4 Steps to Take Now for a Fresh Start to Your Home in the New Year
Two of our surroundings often dictate our moods…the state of our house and the weather outside. The weather is obviously not within our control, but our homes totally are. Use the changing seasons (and the start of the new year) to your advantage and tackle home organizing projects that will later enable you to enjoy all of that beautiful weather to come! Winter is a great time for decluttering and organizing. Instead of waiting to get motivated for “spring cleaning” - or even worse - waiting until you are moving to declutter - start now while you are inside more. Why not purge the old to be ready to welcome the new? Today I’ll share 4 steps to declutter your home for a fresh start and clean slate this year.
Tip #1: Schedule Your Sorting in Small Blocks of Time
We are all short on time. Who has an entire day to devote to home organizing projects we’ve been putting off? Like any goal, you have to break down the bigger goal of decluttering into smaller parts. I suggest starting small, sorting only one drawer, closet or room per day in 1 to 3 hour time blocks. Anything longer will start to feel overwhelming. Why? Decision fatigue. We not only get tired of physically sorting through mounds of clothes or bathroom drawers full of tiny, random things - but we get tired of making decisions. Should I keep this? Why is this here? Has this ever been used? Who does this belong to? Does this fit? How much did I spend on this? Maybe I should hold onto this for “someday.” Whew! Are you tired just thinking about it?
We also all know that multi-tasking is not actually productive and this applies to organizing as well. Do not try to tackle multiple rooms at a time, pulling everything out and then running out of time and motivation. It’s a recipe for burnout. You will give up on your efforts and may leave yourself in worse of a mess than before. On the flip side, spending 1 to 3 hour chunks of time can give you small wins, leaving you feeling accomplished and motivated to continue.
So let’s keep it simple. If your goal is to declutter your primary closet (or entire wardrobe) do not pull the entire thing apart in an hour and then give up once you’re overwhelmed by the mess you’ve created. Schedule your decluttering for early on a Saturday or Sunday morning, and commit to sorting through one section of hanging clothes - or 3 out of 6 dresser drawers, or all of your shoes. If you’re doing a bathroom, commit to doing one cabinet under the sink, or 2 drawers. Pick a category or section and stick to it. If you get through that section with time left in your schedule, then tackle another category and consider it a bonus. For your next scheduled appointment with yourself that weekend or the next, move on to the next section until you’ve worked your way through the entire space.
Tip #2: Don't Succumb to Sentimental Sticking Points
One of the hardest parts of decluttering is getting hung up on sentimental items. We often keep things because they represent a memory to us. The problem is that we fill our homes with all of these things that aren’t actually useful - and half the time we store them away in boxes under the bed or in basement storage rooms where they can’t even be seen or honored, becoming clutter and collecting dust. They then get moved from home to home and continue to build into larger collections over time.
So how do we get past this habit of holding onto everything? When you have items that represent memories - first ask yourself, “is this a good memory?” If so, then ask “do I need this many pieces of the collection?” If you have 9 favorite tees from college, or 12 seashells from an awesome beach vacation, maybe one of each will suffice. Then ask yourself “is the way I am currently storing this doing this memory justice?” If you have sentimental items that means a lot to you you may want to see them a whole lot more. If not, box it up in a memory container and limit yourself (and each family member) to one box each. Try to display anything that you can and want to - think of your wall space, open bookshelves and countertops. For my clients, we have displayed beautiful wedding day shoes in acrylic display boxes, hung children’s artwork on the wall and framed beautiful scarves from travel. You can even turn some chotchkies into Christmas tree ornaments where many of display snapshots of times in our lives.
Don’t let these sentimental items stall your decluttering efforts. I always recommend decluttering miscellaneous and personal memories last since they can be time consuming. If you’re getting hung up while you’re decluttering, make a memory pile as you work through your things and go back to it for further decision making once you see how big the pile is and realize you probably don’t have a proper designated place that you’re storing these items. Before you store them away, ask yourself all those questions above about whether you need to hold onto it anymore, or if it can be displayed so you can see it and enjoy it more. Letting go can be easier if you acknowledge what that item meant to you and that it is now past its time of bringing you joy. You can even take a photo of the item before saying goodbye.
Tip #3: Partner Up for Extra Purging Accountability
A great way to tackle your decluttering and organizing projects more efficiently is to do it with someone! Having a partner with you can really hold you accountable to your goals and offer a different perspective on the items you’re sorting through. If you don’t have a friend or family member that you feel comfortable going through that process with, consider hiring a professional. Sometimes family members are not neutral enough and can be subconsciously judgey. A friend will be more forth right, but a stranger will be completely unbiased. You will end up letting go of more so think about what your ultimate goal is and keep your time in mind. Don’t waste it.
Having an extra set of hands and eyes can be really helpful in physically sorting your stuff and then moving it to its appropriate destination. I suggest having a few boxes or laundry baskets set up and using post-it notes or painter’s tape, to identify “trash,” “donate,” “belongs elsewhere,” “return or give to Amy” a “maybe” pile to revisit, and a “to be repaired". I am not listing a “to be sold” option here because I personally don’t recommend it to my clients. The only exception would be one of the online consignment shops that sends you a box and you mail in your stuff - making it easy. But if you plan to list on Facebook marketplace, it will not be worth your time and energy. Consider donating it to someone you know (only if they express interest in it - never force it), or strangers - you will feel good and save yourself a big hassle.
I personally love working with clients one-on-one as a decluttering coach. They often tell me because I am there that it is easier to make decisions and look at their things differently. I also prompt them by asking the right questions, and most importantly, I give them the permission they are really looking for to let things go.
Tip #4: Reassess Often & Repeat the Process Regularly
You’ll want to repeat the above process routinely until you’ve worked your way through your list of goals for each space in your home. Set up a schedule for the month, quarter or even year and work backwards to knock things off your list day by day and week by week. It is an investment in time up front and if you are limited on time, consider hiring help to speed up the process. As you knock spaces off your list one by one, you’ll start to think differently about what you are now bringing into your home as you’ll really start to feel fresh, lighter and more clear headed.
Once you have decluttered, you’ll need to accept that decluttering, getting organized, and staying organized is a process, not a one-and-done project. Decluttering allows you to actually organize - which means setting up a system with order and flow so that you can access what you need when you need it, prioritizing space according to what you use the most. Without minimizing what you have first, you are basically organizing junk. Creating an organizing system in any given room is 10x easier once you have streamlined what it is that you actually need to create order out of. That being said, once you have streamlined and set up a system, the key to maintaining that system is to repeat the decluttering process regularly.
Getting organized is a choice and a step you take to make a change. Staying organized requires a mindset shift. It’s like a diet - it is a hard process to decide to get into shape, get healthier, or lose a certain amount of weight. Once you have achieved your initial goals, you’ve actually reached what I believe to be the harder part - maintaining what you’ve achieved. You must make a choice each day to live in pursuit of keeping up your initial habits. Maintaining your organization requires being mindful of the choices you make each day about what you are bringing into your home and how long you let things stay there once they have outgrown their useful life. It also requires some habit changes in how quickly you make decisions about things, and how and when you put things away in their intended places.
This can be YOUR year to finally achieve some of your home goals. If you have been overwhelmed with the stuff in your house, with juggling your career and your kids and trying to enjoy your free time - investing time and money up front will pay huge dividends in the end (and keep you sane). A completely manageable home with less stuff and customized systems that fit your busy lifestyle is totally within reach. If you need accountability and help paring down and creating those systems, we are here to make that difference in your life. And I promise it is well worth it.
Looking for more insight into how Organized by Meg will transform your Denver area home and life? Join our mailing list to learn more, get inspired, and grab your behind-the-scenes guide here.
All my best,
Meg 🙂
