Using Questions To Guide Your Declutter When You Have ADHD

If you struggle to declutter, use specific questions to help you decide if something is worth keeping.

I am the type of person who talks to myself while I am doing tasks. Maybe it is because it helps keep me focused. Or maybe because I have ADHD. I don't know!

But whatever the reason, I also ask myself questions...out loud. These questions may be about things I don't want to forget. Or something I needed to get from another room. Or questions about a particular item and if I need to keep it.

These questions are what I call "declutter questions". And they are the best tool to use as you declutter your things. Because when you ask yourself questions, you are able to process the actual purpose of an item. If you use that item. And your thoughts around that item.

I am sharing my 5 "go-to" declutter questions I ask myself every time I decide if a particular item needs to stay in our house.

Declutter Question 1

My first question I always ask myself is "have I used this item in the last 6 months?"

Some things are super easy to answer, like kitchen gadgets we use daily, or throw pillows. But other things take some thinking. And those are the items you want to focus on.

I will pick up an item and ask myself if I have used it in the last 6 months. If I am like, "obviously, that's why it is out", then I put it away and move on.

But if there is an item that I haven't used, and I am unsure if I have because I can’t remember, I need to dig deeper and ask myself question 2.

Declutter Question 2

If I am not sure if I used an item in the past 6 months, I try to decide what the item's purpose is. What do I use it for? Why am I keeping it? How does this item make my life easier?

Sometimes deciding on the purpose of an item can help you decide where it should be stored in your home. Making it easier to locate when you need it. Because we all have items we need occasionally. But are a necessity to keeping our homes running.

For me, I don't use my label maker ever day, but I need it when I am organizing a drawer or area of my home. So I store it with other labeling supplies. This makes it easy to find when I need it.

If you can’t find a purpose for the item, that may be your sign to let it go. You can stop after this question if you don’t know the purpose of an item because you may not even need that item anymore.

Declutter Question 3

Sometimes I just have to ask myself if I would replace this item if it broke or got lost. Because when I ask this question, my focus goes to the future. And I can think if this item still needs to be in my home or not.

If you have a junk drawer, there are probably items in there that you wouldn't replace if they were broken. So why are you keeping them now? What is the purpose of allowing that item to take up space in your home when you won't replace it if it broke?

It gets you thinking about that item, which I love. It helps keep you focused on only keeping items that have a purpose in your home. No more clutter! That’s the goal.

Declutter Question 4

Another question to ask is could you replace an item for $20 or less. The reason you would focus on this is to remove the financial component around an item.

We tend to feel like we have to keep things simply because we paid for them. But what that does is makes us feel bad if we no longer want to keep an item. It is a weird cycle that we go through around how much we spent on an item.

I see this a lot with kids' crafts or adult scrapbooking items. You paid for something you needed and were left with extras. So you hold onto those extra pieces thinking you will use them "one day". But they are taking a told on you because they are taking up space. So I am telling you know, you can part with those items.

But sometimes we hold onto items we can replace because we are keeping them out of guilt. Which brings me to question 5.

Declutter Question 5

The last question I regularly ask myself is if I am holding onto an item out of guilt. Maybe it was a gift and I felt bad getting rid of it. Maybe I already spent money but no longer need that item.

Whatever it is, you can part with it if you don't like it anymore. Just because someone gave you the item, doesn’t mean you have to keep it. The act of giving is the present. Not the physical item itself.

When we take away the idea that we have to keep things that were given to us, we are free to remove them if we feel they are cluttering our house.

Declutter Questions To Ask

Asking these questions out loud as you clean you house can help you reduce the clutter piling in your home.

Sometimes we have things that we aren’t sure what the purpose is, but we just kept it because we may use it “one day”. Sometimes we keep items that were gifted to us because we feel bad if we get rid of it.

Here’s the thing…with ADHD, our brains need clutter-free spaces. It helps our brains feel settled. But getting rid of things is so difficult for us. Because we may need it and don’t want to impulsively throw things away.

Asking declutter questions can help remove the impulsivity to just throw everything away by slowing our thoughts to process what we are actually keeping.