'My house is always a mess after Christmas. Then I found the easiest decluttering hack.'

Oh, Christmas, you saucy minx.

You come around once a year, with your bells and your tinsel, and you bring with you a whole lot of stuff.

There are the Christmas cracker toys, the new decorations to add to the ever-growing collection, and the presents — oh! The presents!

So many things we don't need (and sometimes don't want). Tins of cheap, cardboardy cookies gifted by the elderly neighbours (thanks, Sue!). The gifted self-help books you know you'll never read. That gag Secret Santa gift that your colleague who clearly doesn't know you at all thought was hilarious.

Christmas is the bringer of stuff, to add to the piles of stuff that already lives in most people's homes. (No? Just me? I don't believe you.)

And when you survey the damage in those weird non-time-and-space days between Christmas and New Year's, a sense of overwhelm and dread can take hold as you realise you have more stuff than you ever wanted/needed/can keep under reasonable control.

Halp.

But I came across some handy TikTok cleaning tips on my recent decluttering journey (it's going well, thanks for asking), and there's one that I think feels like just the right kind of cleaning hack for a time when you'd rather be rotting on the couch or playing cricket on the beach (which is literally not me, ever, but whatever floats your boat).

Welcome to: The Box Method. And no, it's definitely not the one you've heard of.

Watch: A TikTokker shares her top 10 cleaning tips. Post continues below.

What is the one-box decluttering method?

Here's the thing: there already exists a box method of decluttering that is way more involved and annoying than my newfound hack. But we're not doing that one.

The OG involves four or even five (what??) boxes, labelled 'Keep', 'Throw', 'Donate/Sell', 'Undecided'. I'm not against this method in theory, but there's a lot of thought and decision-making that goes into it, neither of which many of us are capable of in the time warp from December 26 to January 1.

I know I'm certainly not.

No, this is simpler. Quicker. Get-you-out-to-the-beach/back-on-the-lounge/eating-turkey-sandwiches-faster.

It all starts with getting a box, and I'd care to wager that post-Christmas online shopping, you might have a fair few of those lying around.

Grab one. Just one!

As TikTokker Yourgirlabbey explains in her viral video, every time she gets a box, she simply fills it. With clutter. When the box is full, she stops. Job done. (Until another box enters her life and she goes again, but we're skipping ahead.)

There are no rules about the size of the box — it doesn't have to be big. You don't have to cram objects in until they are overflowing, or even tightly packed! And the other thing I love about this method is that it's mildly chaotic, which, if I'm being honest, is how I'd describe my cleaning style. None of this "work a room until it's finished" business. Nope, with this box decluttering method you can flit to each corner of the house with your box in tow, making a difference in whatever unhinged way you please.

"I went through the bathroom first," Abbey explained in her video, showing some hair clips she no longer uses, as well as a couple of glasses that used to hold her makeup brushes but have since been subbed out.

"Then I went to my kitchen," she added, putting some old tumblers (including one missing a lid), some bowls that were used for her dogs' dinners in a previous life, some weird cereal dispenser contraption (what??) and a few other items.

"I literally have three pairs of tongs!" she said, dumping a couple of them into the box (along with two of her three strainers, one of her two pizza cutters, and an old plug-in air freshener she doesn't use anymore).

And then, just like magic, she had a box full — and could go out and enjoy the sunshine! Okay, full disclosure, I'm not actually sure if that's what she did with her day, but it's what you can do with yours, knowing that you've made a possibly small but very meaningful dent in cleaning out the Christmas clutter that inevitably accumulates.

Why does the box method of decluttering work for post-Christmas clutter?

I'm sure this hack isn't going to be for everyone, and you know what? That's okay. Because I know that if it's for me, it's got to be for at least one other person. Right?

The thing I love about this hack is it doesn't require strict rules or… even ask very much of you at all, really. Got a box? Fill it, you're done. It's quick, it's easy and, frankly, it matches the chaotic way I tend to clean anyway: flitting from room to room, picking up one or two things, moving to another part of the house.

Heck, if you can't be bothered taking your box room to room, you could even leave it in a central spot, drop items in as you walk past for another trip to the fridge for some turkey leftovers, and before you know it, you'll have a full box of stuff to remove from your home, without even trying.

I can definitely appreciate that the one-box method for decluttering would probably stress some people out, but post-Chrissy, when the mood is weird and the clutter is high, I reckon it's a great easy-to-manage method that makes you feel like you're achieving something without having to officially set aside time to clean (on your much-deserved holidays, no less).

So grab a box, fill it, then chill out knowing you're an organised queen.

Want more decluttering hacks to try? Give these articles a read!

'There are only 2 types of clutter. Learning this changed my approach to keeping my home tidy.'

'I just discovered this very specific hack for decluttering your kitchen drawers.'

'This $42 hack gave me back my kitchen bench space.'

Feature image: Supplied.