YWCA of Northern NJ

The YWCA of NNJ held its “Walking the Talk Gala” at the Westmount Country Club. For more information, visit www.ywcannj.org.

By Sheila m. clancy mS, cheS

Let’s face it, most of us feel like there are areas of the house that could use some decluttering. We are busy, we have lots of stuff, many of us share our space with someone else and their stuff, and over time things can get away from us. Or there’s no more room to add in our new stuff! The idea of decluttering can immediately stress people out because of the enormity of the task, but it doesn’t have to. Breaking up your plan into little manageable steps will make it much easier to complete. Here are 10 easy steps that should each take 30 minutes or less.

1) Sit down and make a plan. Waking up one morning and deciding today is the day to declutter my house is admirable but having a plan and breaking it up into short doable tasks will help to set yourself up for success.

2) Break down the plan into small chunks. For example, Monday I will clean out the kitchen junk drawer; Tuesday I will go through the bathroom cabinets. Pick areas that you see a lot so you get to look at the newly organized area; this can keep your momentum going.

3) Take before and after photos. This again will reinforce your success and make the whole decluttering initiative a positive one.

4) Start with small areas that will make a difference right away. The kitchen cupboards or pantry can be a good place to start. Open the cabinets and look at what is in there. Check for expired foods and discard those. Do you need to move things around to organize the area better? Maybe put all the spices on one shelf, the soups and other cans in another section etc. Do you want things that you use the most to be in the front or on the bottom shelf? Also, when you go shopping, put the newest items towards the back and things that are close to expiring in the front. Donate anything that you don’t think you will eat.

5) Don’t let decluttering get derailed by having one project turn into another. You gathered all the magazines and books around the living room and brought them into the other room to the bookshelf. Well, the bookshelf was a mess so you pulled some books off the shelves and now you have started a second project! Stick with one thing at a time.

6) Sometimes decluttering leads to reorganizing. Maybe your mail keeps piling up all over the desk because you don’t have a good system. You could try getting a vertical file system where you put bills in one section, mail that will need to be filed in another section, and things that will need to be shredded in another. Or maybe your coat rack has winter jackets, sweatshirts, bathrobes, scarfs, baseball hats, umbrellas, bags and various other things hanging on it. Should some of those things be kept in a differ ent place? Maybe organizing clothes by season could help. In the spring put away all the winter clothing; put umbrellas in the corner in a small can, hang the hats on hooks. Find a system that works for you and make sure everyone in the house knows the system.

7) Completely empty the space you are decluttering. Once you do that, you can clean it-wipe it down, vacuum it etc. so you can see the amount of space you have, and you can make a plan to use the space effectively.

8) Figure out if something should be stored out of the way instead of you running into it or working around it all the time. For example, you have a giant tray in the kitchen cabinet that you use once a year to serve your giant Thanksgiving turkey. Can you store that tray in the basement and bring it upstairs when you need it? The space in the kitchen cabinet could be used for items you need on a regular basis.

9) Children’s toys and books can take over a whole house if you let them! Try taking a few things out of circulation. Too many toys can be overwhelming to a child. Rotating them after a month and bringing back toys they forgot about can be exciting and different for the kids.

10) Frustrated with always trying to match the socks? Try buying 10 pairs of the exact same socks. When you are putting away laundry you won’t have to search for matches-they all match! Struggling with Tupperware? Buy a collection of Tupperware that all use the same size lid or buy 10 of the same containers. Another option is to store the Tupperware containers with the lids on them so there is no searching required.

Research has shown that living in a cluttered or unorganized area can cause stress to our bodies whether we recognize it or not. Frustration in not being able to find things or not knowing where to put things can be alleviated by taking your time and making an easy-to-follow plan to declutter. Each person will be different with how they like to organize, but if you make your plan and break it down into small steps you are sure to be successful.