Cleaning | Decluttering | General Organizing
Which Should Come First: Organizing, Decluttering, Cleaning or Tidying?
Decluttering, Organizing, Cleaning, or Tidying: Which Should Come First?
When it comes to organizing, decluttering, cleaning, and tidying, the order in which you do these tasks is important. If you have a large job ahead of you, you don’t want to waste your time or energy doing extra work or end up doing things twice because you did them in the wrong order. Reading this post before getting started will help you avoid this and help you get the most bang for all your hard work.
I sometimes encounter confusion about the differences between the four tasks. Not so much the cleaning…most of us are fairly clear on what cleaning is. But it’s the difference between decluttering, organizing, and tidying that can get a little more muddy.
While these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they represent distinct processes that work together to create and maintain an orderly living space. We’ll talk about each one of them here.
Understanding the differences between decluttering, organizing, cleaning, and tidying—and knowing the correct sequence for tackling them—can help you transform your home.
1. Decluttering should always come first.
Decluttering is the first and most important step in creating an organized space. It should be done before anything else for the best results.
- It is sorting and categorizing all of your belongings so that you can clearly see how much of everything you have and make better decisions.
- It is deciding what to keep, donate, sell, or discard.
- It is clearing out spaces inside of closets, cabinets, and drawers so that you can put new things away and organize things more efficiently.
- It is letting go of things that have no use, to make room for the things that do.
This process requires an honest evaluation of each item’s value in your life, considering factors like utility, emotional attachment, and frequency of use. Decluttering is often considered the hardest step because it requires you to do the hard work of evaluating and eliminating. After all, clutter is essentially postponed decisions.
Decluttering and organizing work go hand in hand, but decluttering must come first.
You can’t effectively organize items you don’t need to keep and you can’t optimally organize a space if it has too much stuff in it. I have made this statement at least 200 times in my organizing career because it is at the core of staying organized: “The more stuff you have in a given space, the harder it will be to keep it all organized.”
It is also true that the more overfilled a given space is, the less functional it becomes. For example, it becomes a hassle to find, retrieve, or put away anything in a pantry or master closet that has way too much stuff crammed into it.
A survey done in 2015 showed that 54 percent of Americans are overwhelmed by the amount of clutter they have in their home. Additionally, 78 percent of that group have no idea what to do with it or find it too complicated to deal with. I imagine that the numbers today have only increased since 2015.
Since most of us have more stuff than what we need in our homes, it is during the process of decluttering that you have the greatest opportunity to make the biggest impact on your organizing efforts.
Though you might be tempted to run out and purchase organizing products before or while you are decluttering…don’t do it. Don’t buy any organizing products during the decluttering process. This is a super common organizing mistake that I see all the time. It’s best to wait until you have finished decluttering and have moved on to the organizing process.
2. Organizing comes next.
Once you’ve decluttered, organizing should follow:
- You can now assign a designated home to everything you use.
- You can now clearly assess storage needs.
- Systems can be designed around how often and where each item is used.
- Now you can decide what organizing products you want to purchase and utilize to keep categorized and sorted items together.
Organizing is the strategic process of creating systems and designated spaces for everything you keep. It involves sorting and categorizing, determining their ideal locations, and setting up storage solutions that make sense.
While decluttering reduces quantity, organizing optimizes functionality and accessibility. Think of organizing as creating a “home” for every item you own.
3. The last two steps are cleaning & tidying.
With decluttering and organizing complete, it’s time to give your space a thorough cleaning.
- Cleaning is the removal of dirt, dust, and grime from surfaces and spaces.
- It is difficult to clean a cluttered space because you have to clean around everything.
- Once surfaces, furniture, and floor space have been cleared, it’s much easier to dust and vacuum.
- Cleaning puts a polish and shine on the space you’ve just decluttered and organized, making that room feel more welcoming. You could say… It’s like putting the icing on the cake.
Cleaning includes activities like vacuuming, dusting, mopping, and sanitizing. Proper organization makes cleaning significantly easier, as there are fewer obstacles to navigate.
But there is one exception to cleaning:
There is one exception to this sequence when it comes to cleaning. As you empty a storage space, such as a shelf, cabinet, or closet, during the decluttering process, this is the perfect time to combine cleaning and decluttering by wiping down that space while it is empty. Doing this before you move on to the next step of organizing allows you to start with a clean space before adding items back into it.
4. Follow up with a tidying routine.
Tidying is what you do after your room has been decluttered, organized, and cleaned. It’s how you maintain that space. Tidying:
- Maintains the systems you’ve created.
- Prevents the accumulation of clutter.
- Makes deep cleaning sessions more manageable.
- Reinforces organizational habits.
Tidying involves returning items to their designated homes and maintaining the systems you set up during the organizing phase. While decluttering only needs to take place periodically, tidying is a frequent practice that prevents clutter from creeping back in.
Effective tidying involves establishing the habit of returning everything to its home once you are finished with it. Now that everything has a designated home, putting things away should be much less challenging than it was before…when that item didn’t have a home.
If you’re not already in the habit of putting things away as you use them, it may take some extra effort to establish this new habit. But do not despair, though challenging at first, after a few weeks, it will become more automatic.
Decluttering, organizing, cleaning & tidying work best when done in order.
Following this sequence not only helps us to tackle a cluttered space more effectively but will also help us avoid becoming overwhelmed and giving up altogether. Each step builds upon the previous one.
Attempting to organize a room in the wrong order can lead to:
- Wasted time organizing items that should be eliminated.
- Inefficient cleaning around unnecessary objects.
- Difficulty maintaining systems that aren’t properly planned.
- Frustration, overwhelm, and abandoned efforts.
While decluttering and organizing are periodic projects, cleaning and tidying are ongoing processes. Decluttering and organizing require more investment of time and energy, but they make cleaning and tidying much easier in the long run. This approach not only creates a more organized space but also helps maintain it long-term with minimal daily effort.
About Laura
Who I am is a Southern California turned small-town, Midwest Mom. I am wife to Bruce and mom to my three girls. I am also dog mom to Ollie and Gracie, (AKA Bubbas and Boo.)
Back when I first started my professional organizing journey in 2013, I had what I thought of as a dirty little secret. I have ADHD and although I am organized, and enjoy the process of sorting, and tidying. I knew that there were many others with ADHD who really struggled with staying organized. I had a case of imposter syndrome and mostly kept the fact that I had ADHD to myself. That is until I learned that there are other successful professional organizers who have also learned to compensate for their ADHD the same way that I have.
I eventually realized that my need for order and simplicity actually stems from having ADHD as a way to compensate for my short attention span. So my gifts and my challenges are all ironically tied together to create who I am, and I am able to relate to and help others as a result of this coping method that I have developed for myself.
With a B.A. degree in Psychology, I have several years experience working with families and seniors. I believe in a holistic view to organizing. Clearing our minds of the clutter and chaos in our lives is just as important as clearing our physical clutter. By taking a holistic approach to organizing, we can make lasting change.
I also help those without ADHD, who struggle with too much clutter. Because simplicity and less clutter are always at the heart of staying organized, there is much overlap when it comes to finding solutions to clutter and disorganization.
I am dedicated to keeping my life as simple as possible and to helping others do the same by teaching them how to declutter their homes, simplify their lives, and manage their busy families better.
I have been helping others stay organized since 2013.
It is my deepest hope that you will find resources here that will bring you closer to living a simpler, more intentional, and more peaceful life.
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19 ADHD Organization Hacks and Strategies for Your Home
Having ADHD does not mean that you are doomed to struggle with keeping your home organized until the end of time.
Having ADHD myself, I am not only able to keep my home mostly organized, but I honestly don’t spend much time trying to keep it that way. An organized house is a realistic, achievable goal. The secret comes down to:
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Well-thought-out strategies
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Helpful habits
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Low-maintenance organizing systems
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Reducing excess clutter
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Tailor it to Your Unique Brain
Many of us with ADHD are challenged by the same common executive dysfunctions—working memory, time management, short attention span, task initiation—but ADHD manifests very differently for different people.
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My biggest struggle might be time management.
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Your biggest struggle might be staying on task and following through without getting bored.
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For this reason, some of these suggestions may work well for you, and others may not. My aim is to offer a comprehensive list of strategies that typically work for those with ADHD. Try the ones that resonate with you, and leave the others behind.
Use the following ADHD organization hacks to set your home up for success:
1. Establish a Launching Pad (As a Visual Reminder)
Create a dedicated system by your exit door for items that need to go with you each day.
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Why it works: It serves as an unmissable visual reminder to grab what you need.
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Who it helps: Great for adults rushing out the door and kids heading off to school.
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How to set it up: Place a bin or container for each family member near the exit door.
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What to store there: Lunches, work items, backpacks, instruments, coats, sports gear, etc.
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When to do it: Prep it ahead of time or the night before to drastically reduce the chance of forgetting something.
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My Personal Take: This is personally one of my favorite tips because I am terrible at remembering things at the last minute. I have all to do just to make sure I have my car keys in hand as I walk out the door!
2. Store Things Where You Use Them
Make clean-up as simple as possible for yourself and your family. The easier it is to put something away, the more likely it is to actually get done.
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Match items to action: Think about the activities that take place in each space, and store everything needed right nearby.
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Example — The Coffee Bar:
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Group your coffee maker, supplies, mugs, and travel thermos all in one dedicated spot.
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Now, morning preparation and clean-up are a cinch.
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3. Establish Activity Zones
Every home functions better when spaces are separated into distinct work or play zones. Think of a kindergarten classroom with designated areas for reading, painting, and storytelling.
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Identify routines: Consider what activities take place in each area of your home.
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Group items together: Store all items needed for a specific activity right in that zone.
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Reduce friction: Use open bins and labeled containers to make retrieval and cleanup as fast and low-effort as possible.
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4. Make Things Visual to Ensure They Are Not Forgotten
Place items for tasks that need to be completed in a visible spot to help you remember to do them.
Out of sight, out of mind: Many of us with ADHD are visually oriented; in other words, we need to see it to remember to do it. We perpetually live in a world of out of sight, out of mind.
Daily medication example: Store medication you have to take every day in a bin corralled right on your bathroom countertop to remind yourself to take it.
Task reminders: If you have an assignment that needs to be completed, set it in a highly visible place that will remind you to work on it.
5. Distinguish Between Active and Inactive Clutter
Active Clutter: Items you have intentionally placed in a visible location because you need to take some sort of action on them (like the visual reminders mentioned above).
Inactive Clutter: Items that have been sitting unused in the same location for a long period. Maybe the item doesn't have a home, or maybe it does... and you just haven't gotten around to putting it away.
Why minimize it: Those of us with ADHD tend to get overwhelmed with visual clutter faster than those with neurotypical brains, so inactive clutter is the kind you want to minimize for your own sake.
6. See What Tasks You Can Either Automate or Eliminate
The key is to simplify your life as much as possible. The less your brain has to remember each day, the easier it will be for you to keep up with recurring tasks.
Automate repetitive tasks:
Set up an automatic online system for paying bills.
Have your pharmacy automatically refill and mail your medications to your home each month.
Consider investing in an automatic vacuum like a Roomba to vacuum for you each week.
Think about what other repetitive tasks you have on your plate that you can automate.
Eliminate high-maintenance possessions: Consider whether or not you have possessions that require a lot of effort that may not be worth it (for example, a hot tub that requires a lot of work but rarely gets used).
7. Rely on Timers and Other Devices to Help You Remember
Alarms and smart devices are what keep me on track—they are excellent tools for helping us set reminders for daily tasks that would otherwise be forgotten.
Smart Assistants (like Alexa):
Ask Alexa to remind you to take the trash out, feed the dogs, go to the dentist, etc.
Have her keep a running grocery list for you (which, as a bonus, will help you keep your pantry organized.
Time Management Support: Poor time management is another common executive dysfunction among those with ADHD.
Use phone alarms, timers, and devices to remind you that it's time to make supper, time for the kids to do homework, or time for you to start getting ready for work.
8. Establish One Family Calendar to Keep Everyone Organized
Use a central, highly visible family calendar system to help your family stay on top of appointments, deadlines, chores, and activities. This ensures nothing is forgotten and there are no overlapping appointments.
Calendar Options: Use a large whiteboard calendar or a digital option like the Skylight Calendar to help stay on top of everything that needs to get done each week.
Location: Place your calendar in a prominent area such as the kitchen, command center, or mudroom.
Paper Clutter: Curtail paper clutter by establishing a designated landing spot for all the schoolwork that comes home with your children.
If managing all the stuff that comes home with your kids each day is a challenge for you, read my other post: "The Simplest Way to Organize School Paperwork and Keepsakes."
9. Create Incentives to Make Tasks More Interesting
Since task initiation can be an issue for both adults and children with ADHD, find ways to get around this by making household cleaning and organizing tasks more interesting to execute.
For Kids:
Make a game out of tidying up or play music to make doing tasks more fun.
Create a little healthy competition: give a small reward to the first child to finish cleaning their room or complete a chore.
For Yourself:
Listen to a favorite podcast while you work.
Incentivize your own tasks by rewarding yourself when you're done with a nap or a warm cup of tea.
10. Declutter Regularly and Ruthlessly
ADHD and clutter are paired, the struggle to stay organized often becomes even more pronounced.
The Lower Threshold: Being surrounded by clutter can be mentally draining for anyone, but for those of us with ADHD, visual clutter is even more overwhelming because we have a lower threshold for dealing with clutter in the first place.
Less Stuff = Less Stress: The more stuff you own and have in your home, the harder it is to keep it all organized, so declutter often and regularly.
Your Best Defense: Decluttering regularly is your best defense against feeling overwhelmed as a mom with ADHD.
The Bottom Line: If I could only give you one tip that would have the greatest impact on staying organized and creating an ADHD-friendly home, it would be this one.
11. Don't Underestimate the Value of Sorting and Containerizing
By storing all related items together in one location, you will drastically reduce how much time you spend looking for things. Once sorted, place groups of items in a storage container so that they stay together.
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One location for like items: Avoid storing similar items in multiple locations in your home. It is easier to remember where light bulbs and batteries live if they are all stored together in one place.
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Track your inventory: Do you ever catch yourself searching in several locations just to find something? Storing all like items together keeps you from hunting around and helps you stay on top of your inventory.
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Store vertically: I recommend storing anything sturdy enough to stand up vertically instead of laying flat. Not only does this make items easier to see, but you can grab what you need without disheveling or lifting other items.
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Name your containers: Susan Pinsky, the author of “Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD,” suggests that as you organize, it is helpful to name your bins, shelves, and drawers to keep related items together.
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Example: Store all of your beverage koozies together, standing up in a small container, and place it in the drink cabinet where you store your other beverage-related items.
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12. In your pantry, use bins to keep related food items together.
This will make it much easier for you and your family to find things when they need them. It will also keep sorted food categories together longer.
Use clear, open-topped pantry bins that have been labeled, and take food out of their outer packages so that everything is easy to see and to grab quickly. This will discourage disheveling and make things easy to find quickly.
Those with ADHD can be impulsive; remedy this by organizing foods so that healthier items are easy to get to and unhealthy snacks require more work. Place fruit cups, nuts, and other healthy choices at eye level and put cookies, chips, and candy on a higher shelf so they are not so easy to grab.
Use an expandable tiered shelf to store canned food so you can see everything you have. Your goal is not to have to look for anything that is hiding behind something else. Avoid overstocking your pantry so that you don't run out of space and lose control of your inventory. Reread tip number 10 again, because this is the mother of all organizing tips!
13. Have a place for everything you own so that you can find things and put them away easily.
Assigning permanent homes to everything you own ensures that clutter is kept at bay and time is not wasted looking for things. It is also important to make sure that other family members know where things are located. Reinforce the rule that everything has a home and items need to be returned to their permanent homes when they are not being used.
14. Don’t put things off until the last minute.
Given that my ADHD makes me forgetful, and I know this about myself, I compensate for this by preparing for things ahead of time. That way, if there are any surprises or I realize I forgot something, I've got some cushion.
Just as it is much less stressful not to wait until the last minute to do a homework assignment, it promotes peace to get predictable, scheduled activities out of the way ahead of time rather than waiting until the last minute. For Example: Shopping for Saturday night’s dinner party well in advance rather than waiting until Saturday morning allows extra time for any unexpected snags that might pop up.
15. Lean into your family's dumping habits.
See if you can find a way to store things where they tend to land rather than constantly moving things to a different location. If shoes seem to end up by the back door, put a shoe rack there. If coats or backpacks constantly land on the chair near the front door, install a hook rack on the wall near there. Install single hooks in places where towels, purses, or robes seem to land.
Does paperwork clutter your kitchen counter? Get some decorative baskets or bins to hide it in or put a hanging paperwork organizer on a nearby wall. Notice where clutter seems to gather and see if you can find a way to store those items where they are easy to grab and put away.
16. Create a daily 10-minute family tidying session.
This one trick will go a long way in keeping your home organized from day to day. Get your family in the habit of participating in a 10-minute family tidying session at the same time each day, perhaps right before or after supper.
You’ll be surprised how quickly your home can go from messy to orderly when everyone pitches in and works together for just 10 minutes.
You can also make it fun by playing music. When the music stops, everyone can stop tidying. Use caution not to overstep the 10-minute rule. If 10 minutes turns into 30 minutes, your family might become reluctant to participate.
17. Remove barriers to make unfun but necessary tasks easier to do.
If there are activities you want to encourage yourself or your family to do, make it easier to do them. If your car is always a mess because trash builds up, place a trash can in your garage right next to your car to make getting rid of trash easier.
As an additional reinforcement, the trash can will act as a visual reminder not to leave your car without dumping the trash from that day's travels. In the same way, if trash buildup is a problem in your home, place a trash can in every single room to make for easy dumping. If laundry on the floor is a problem, place a laundry bin in every bedroom and bathroom.
18. Store things simply and avoid micro-organizing.
Focus on organizing things so that they are super easy to find, access, and put away quickly. Leave tops off of storage containers for easy access. Avoid stacking things on top of each other or placing frequently used items in hard-to-reach areas.
Overcrowding and over-nesting make things hard to put away and retrieve. Once a space like a cabinet or closet has exceeded its maximum capacity, that space becomes much less user-friendly and functional. Avoid storing small items in the back of cabinets behind other things; they'll just get lost and forgotten about.
Also, if your organizing systems are too complicated, they will require too much time and effort to maintain. For example, it may sound like a great idea to store all of your spices in little labeled glass jars. But will you really take the time to refill them all regularly? In the same way, a simple filing system for paperwork with a limited number of main categories is better than one with numerous confusing categories and subcategories.
19. What other habits can you establish to keep your home organized?
Forming habits, such as doing homework and household tasks at the same time every day, can help you and your family feel more in control. Habits give us a sense of security and predictability that make our lives feel less chaotic.
Keep in mind that if you really want to create lasting change and create a more ADHD-friendly home for yourself long-term, you'll need to stick with and practice these suggestions. Resist giving up on the tips that require new habit formation too soon - especially if you know follow-through is a struggle for you. Be patient with yourself. It takes 21 days to create a habit, but good habits are at the heart of staying organized with ADHD.
To get more help with organizing specific rooms in your home, check out my other ADHD related posts: ADHD Bathroom Organization Tools: Create a Clutter-Free Space, and 15 ADHD Kitchen Organizing Tips That Really Work.
About Laura
Who I am is a Southern California turned small-town, Midwest Mom. I am wife to Bruce and mom to my three girls. I am also dog mom to Ollie and Gracie, our quirky pups.
With a B.A. degree in Psychology, I have several years experience working with families and seniors. I believe in a holistic view to organizing. Clearing our minds of the clutter and chaos in our lives is just as important as clearing our physical clutter. By taking a holistic approach to organizing, we can make lasting change.
Back when I first started my professional organizing journey in 2013, I had what I thought of as a dirty little secret. I have ADHD and although I am organized, and enjoy the process of sorting, and tidying. I knew that there were many others with ADHD who really struggled with staying organized. I had a case of imposter syndrome and mostly kept the fact that I had ADHD to myself. That is until I learned that there are other successful professional organizers who have also learned to compensate for their ADHD the same way that I have.
I eventually realized that my need for order and simplicity actually stems from having ADHD as a way to compensate for my short attention span. So my gifts and my challenges are all ironically tied together to create who I am, and I am able to relate to and help others as a result of this coping method that I have developed for myself.
I also help those without ADHD, who struggle with too much clutter. Because simplicity and less clutter are always at the heart of staying organized, there is much overlap when it comes to finding solutions to clutter and disorganization.
I am dedicated to keeping my life as simple as possible and to helping others do the same by teaching them how to declutter their homes, simplify their lives, and manage their busy families better.
I have been helping others stay organized since 2013.
It is my deepest hope that you will find resources here that will bring you closer to living a simpler, more intentional, and more peaceful life.
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