.

42. Excessive worrying.

43. Negative self-talk.

44. Forgiveness.

45. Comparing yourself to other people or other people’s highlight reels.

46. Listening to your inner critic instead of the Gentle You.

47. Drama. Much of the worry, stress, overreacting, gossiping, and complaining we add to our day is unnecessary drama and it’s holding you back from enjoying your life.

48. Expectations you have for an adult that isn’t you. You can’t want something for someone more than they want it for themselves. This is not your job or your responsibility and it results in constant disappointment (for you and them).

49. Goals, hopes or dreams for the future that you’ve held on to but don’t really care about anymore. You are allowed to have new goals, hopes and dreams but you have to make room for them.

Habits you want to change.

It’s never too late to change a habit or let go of it altogether. Simplifying your life isn’t always about physical clutter but removing the things that remove you from life, like these examples below.

50. Staying up too late.

51. Phone-first mornings.

52. Drinking alcohol.

53. Refusing to rest.

54. Measuring your worth by your accomplishments.

55. Caring too much about what other people think.

56. Never putting yourself first.

Let go of the following to create more time for what’s important to you.

Whenever I think I don’t have time for (insert the thing I most want to do here), I remember Elizabeth Gilbert’s words, “You have to stop doing things you want to do so you can do the thing you most want to do.” This means that I have to let go of things, even good things. There are too many amazing, wonderful, interesting, compelling things … the good stuff. This means that we have to say no to some (I mean a lot) of the good stuff too. It’s why I’m so good at saying no to the “meh” stuff. I want to have room for as much of the good stuff as possible.

57. Schedule shaming. Schedule shaming happens when we tell ourselves, “I should ... be more organized or have more check marks on my to-do list. I didn’t do as much as everyone else and I am lazy and unaccomplished. I let people down and I am not good enough.” Let’s stop measuring who we are by what we accomplish.

58. Catching up. The illusion of catching up goes something like this: If I take a full day/weekend/week and abandon all the things I enjoy doing, I can get everything done that I feel guilty about not doing before. Then I will feel better, everyone will love me and all will be right with the world. The reality is that catching up never ends. There will always be more.

59. The habit of saying yes just because you aren’t busy. So often we think we are obligated to do things when we don’t have something else to do. We are not. You are the only person who can protect your time and energy. That means if you want to have free time, alone time or time for whatever you want, you have to save some time for you. It might feel hard to say no but it feels worse to be completely overextended.

60. Pleasing others by disappointing yourself. Notice who may be taking advantage of your need to please. This reminds me of the saying, “The only people upset about you setting boundaries are the ones who benefited from you having none.”

Even though it feels like we are pulled in a million different directions, we do not have to respond or devote any energy at all to most of the things that are saying, “choose me!” Save your precious resources for something precious.

Declutter and let go of all of that other stuff too.

Even the little things add up. These are the things that usually matter the least but they still get your energy and attention.

61. Pots and other planters you don’t use.

62. Sticky notes with outdated reminders.

63. Extra cords and chargers.

64. Knick-knacks and odds and ends.

65. Anything with a permanent spot in your junk drawer.

66. Extra glasses or sunglasses you don’t use.

67. Books you’ve read or will never read.

68. Outdated media (CDs if you don’t have a CD player).

69. The box your phone or computer came in.

70. Empty picture frames and albums.

Turn these 70 items into a decluttering checklist when you feel clutter creeping back in. It’s helpful to have a list so when you want to declutter, you don’t have to spend extra time and energy figuring out where to start.

On your simplicity journey, think less about what you are decluttering and letting go of and more about what you are making room for. I’m cheering you on!

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