Ring in the new year with a clean, organized home. While one of the most common New Year’s resolutions, an organized home is challenging to maintain throughout the year. According to researcher Richard Wiseman, 50 percent of all Americans set themselves a New Year’s resolution, but nearly 80 percent of those resolutions fail. The key to maintaining an organized living space is to take baby steps. Tackle one mess at a time to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
Keep It, Sell It or Ditch It
Too much stuff can make even the most determined organizer frustrated. Downsize and eliminate items you no longer want or need. The easiest way to accomplish this is to designate three boxes as follows: a donation box, a sell box and a trash box. Go room to room and decide if you want to keep an item or relegate it to one of the boxes. If you decide to keep an item, consider why you’re keeping it and the last time you actually used it.
Living a simpler life starts with less stuff, so be vigilant in your search for useless items. Once a box has been filled, immediately remove it from the house to eliminate the possibility of changing your mind about certain items. Take the donation box to your local charity, the sell box to the basement or garage and dump your trash in the garbage or recycle bin. If you plan to have a lot of trash, consider renting a dumpster from a rental location, such as NextDayDumpsters.com. If you’re not successful in selling or donating certain items, consider giving them away to family, friends or people in need.
Organize and Label
Once your home has been downsized, separating and labeling your items is a cinch. Everything should have a place, making it easier to find items when you need them. According to certified professional organizer, Laura Leist, 80 percent of home clutter is caused by disorganization, not lack of space. Invest in sturdy containers and separate items accordingly. For example, all Christmas decorations should be properly stored in containers and put in a designated area. Label each container as you fill it with masking tape and a sharpie or label maker tag.
Sell Goods and Save Wisely
If you prefer not to donate certain items, consider selling them online on consumer-to-consumer sites, like eBay or Craigslist, or in the classified section of your local newspaper. Instead of wasting the money that you’ve earned selling old electronics, furniture, clothing and other goodies, use it as an investment to make your home a better and healthier place to live. Good ways to reinvest funds is to update your air conditioning system, replace old rusty pipes, or purchase more organizational supplies. Extra funds can also be put into a savings account and added to as you gradually sell unwanted items.
Vow to Live Simpler
Make a pledge with the rest of your family to live a more non-materialistic, healthier life free of clutter and disorganization. Once you’ve organized your home room-by-room, keep stress and clutter to a minimum throughout the year using these tips:
- Right before you grocery shop, toss items in the refrigerator that are past their prime to make room for new food purchases.
- Purchase several reusable grocery bags instead of storing dozens of plastic grocery bags in your home.
- Take your name off of catalogs and other mailings that you don’t want or need to avoid piles of papers.
- Frequent your local library and video rental store instead of buying new and storing media.
- Sign up for paperless bill pay to eliminate paper bills from coming in the mail.
- Opt for a magazine app instead of the paper version and read each issue on your convenient reading device.
- Take a few minutes each day to purge and organize to avoid having to tackle overwhelming messes all at once.
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