8 Post-Holiday Strategies for Decluttering and Organizing

Christmas has past and the New Year is here. After the flurry of holiday activities, this is the perfect time to greet the New Year with an organized and tidy home! 

Clutter and disarray waste time, energy, and space. Here are 8 of my favorite tips to de-clutter and organize your life, these simple tips will help you reach your goals and create balance in your life.

TIP 1 - Set goals.

Setting goals is a great way to give yourself direction, focus, and motivation. A goal can be anything you want to do or achieve - small, big, or completely random. Don't forget to create sub-goals for those goals that take a long time to achieve. Sub-goals help you recognize and celebrate when you’ve made progress. Finally, for each goal and sub-goal write down a deadline to prevent yourself from procrastinating or forgetting your goals. Deadlines keep you motivated.

TIP 2 - One-in-one-out rule.

Try this simple trick that will de-clutter your life forever: for each gift or purchase, toss one counterpart.

TIP 3 - Four-box method.

Take four boxes and label them "Trash", "Storage", "Donate/Sell" and "Put Away". Use these for sorting as you de-clutter and then expedite bringing them to their final destinations.

TIP 4 - Clear horizontal surfaces.

Clearing all horizontal surfaces like kitchen counters, tables, beds, and floors will keep you motivated to keep the rest of the space clear of clutter. So, put away the clean laundry that is laying on your bed. Take all those unfinished projects, mail, etc. off your dining room table and instead replace them with fresh flowers or a bowl of fresh fruit. A clear table may even motivate you to have a family meal in the dining room once-in-a-while. If it seems unrealistic to clear off every horizontal surface in your home or office, clear the main surface in each room. Your nightstand might have a stack of library books on it, but at least the bed is clear.

TIP 5 - 10-minute clean-ups.

Taking 10 minutes every morning or evening, pick the time of day that works for you, to sort through a pile, or declutter a shelf or table or countertop.

TIP 6 - De-clutter your schedule.

Besides physical de-cluttering, you also need to de-clutter your schedule. De-cluttering your schedule starts with reducing commitments, acknowledging you can't do everything and learning to say "no" to non-essential things that hinder you from reaching your goals. List all your commitments, pick 4-5 things that are most important to you and the rest delegate to someone else.

TIP 7 - Simplify your digital life.

How often do you check your emails? Are you so obsessed that every time you hear the new message ping you click? Do you feel that if you don't respond to an email within 5-minutes you're seen as lazy or unproductive? According to some experts checking your emails too frequently may actually diminish your productivity. So how many times should you check? According to Rod Kurtz of Business Week, "the answer for the average business is five times a day. Check your in-box only five times daily–first thing in the morning, mid-morning, after lunch, mid-afternoon, and end of the day. Or even less if you are capable."

TIP 8 - Delegate.

As difficult as it is, it’s important to give up some control and delegate certain tasks. With only 24 hours in a day, delegation allows you to devote energy to more important tasks. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness but rather a sign of strength.