 Your home should be a relaxing place where you can curl up after a hard day, read a good book, and feel some peace. But the reality is there's usually laundry piled on the couch, you keep tripping over the endless toys scattered about, and the amount of visual clutter is making you want to curl up into a ball instead of curling up to be cozy. Today is the perfect day to declare a fresh start and take back control of your home. We're sharing four tips to declutter like a pro and feel more calm in your space. Tip #1: Schedule Your Sorting in Small Blocks of TimeWe've all been there where we have a burst of motivation and pull apart our entire house - just to hit a wall and now everything is even more messy. I get that you're finally feeling that motivation and want to ride that wave, but trying to tackle multiple spaces at once is just a recipe for burnout. It's like getting back into working out. If you start with hours a day every day as your plan, you'll probably last just about one day. But if you start slowly and make it more of a lifestyle change, you can see long-term results. Organizing and making decluttering decisions takes time. Think about how long it took to get to this place and how many years you've been accumulating items. It's not a quick fix but it's worth the mental health boost to do it! Instead of going all in at once, dedicate 1-3 hour chunks of time to tackle one room or even one section of a room, like the living room built-ins or your sock drawer. Plan it out ahead of time and put it on your schedule! While decluttering, make piles for donate, toss, and keep. Utilize empty storage bins or trash bags for each category (just make sure to label any trash bags for donate so they don't get discarded!). Complete the tasks that day whenever possible - so trash goes out to the bin, keep items are put away in their new locations/homes, and donations are placed in the car with a plan for when to drop them off at your nearest donation center. Institute one of my favorite tricks: temptation bundling. Pair something you don't want to do - decluttering - with something you do like, such as listening to music. Or pick up a coffee to sip while you make some tough decisions on cutlery.  Tip #2: Don't Succumb to Sentimental Sticking PointsA mug that brings up memories can stop you in your tracks. You never use it because it's too small with an awkward handle, but you got it on that trip with your bestie years ago. How could you possibly part with it? Then there are the items that you feel guilty getting rid of, like the clothes you spent all that money on but you've never worn or the 10 extra pair of scissors you have "just in case" you have a paper-cutting party. In actuality, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of items like this in your home. You don't use these items, they don't bring you joy, yet you can't seem to say goodbye. The hard truth is that we only use about 20% of our stuff the majority of the time (thanks Pareto principle). That other 80% is just taking up space, making us feel guilty, and making it harder to find the items we actually want to use. If you're having a hard time saying goodbye to sentimental items, our favorite recommendation to our clients is to take a photo and save it in a "Memories" album on your phone. You likely won't need to revisit the album, but it's comforting knowing it's there. (Read more tips about letting go of sentimental items here.) For those pesky "just in case" items, think about the benefit of letting go of hundreds of those items - much more mental and physical room to breathe. And yes, maybe you'll end up needing one or two of the items you said goodbye to, but if you can easily replace that item by clicking "buy now" on Amazon, isn't that tiny risk worth the benefit of being clutter-free?  Tip #3: Partner Up for Extra Purging AccountabilitySpeaking of temptation bundling (a la Tip #1), why not scratch your social itch while decluttering? Partner up with a friend or your spouse (or your talented and fun professional organizer!) for support and motivation. Perhaps you have a friend you can trade off with to help each other stay accountable. If you live with others, get them involved and soon everyone in your household will be on board to live with less. If they also see the benefits of a tidy home it will be a thousand times easier to keep clutter at bay moving forward. Plus, then you're not just the meanie wanting to throw everything away. ;-)  Tip #4: Reassess Often & Repeat the Process RegularlyJust like establishing a workout routine, this isn't a one-and-done process. There are so many areas of your home you can organize and declutter in 1-3 hour chunks. Think of your pantry, closets, bathrooms, garage, and all the little subcategories in each space you could tackle. With our jam-packed schedules it can be hard to keep everything in tip-top shape, but it's important. Expect that there will be some simple day-to-day maintenance once the areas are organized. Luckily, if the areas are decluttered and systems are in place, it should only take a few minutes to get things back to square one. Add some fun to it. See how much you can tidy while your coffee is reheating in the microwave! If you can spend a few minutes every day to put items back in their correct homes, it won't get out of control. Another hurdle to staying organized is that new items are frequently coming into the house. A common tip is the one-in-one-out rule (when a new item comes into your home, an old item goes out), but this can be super difficult to stick to. Instead, keep a designated donations area in your home. This could be a basket in the office or bin in the garage. When you come across something you eventually want to donate, put it in the donate bin. Once the bin gets full, drop it off at a nearby donation center. Just commit to dropping it off when it starts to get full. You can also do a little decluttering blitz. Set a timer for 10 minutes and see how many items you can find that are trash or donate. If the timer goes off and you want to keep going, great! Otherwise, pat yourself on the back for letting go and making your home a little bit lighter today.  Venture On and Get OrganizedYou've got this! It's always the hardest to get started, but it will feel so good once you start decluttering and getting organized. Every little bit makes a difference.
If this sounds fantastic but super overwhelming at the same time, maybe it's time to consider reaching out for help. Our professional organizers do this every day. We make it fun, fast, and ever-so-freeing. We'll do the hard part of pulling everything out and categorizing it. You only have to make the decluttering decisions (with our help and encouragement). Then you can go do your own thing again while we work our magic by organizing and creating easy to maintain systems, specifically catered to your home and lifestyle. If you're ready for a positive, life-changing experience then please don't hesitate- contact us today or download our organizing guide to learn more about working with us. Warmly, Sandi
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