Declutter VS Tidy VS Clean - What's the difference?

Aren't decluttering and organizing basically the same thing?

What's the difference between cleaning and tidying?

I'm constantly cleaning, so why is it always still a mess?!

I am about to answer these questions AND give you the knowledge you need to make your house decluttered, organized, tidy, AND clean. Excited!? Me too!

Many people use declutter, sort, organize, purge, tidy, and clean all interchangeably. Because of this, many people I talk to don't understand the difference. And to be honest, the dictionary doesn't really understand the difference either: Organize and sort are considered synonyms; and organize is in one definition of declutter!

Why does knowing the difference matter?

You need to tackle each part of your house work in the right way and at the right time. Knowing the difference matters because you can't do any of these home care tasks effectively when you don't know which is which. Plus, you don't want to be doing all of them in one crazy cleaning spree right before people come over to your house! Knowing the difference between sorting, decluttering, organizing, tidying, and cleaning will help you better prioritize your time and make sure each step is completed fully before moving onto the next one. Then when you plan to have people over, you hopefully can just do a quick tidy and clean before they arrive and have the rest done ahead of time.

So, what's the difference between all these words according to a decluttering and organizing coach?

Keep reading!

Sort VS Declutter VS Organize VS Tidy VS Clean

Sorting means separating out items into logical groups, so then you can easily declutter, organize, and/or tidy those items.

Decluttering (aka purging) means deciding which items to keep and which to get rid of, and then actually getting rid of those items you've decided to discard. Or more concisely put, decluttering is getting rid of things.

Organizing means giving items that are out of place, a designated spot to go in your home OR moving items from one designated place to new one. Also organizing often entails finding organizing bins and solutions to store items more effectively. Basically, organizing is moving things to a better place in your home.

Tidying means picking up items that already have a designated place and returning them to that place. There is no difficult decision making in tidying because you already know where everything goes, you just need to take it there.

Cleaning means removing the dirt, grime, or germs from your belongings or home. This includes dusting surfaces, wiping off dirty kick-knacks, scrubbing toilets, washing laundry, vacuuming, mopping, and sanitizing.

NOTE ON TRASH:

Throwing away trash can be part of cleaning, tidying, or decluttering depending on what you are throwing away. Throwing away trash is a part of cleaning when you are tossing such items as a dirty paper towels after dusting with them or crumbs after wiping the table. Throwing away larger items of trash that are easy to decide on (like a broken item or candy wrapper) counts as tidying because you are just putting it where you already know it belongs, i.e. the trash can. Throwing away something that takes a decision (like a faded t-shirt in your closet) counts as decluttering because you probably wouldn't have thrown it away without making a conscious choice.

client closet before

EXAMPLE

Here is a sequence of tasks I frequently do with clients. Each step is labeled with it's correct definition. Hopefully this example helps you better grasp each home care task definition:

client's bed made so we can work

client's bed covered in clothes to sort

1 - We decide to work on their bedroom closet. - strategy and planning

2 - We move items from on the bed to the floor so we have a clear space to work. - just moving things around, not actually tidying or organizing

3 - I make the bed by straightening the blankets and sheets. - TIDY

4- We pull all their hanging clothes out of the closet and onto the bed. - just moving things around again so we can sort

5 - We make piles of the clothes by type. - SORT

6 - The client goes through each pile and further separates items, deciding what's to keep, what's to donate, and what's trash. - SORT (separating) and DECLUTTER (deciding)

7 - I wipe dust off the dusty hanging rods in the closet. - CLEAN

client's closet after

8 - I put keeper items back into the closet by the categories we defined and hang in rainbow order. - ORGANIZE

9 - We clear the floor of the closet by putting away a belt, hat, and kid's toy where they belong and by throwing away some stray clothing tags. - TIDY

10 - They throw away a few old t-shirts they had set aside while sorting. - DECLUTTER

11 - I take their donate box to the donation center. - DECLUTTER

As you can see from this example, you shouldn't do your home care tasks in order of "sort to clean" as I first listed them. Do them in the order that is logical for each part of your current project. Sometimes projects will require more cleaning, while others will require more tidying, organizing, or decluttering.

However, do be sure to consider each type of home care task and decide if and when you need to do it for this project. Using the example above, don't forget to clean while your area is clear and don't skip decluttering and just put everything back without making any decisions about what to keep and what to get rid of.

Let me know in the comments if you found these definitions helpful and/or if you have a slightly different understanding of these words. And, which of these home care tasks do like best (or avoid like the plague). My personal favorite is organizing, although decluttering is what I focus on with clients as it is usually the most impactful (and avoided).

I hope you found these definitions helpful. Now go use this new knowledge to sort, declutter, organize, tidy, and clean your home and improve your life!

I believe in your ability to curate a life you love.