The ‘Magic Basket’ Method Breaks Decluttering Into Two Manageable Steps

A lot of people are looking for easy, effective ways to declutter, and there are a variety of techniques out there for doing so—but since everyone has unique homes, needs, and schedules, not every approach is going to work for every person. Recently, I found one that minimizes the stress of decluttering and even creates the illusion of minimizing the time spent on it. This one, I think, could be the one for you when you’re feeling busy and overwhelmed. It’s called the “magic basket” method.

What is the “magic basket” decluttering method?

I saw the magic basket method popping up around the internet but wasn’t sold on it initially, since there are so many decluttering techniques out there already. But the more I saw it referenced, the more curious I became. When I looked into it, I realized it’s actually pretty innovative and smart: You break your decluttering up so it spans two days, doing the first half of the task at night and the second half the next day.

All you need is a basket: Every night, go around with your basket and put anything in it that is out of place. Then, do nothing. Put the basket down; go to sleep. When you wake up and you’re feeling fresher, take the basket back around, putting everything inside back where it belongs.

You can mess with the timing a little. Maybe gathering clutter isn’t an ideal part of your pre-bedtime routine. For me, the last hour of the day is reserved for self care, reading, and generally winding down, so my magic basket time is better off happening two or so hours before bedtime. If you’re in a rush in the mornings, too, you might not have time for putting everything away; do it right after work instead. The goal is to split up the gathering and the putting away, so as long as you’re doing that, you’re making progress.

Why does the magic basket work?

This works because it cuts the time you spend decluttering right down the middle. Even when you’re tired and stressed in the evening, you can take five minutes to plop out-of-place items into a basket—and you’ll immediately notice how much better the space looks and be able to go to sleep feeling accomplished. When you’ve had a good night’s rest in a visibly cleaner home, you’ll be more energized than you would have been if you had to move from gathering to putting away back-to-back.

That feeling of accomplishment at night is key. It’s hard to maintain a busy schedule and a clean home, so taking a win—in this case, simply getting all your clutter into a single location—is a must whenever you can. The feeling of doing something, even when you can’t do everything, is a powerful motivator. It’s why I recommend cleaning in 15-minute chunks instead of longer slogs. It’s better to do a little bit at a time and feel good about getting things done than to overwhelm yourself with a seemingly insurmountable task.