1. START BY SETTING YOUR INTENTIONS
One of the key ways to set yourself up for successful decluttering sessions is to list out your intentions for yourself and your home in the New Year, begins Elizabeth Lulu Miranda, professional home organizer and founder of Mercury Organizing: ‘You could call them goals, but goals change as we change and are sometimes hard to keep up with. Instead of goals, I set intentions,’ she shares. ‘Being clear with my intentions allows me to focus and be in the flow. When I am clear with my intention, it's easy for me to make adjustments when I notice that something is helping me manifest a desire and when it's not. It can also help to mitigate any guilt if I don’t achieve it exactly, unlike setting a strict goal,’ she shares.
2. SET UP YOUR WORKSPACE FOR SUCCESS
Whether or not you work from home, setting up your workspace for success is essential to feeling less stress in the year ahead – be it decluttering your home office, or addressing your digital workspace, says Shannon Krause, professional home organizer and founder of Tidy Nest: ‘As a business owner and professional organizer, my physical and digital workspaces are the most important areas. I dedicate a day to editing and refining these spaces.
3. RESET THE KITCHEN AFTER A HECTIC FEW MONTHS
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year in two months is enough to make any kitchen overwhelming to be in. For Laura Price, professional organizer and founder of The Home Organisation, this puts decluttering a kitchen and cleaning a kitchen at the top of her priority list in the New Year: ‘I find the kitchen needs a reset after the festive period, so I start the New Year with a big cupboard clear out. I take everything out, wipe down the surfaces then go through my pantry, checking dates and reminding myself of what’s actually in the cupboards.
4. TAKE STOCK OF WINTER ACCESSORIES
Although excess coats, hats, and scarves are items you should get rid of in December, new gifts and a few lingering pieces mean that January is another good time to take stock of your winter attire, suggests Shannon Krause, professional home organizer: ‘If you have more than one person in the house, chances are there are hats, gloves, and scarves littering the floor of your closets. We recommend giving each family member their own winter bin for which they're responsible for keeping their items.
5. CLEARING OUT SPOTS THAT CAUSE GUILT
One of the most important steps in resetting a home for the New Year is to tackle anything that is causing you guilt or shame, urges Elizabeth Miranda, professional organizer.