New Year’s Resolution: Tackling Decluttering in 2024

A new year, a new opportunity to tackle decluttering your home! If this is your New Year’s resolution, here’s some advice to help get you on the right track.

Establish Your Plan

Your first course of action is to establish a plan for yourself. Benjamin Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare, you’re preparing to fail.” By setting up your plan of attack, you can put this plan into action sooner rather than later (and not feel overwhelmed doing so).

Walk around your home and write down a list of tasks you want to complete. For example, break down the list by room and write down what you want to complete in each room (clear out and organize bedroom closets, declutter bathroom sink drawers, etc.). Then, you can establish a timeline of when to start these tasks and when they should be completed.

Remember, a New Year’s resolution is exciting, but don’t overextend yourself. Set a reasonable number of goals and tasks and just focus on one of them at a time. Completing one task will give you the motivation and momentum to tackle the next one on your list.

Start Small

If your New Year’s resolution is to declutter your entire home, it can feel a little intimidating at first to find a place to start. So, ease yourself into your project by starting out with a small task – like cleaning out your purse or wallet.

It’s amazing how much clutter can accumulate in a small space! Expired coupons, receipts, business cards you won’t use, old makeup…a lot can hide away in there. Empty all the clutter out, and feel good about checking one thing off your list! It may seem silly to start so small, but you’re taking a step toward your end goal, and this small task will help the next slightly bigger task seem less intimidating.

Delegate

Most New Year’s resolutions are usually lone-wolf missions. Losing weight, volunteering more, getting more sleep, and drinking less are just a few examples. But decluttering your home is one resolution you can involve others in, especially as it can benefit the whole family.

For that reason, don’t be afraid to delegate some of the home decluttering and organizing tasks to others in your family. It’ll lighten the load for you and let you focus on other tasks on your list.

Donate What You Don’t Need

While you clear out the clutter in your home, you’ll likely find things you can throw away, like old mail, expired products, and broken items. But you’ll probably also come across lots of items that are ideal to donate. Instead of holding onto that college sweatshirt that doesn’t fit and those books you don’t read, you can donate these items to a local charity so others can buy them and give them a new life.

Store What You Can’t Get Rid Of

Of course, not everything you’ll sort through you’ll want to donate. If you’ve got sentimental items, collector items, pieces of art, holiday décor, and clothes you want to keep but aren’t right for the season, consider renting a storage unit. A little space goes a long way in keeping your home clutter-free in the new year! A self-storage unit will allow you to free up space in your home while keeping your items safe and secure. You can easily store your items in a unit size of your choosing (they come in a variety of sizes, so you can choose the perfect size for the number of items you have), and when you need to grab an item out of storage, it is easily accessible.

Be Mindful of the Inflow

Wondering how you’ve accumulated so much clutter? You’re not the only one. But there is a way to help turn off the inflow of stuff. Remember that unnecessary stuff equals clutter. The guaranteed solution to clutter is not more organization and more space. But it’s to stop bringing in clutter and start living a life with less stuff more intentionally.

Pay attention to what stuff is taking up space in your home. Is it items you need or just things you buy for whatever reason? How does it get there? Is it a shopping problem? Once you take inventory and get to the root of the problem, you can be more mindful and stop letting clutter take up precious space in your home.