Easy 10-Minute Decluttering Tasks You Can Do Today

What if you only have cracks in your day, chronic pain, or no motivation but still want to declutter quickly?  The answer may be easy 10-minute decluttering tasks, one of my favorite quick decluttering strategies.

These are the time-saving decluttering ideas you do while dinner is cooking, when your little one is taking a bath, or when you have a small jolt of energy but not much time. 

These 10-minute decluttering tasks are the small steps you take to big results. 

You don’t need a lot of time to get big results, you just need consistency. 

Super Easy 10-Minute Decluttering Challenges You Can Do Today

When I first started decluttering, I had two toddlers.  Life was crazy. Work was intense, and I was tired and overwhelmed. 

You don’t have to have a lot of time to make progress. In fact, consistent efforts will give you a snowball effect when it comes to your clutter.  The results will seem small at first, but then, before you know it, it starts to snowball.  You will have a whole carload of donations, your rooms will start transforming, and you will feel lighter, just because of some simple and quick 10-minute decluttering tasks!

1 – Declutter your socks

Instead of decluttering your entire closet, declutter your socks.  Socks aren’t earth-shattering.  No one will probably even notice, but you will notice.

That’s how decluttering works at first.  It’s small changes. 

Get motivated, and do something small, but something you will feel nearly every single day, and declutter your socks.

When I first started decluttering, I had so many socks that I had a crate sitting next to my dresser.  There were too many to fit into a full dresser drawer!

I probably couldn’t have decluttered them all in 10 minutes.  So if you have too many, set a timer and just declutter your dress socks one day.  Then, the next ten minutes you have to spare, declutter your casual socks.  Keep going, working through all categories until you are done. 

This is such an easy 10-minute decluttering task that gives you a quick win that you will get to enjoy nearly every day.

2 – Declutter your junk drawer

My favorite space to declutter in just 10 minutes is my junk drawer.  It seems to need ongoing work. 

Waiting on water to boil? Head over to the junk drawer. 

Got a meal in the oven? Clear out a few leftover condiments packets that somehow build up in a random drawer. 

You can remove any trash, put away orphaned items that don’t belong, or simply rearrange and purge any items, like dried-up pens.

3 – Declutter your water bottles

Want another easy decluttering task? If you are still in the kitchen and need another 10-minute decluttering challenge, head on over to where you store your water bottles. 

How many water bottles do you really need? Do you have corporate swag-type water bottles? These are the ones with logos on them that you got for free, but they don’t really work that great.  Drop those in a donation box. 

4 – Find books to trade in

Another great 10-minute decluttering task is to grab a box and fill it up with books. 

I love books.  We buy them (and read them) often.  I love the library too, but owning books is a priority in our house.  (I’m not the best minimalist! LOL)

Go through your book collection, and look for books you’ve already read, know you will never read, or no longer apply to your season of life. 

You can go through fiction books, non-fiction books, children’s books, or even your cookbooks. 

5 – Declutter your entryway

This is my favorite 10-minute decluttering task where I can involve my kids! If all you have are a few minutes to spare, then have your kids straighten up the entryway. 

Is there an excessive amount of shoes there? We have a rule that each person can only keep two pairs of shoes near doors.  The rest have to be stored on shoe racks in their personal closets. 

Look for other quick wins.  Maybe you have excess grocery bags.  You can put those in the front seat of your car to recycle on your next grocery visit. 

If you are using a piece of furniture in your entryway as a dumping ground, then set a timer and spend a few minutes clearing it out. 

The entryway is the first thing you see when walking into your home. Make it welcoming and stress-free.

6 – Declutter a single flat surface in your bedroom

You can declutter your entire bedroom, or you can simply devote 10 minutes to decluttering a small area.  Look for a single flat surface in your bedroom, and start there.

I recommend starting with your nightstand.  Try to clear off any non-essential items.  You can even go real crazy and set up a place to plug in your phone that’s NOT by your bed.  No more phone distractions to your sleep!

7 – Clean out your fridge

If you have science experiments in your fridge, you have food clutter.  Excess leads to waste. 

Spend 10 minutes decluttering your fridge.  Look for items that have gone bad, merry any duplicates, or throw out that item with no expiration date but you’re pretty sure shouldn’t be eaten so you are avoiding it. 

This task is especially helpful when you do it the day before you go grocery shopping. 

Feeling extra motivated? Wipe down any empty shelves.  You don’t have to clean the entire fridge, but maybe you can wipe down a shelf or two. 

8 – Fill a single bag with clothes

My entire decluttering journey started with a single bag of decluttered clothes.  One of my favorite 10-minute decluttering tasks is to grab a simple grocery bag and fill it up with unwanted clothes. 

Look for clothes that are too big, too small, frumpy, worn out, or you just don’t like.  Don’t put a lot of thought into this task.  You know the clothes you don’t love.  You avoid them on the regular.  Go ahead and put them in the bag for donation. 

9 – Clear out a pantry shelf

I love to do this fun 10-minute decluttering task on Sundays, right before church.  One of our neighborhood churches has a Little Pantry.  It has food items in it for anyone that needs them. 

Use your excess to bless others.  If your pantry is overflowing, grab a grocery bag and fill it up with items you won’t be eating and share your blessing with someone else. 

10 – Declutter your medicine cabinet

OK, maybe you don’t have a medicine cabinet, but declutter wherever you keep your medicines. 

We tend to overbuy on meds when someone gets sick in our house.  No one wants to be miserable with no access to meds nearby! However, this practice of overbuying often means in two years we will have meds that have expired or are no longer applicable. 

Spend 10 minutes decluttering your medicine cabinet, and make a little extra room in your bathroom or closet. 

11 – Declutter your bathroom shower

This is a fun 10-minute decluttering task you can do while you shower (not weird, right?).

For any items you don’t want, set them down on the floor just outside the shower. 

Look for empty bottles, almost empty bottles (use them up!), products you don’t like, and soaps you refuse to use because they got too small.

I don’t like being wasteful, so use what you got, if you will.  However, a lot of us accumulate clutter because we avoid the products we don’t like and keep pretending we will use them “one day”. 

Easy 10-Minute Decluttering Tasks: Itty-bitty steps to BIG results

You don’t have to have a lot of time to declutter.  Sometimes, all you can give is ten minutes to clear the clutter, and that’s OK. 

Consistency is way more effective than intensity.  You don’t have to go crazy.  Decluttering in short bursts is easy and effective. Before you know it, you will have the clutter-free home you desire!