Clutter is something not genuinely useful or truly loved.” – Karen Kingston

New Year - New You: Decluttering Creates New Energy

Why is decluttering important?  It is not because organized people are better people. Clearing your clutter changes the energy in your space.  Several years ago I did a deep decluttering of my home. I focused on my bedroom and that alone took an entire weekend. (You will be amazed at the stuff that hides in the back of your closet and the corners of your bureau drawers.) When I was done I was delighted to discover that the natural light in my bedroom had a brighter more golden glow to it and I was able to take deeper fuller breaths. The energy in the room felt lighter and more alive, and I was absorbing that recharged energy. To experience this is truly wonderful. I have heard from others who have experienced this, too. Any space you declutter has a positive shift in energy.  I recently decluttered my bedroom closet and could feel that lifting of energy. Next is my bureau and front hall closet. Even if you declutter a little at a time; closet-by-closet and drawer-by-drawer, you will feel a shift in the energy in your space and that in turn will energize you. Remember the goal is order, not perfection. What a great way to start the New Year!

Plan Your Decluttering with SPACE

Before you go out and get colorful little containers or spend a thousand dollars on a custom closet system it is helpful to re-think your decluttering strategy. Many of my clients want to start by getting containers and storage systems first. It is fun to go shopping, but you will make the best choices for storage options if you do a few important steps first. 

Julie Morgenstern, author of the Organizing from the Inside Out series of books has developed an excellent approach to decluttering using SPACE: Sort, Purge, Assign, Containerize and Equalize. 

            Sort – Separate things you need and really use; things to give away; things to throw away – recycle or trash. You can create piles here, or put the give away/throw away things directly into bags or boxes.

            Purge – Remove from your home or office everything in the give away or throw away containers.

            Assign a Home – Take the things you use and decide where is the best place for them. Place things you use frequently near where you will use them, like a ream of paper near your printer. Place similar things together, like an attractive box or mug for your pens and pencils – you have already thrown out the dry pens and grungy pencils, right?

            Containerize – Now you get to go shopping. You can think of it as a reward for the hard work of Sorting, Purging and Assigning.  At this point will you really know what containers or how many linear feet of file space you really need. A bonus to this system is that as you sort and purge you will discover that you now have newly available storage or file space and will need to buy less stuff.

            Equalize – the daily, weekly, and monthly putting things away and throwing things out as you go along.  This makes your annual deep decluttering easier.

Two great books to help you with your decluttering:

Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston, 1999, Broadway Books.  This inspirational book will explain why you hold on to things and teach you the psychology and energetics of clutter. It is filled with wonderful stories of before and after decluttering.           

Organizing from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern, Second Edition, 2004, Owl Books, paperback.  Julie believes there is no one way to declutter and organize a space, because we are all different kinds of people. So she offers several decluttering and organizing strategies, including one that will be best for you.  She gives a lot of helpful hints and helps you avoid the speed bumps of decluttering and organzing your space and your life.

Also, Organizing from the Inside Out for Teenagers, which Julie coauthored with her then teenage daughter – Jessi Morgenstern-Colon, 2002 Owl Books, paperback.