If that statement doesn’t get your joy sparking, I’m not sure what will!

You might be thinking it sounds way too good to be true. Please trust me on this one...

If you struggle with decluttering, this is oozing with “change your world” potential and I don’t want you to miss out on that.

Just be warned... Once you get a taste for these results, you might become obsessed with them.  Seriously, these time-saving methods are just that good!

In this guide, I’ll show you:

Method: Bag Racing

Pro: Fast and efficient. A good way to kick start the decluttering process.

Method: Bag Racing: Bonus Round

Same method as above but with an extra round of steps for a more thorough session.

Pro:  Fast, efficient and the bonus round helps you catch any clutter you might have missed.

Con: While it takes a bit longer, it’s still a quick fix. It’ll declutter your closet but won’t organize it.

Grab a bag and set your timer for 10 minutes.

Go through your closet and pull out unwanted clothes putting them in the bag. Challenge yourself to fill it completely. Keep looking for items to purge until the time is up.

Repeat steps 1 and 2 again, only this time being more ruthless. Asking yourself: 

 “Am I keeping this because I love it and wear it?” 

 “Would I buy this again if I had the chance?" 

 For clothes that you answered “no”, put them into the bag with the rest of the unwanted clothing.

Not selling? Skip this step and  to step 6.

Mark as “donate” and if you're selling, “sell” and put them into your car. All that’s left is for you to take your clothes to a donation centre and the consignment store as soon as you can. You’re done, way to go! 

Marie Kondo’s KonMari method works really well to declutter your closet and your home for that matter.  But, we're on a timeline here and can't take out ALL the clothes at once, like she says to.

Instead, let’s hack her method by taking out one category of clothes at a time and put them on the bed to sort.

Doing this gives you the option of breaking out the project into 15 - 20 min shifts throughout a weekend if you don’t have a full hour to work.

Method: Kondo Hacking

Pros:

• With your clothes out of the closet, your decision is flipped from “What will I take away?” to “What will I add back in?” It’s a more positive feeling since it focuses on gaining rather than losing.

• Seeing the empty space helps you picture the potential of the closet with fewer things.

• This method has an added benefit. It will help you declutter and organize your closet.

• You’ll also have a simple way to track which clothes you wear and which you don’t.

Cons:

• More time consuming and labour intensive than the other 2 methods.

• There's a risk that seeing all your clothes on your bed will make you feel overwhelmed.

You can start with any group since the order doesn’t affect the end result. Just pick one and start. Depending on how many pieces of clothes you have, you might want to start with a specific piece of clothes like “pants”, instead of a broader group like “lower body”. Here’s a list of categories to help you get started:

With a group of clothes now on your bed, it’s time to put on your imagination cap. Yep, you read that right. Pretend you don’t own the clothes on your bed anymore. Which ones would you choose to “buy” back? Choose only the very best that you wear and you know look amazing on you.

Put the best back into your closet, hangers facing backwards. Moving forward, only put the clothes you've worn with the hanger facing forward. After a few months, you'll see the ones you haven’t been wearing. 

To organize your closet as you go, keep the group of clothes together when you put them back in your closet. This will organize them by type, feel free to take it a step further and do it by colour too!

Move the remaining clothes off the bed and into the garbage bag. You'll sort through them later to figure out which you’ll sell or donate. Right now, focus on keeping the ones you love.

Don't worry, water's not required! Follow steps 1 through 4 again. Do this for all the categories in your closet.

OK! You can take off your imagination cap now. With the best clothes in your closet, double check no stowaway clothes made it in. To see if any other pieces of clothes should go in the bag, look at each one and ask yourself: 

 "Why am I keeping this? Do I love it and wear it?” 

 "Do I like how I look in this?" 

 “Would I buy this again if I had the chance?" 

Once you’ve done that for each piece, you’ll have finished decluttering and sorting your closet. Amazing! You’re almost done. 

Now to deal with the unwanted clothes, if you’re not selling, skip to step 8.

Sort through the unwanted clothes and put them into two piles, “sell” and “donate”. Use the consignment store’s criteria to help you do this.

Put the clothes into the garbage bags and label them as “donate” and, if you’re selling, “sell.” Put them by the door or into your car. All that’s left is for you to take your clothes to a donation centre and the consignment store as soon as you can.