5 Tips to Declutter your home

As I slowly begin to emerge from my Holiday cocoon, I wanted to share some tips on decluttering and detoxing after a robust Holiday Season. The Christmas tree and Holiday décor is put away, but the gifts, like children’s toys, kitchen gadgets, and all of the things we tend to accumulate, is left over … all over the house. Here are 5 tips for decluttering your space now!

1.     Start with the impersonal stuff.

It’s easy to get sidetracked and get lost walking down memory lane if you start the decluttering process with sentimental items. Start with the more impersonal stuff…kitchen stuff, books, hall coat closet, linen closet, children’s toys…you get the idea. Starting with this type of stuff helps get you going, until you get into a good flow.

2. Set a timer.

Sometimes when you’re in the thick of it, its hard to muster the stamina to keep going. Set a series of 90-120 min timers for yourself, and take a little water/stretch breaks in between decluttering sessions. Setting a timer will help you stay on course, and help you meet reasonable goals for yourself. This can help you feel more in control of the process. When you’re in the thick of it, and you feel like you’re never going to get through this task, just take a peek at the timer and push on through. So much easier to stay motivated to keep going when you can see you can take a break in 20 minutes!

3.     Clock your emotions.

When cleansing your closet, always try stuff on, and take note of the way a garment makes you feel. Sometimes a sweater can be high quality and a lovely color, but for some reason every time you put it on, you feel glum. Not your job to change in order to fit the clothes – quite the opposite! I also have a new rule, and that is to get rid of your “skinny clothes” if they are more than 2-3 years old. As soon as you accept that your body is changing (new mamas, where you at?!) and the sooner you release things that are too small for you, the sooner you can allow new clothes into your closet that will flatter and fit you. If (I mean, when) you lose weight, don’t you deserve new skinny clothes?

4.     Have a plan to donate. Look up your local charity or thift shop, find out the times that they accept donations, and plan your purging day around that. If they accept donations on Tuesdays and Thursdays, schedule your clear out day on Sunday-Monday and donate on Tuesday. If that’s too quick for you, I encourage you to find a spot in your garage or somewhere hidden where you can gather everything up that is to donate. After you’ve done the work on purging your home, the last thing you want to do is look at your give-away pile for days on end in your living room.

5.     Be discerning and confident in your decisions. Possessions are just possessions and we cant take anything with us in the end. But, that being said, possessions do carry energy and they do have an affect on us. It’s just stuff, but it’s either stuff that makes us happy or stuff that makes us sad, so choose accordingly. Our most cherished belongings bring us joy or serve a useful purpose. If it doesn’t do either of these things, let it go. Don’t keep something just because you think you “should”. My mom used to always say, “Don’t should all over yourself!”

If you are feeling overwhelmed by clutter, I encourage you to start today! Once you start you may find that you want to keep going until you purge every room in the house. Purging belongings that are no longer serving your highest good is the gift that keeps on giving. And what a glorious gift to give yourself - the gift of a tidy and cleansed home!