With the start of a New Year upon us, many of us have begun tackling a list of resolutions. Perhaps your list includes being more organized or maybe you’ll be primarily focused on your health or career.  Regardless of what your resolution is, we all know that an organized living and working space can go a long way towards helping us accomplish our goals. That’s why January is a perfect time to focus on decluttering your house. If you’re having trouble getting started, you’re certainly not alone. Organizing all of your belongings is no small task. Here are a few tips and strategies to help you get rolling!

The Four Box Method

This is a great strategy if you’re having a hard time focusing on the task at hand. A lot of the time, when we begin to decluttering our home, we get distracted by the old belongings we uncover or we bounce around from room to room and the process becomes very inefficient.

In order to avoid this, consider adopting the Four Box method. Create four separate boxes and label them ‘trash’, ‘keep’, ‘give away’ or ‘re-locate’. Tackle each room one at a time and sort every single belonging in that room into one of the four boxes. Make yourself a timeline. For example tackle the kitchen in two weeks, then the bedroom during the next two weeks and then the bathrooms in one week. This is a thorough and focused way to get through a big job.

Do I Really Use This?

We’re in the process of getting rid of items in our home and we come across an object, often a piece of clothing, and we’re worried that if we give it away we’ll discover that we actually need it. Allow yourself one box for these types of items. Store them away and write down the date you put them in the box. Revisit the box in six months to a year. If you didn’t go searching for the items inside the box during that time, you probably don’t need them and can feel more confident in letting them go.

Sentimental Items

We all have items that we don’t necessarily use but are nonetheless hard to get rid of because they hold sentimental value. If there is an item of clothing, a piece of jewelry, or an old, chipped coffee mug that you have an emotional attachment to, you don’t need to get rid of it. But, you may want to store it away in a box where it doesn’t get in the way of the items that you use on a regular basis. This way, you can revisit them whenever you wish, but they won’t disrupt the function of your home.

Decluttering your house is about Maintaining Order

If you’ve followed the above tips and tricks, decluttering your house should be make your lifestyle more organized and less cluttered. Now, the trick is to maintain this organization. One great way to do this is to follow the one-in-one-out rule. Bought a new sweater? Get rid of an old one you don’t wear anymore. Did you purchase a new set of plates? Get rid of some worn ones that are chipped or faded. If you regularly get rid of old items as you bring in new items you’ll find that the next time you do a full purge of the items in your home, it won’t be as daunting.