'My house is always a mess. Then I discovered a 3-second decluttering hack.'

I want to be one of those people who has a home that's clean and tidy enough to show on TikTok.

I've always dreamed of having an Instagrammable place of my own, a place for everything and everything in its place.

Colour-coded bookshelves (and fridge shelves and pantry shelves…). The cleverest storage hacks you ever did see for my (imaginary) perfectly co-ordinated wardrobe, not a speck of dust or disorder in sight.

Friends, I am the literal opposite.

I do whatever I can to avoid sharing pics of my home. (Especially after I put a cute mirror selfie on my Insta stories recently and my friend commented not on how fab I looked, but at the piles of clothes scattered around in the background. What? It was washing day, I was sorting my lights from my darks!)

Tupperware tumbling from where it's shoved haphazardly into a cupboard, door closed to hold it in place.

More clothes on my bed than hanging in my wardrobe.

Shoes scattered in every corner of the house.

It's pure chaos.

So yeah, I dream of being an organised queen. Instead I am the dictionary definition of a disorganised disaster.

As such, I'm sure you can understand when I tell you I spend a lot of time on #decluttertok. Okay, I don't think that's actually a thing, but I watch a lot of content centred around tidying, cleaning, make your space inhabitable… But the thing is, while much of it is beautiful, aspirational, it doesn't feel realistic for me. These "organisation hacks"? They seem to require starting from place of moderate tidiness.

Then I stumbled across the three-second declutter rule.

Shared by professional organiser Kayleen Kelly, this little decluttering trick sounded so simple, so hopeful, that even I could put it into practice.

"Let me introduce my three-second rule, which is a technique that I have applied in the eight years that I've been a professional organiser to help people make quick and confident decisions when they are decluttering," Kayleen began her post, which has received more than 600,000 views so far.

The three-second rule is simple — and no, it's not what you think it is.

You know that old idea that "if it's not a firm yes, it's a no"? Yeah, not that. This is it's gentler, kinder, much more understanding older sister.

Because with THIS three-second rule, if you hesitate, it means keep, not chuck out.

"Let's, together, declutter your coffee mugs," Kayleen said.

"Go into your kitchen and collect every single coffee mug that you own so you can see the amount that you have. And now we're gonna make a decision on each one. It's either a yes you keep it, or no, it goes — and if you hesitate for more than three seconds, it's an automatic keep."

🤯 🤯 🤯

"This really takes the pressure off."

Yes, m'am, it does. You're telling me if I hesitate, I get to keep it? Not throw it away? This is so much calmer than I expected decluttering to be!

"If it's 'keep' just leave it there. If it's a go, just set it aside and keep moving," Kayleen continued.

"We don't regret decisions here. So if you are not 100 per cent ready to let it go, it's a keeper. Trust your gut. Get out of your head. Stop doubting yourself, because I bet you are way better at this than you think, and you're just gonna get better."

Stop doubting myself? Easier said than done. But if Kayleen believes in me, maybe I believe in me… So I decided to give it a try.

Starting with my many, many mugs (how did Kayleen know??).

Watch the 3-second decluttering hack. Post continues below.

Now, I might not be good at being tidy, but I am good at following instructions. So I got every single mug I own out of my over-packed cupboard, spread them out and got ready to make some quick decisions that Kayleen promised I wouldn't regret.

And I… kind of loved it?

(As much as anyone can love, you know, housework.)

As I picked up each mug, caressed it in my palms, I thought about all the wonderful times we'd spent together. And I didn't feel stressed about the idea that I might "have to" give it up because of some self-imposed rule that hesitating meant I didn't love it enough.

I could keep them all if I wanted to. But I found I actually didn't. Because, actually, I didn't share special times with every mug that I had stuffed into my too-small cupboard in my too-small kitchen.

And so, I let some go.

And I know, to some this really won't sound like much of a feat. "Oh wow, she tossed some crap she didn't need, big deal." But when I tell you I am bordering on some hoarder tendencies (not something that's easy to admit), this was kind of a big deal for me.

Of my 27 total mugs, I did away with six, and okay that's not a lot, but it's more than none, I did (and do) feel pretty good about it.

Even looking at this pic a few days later, I can see a couple more I'd be happy to part ways with. Image: Supplied.

According to Kayleen, the next step in the process is to go again. Niche down. But getting through round one made me feel like I really could tackle round two. Or, idk, the 4,393 pairs of shoes I have, or the drawer overflowing with old tee-shirts I never wear "but might need one day if I paint the house". (I am a renter, this will literally never happen.)

Of course, I am also aware that you CAN have too much of good thing, and I would ~hate~ to risk overdoing it. So rather than heading to the bedroom to try the three-second rule out on another part of my chaos life, I made a cup of coffee in one of my delightful remaining mugs and sat on the couch, feeling smug and satisfied — and certain I could tackle the shoes next weekend.

Alix Nicholson is Mamamia's Senior Weekend Editor. For more of Alix's chaos, follow her on Instagram or TikTok (though you'll never see the home disasters here…).

Feature Image: Supplied.