The SIMPLE Decluttering Method Is All The Rage, But Does It Work?

There are many decluttering systems. You can declutter your home with the 21 item toss method, or techniques like one-a-day, five-a-day, four-box, 20-minute, 20/20, 90/90, 12-12-12, rotating drawers, reversing hangers, etc. While many of them are quite good, it seems like we need to start by decluttering the decluttering hacks. What we need here is some simplicity, and you might find it in the SIMPLE method that's been picking up some fans lately. 

SIMPLE is an anagram for a six-step process grounded in common sense and making no big claims beyond "if you do this, you'll have less clutter." The first five steps in the SIMPLE system apply to actions you'd take in dealing with each individual item you're putting away: Sort the things you're decluttering, identify what you want to keep, make a place for each, put them in containers, and label accordingly. Finally, establish a routine for doing this sorting ... which is largely a way of saying "actually do it, then do it again later."

Except for perhaps the labeling, all of this is pretty fundamental to any decluttering, whether you call it SIMPLE or not. Far from meaning it doesn't work, this probably indicates that it usually does. After all, if keeping things out of containers somehow decluttered our rooms, we certainly wouldn't be spending money on baskets and Rubbermaid shoeboxes. The hidden issue is that, for some people, following any structured system can be difficult or impossible — but even that doesn't mean it won't work.

The second step of the SIMPLE method — identifying the keepers — is one of the reasons it can work. If you're deciding what to keep, you're getting rid of other stuff. This is a common feature of many decluttering methodologies precisely because it's a requirement of decluttering in general — it's almost never just about organization. But whether you're going for minimalism or just 50% fewer toys littering the living room floor, the only way to get there is, for most of us, to have less stuff. Whatever you do keep is given a home with similar items (you'll notice that this method asks you to ditch the keep box while decluttering your home) and clearly labeled so you can find the home again later. It's so basic it almost has to work: Things are in the wrong places, so move them to the right places.

The "establish a routine" step is the other key to the success of the SIMPLE system. After all, we know the toys go in the toybox — it's getting them in there regularly that's a problem. To find your routine, try out other decluttering methodologies until you find one that works for you to some extent. Most have nothing to say about routine, but some, like the 20-minute method, can create a well-defined and tolerable structure for almost anyone to work within: Declutter for 20 minutes a day, then evaluate your efforts and either start a new 20-minute timer or table the work until tomorrow.