Declutter Your Home For The Holidays

One thing I try to avoid is bickering around the holidays and if I am being honest, the one thing my husband and I love to bicker over is the clutter around the house. Let’s face it, I’m not the best at picking up after myself. I’ve got notebooks and planners here, hair products and brushes there, makeup all over the place – it’s a bit of a mess. I hire a cleaning service to come by about once a month (twice if I’m lucky) but we prefer the service when the house is decently picked up so that we are sure we get a thorough cleaning.

I’ve made it a priority to declutter for Christmas this year because we are already expecting a chaos of new toys to spill into every corner of this house. We will also be hosting for New Years Eve this year so having the house a bit more organized is key to saving our sanity!

Here are 10 tips to quick and painless decluttering for a holly-er and jollier season:

• The Timer Method: If your excuse to not organizing or decluttering is that you don’t have time… trust me, you do. Oh, you DEFINITELY do. We all have time. We just take one look around and think it’s going to take FOREVER. Here’s what you should do first – set a timer! Whatever you’ve got or whatever you’re willing to do. Mentally prepare yourself for the time it’s going to take first. If you want to start small and just set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes, do that! Then walk around and just start picking things up and putting them in their place. You might actually finish before the timer goes off, and it’ll motivate you to work on the next task!
• Make a priority List: Write down a list of the most important decluttering tasks you want to tackle in your home. Is it a dumping station that you need to clear off? A drawer that needs to be organized? A room that desperately needs to be picked up? Make a list and just tackle the FIRST THING FIRST. This may sound mundane but we tend to see the house as a whole and try to bite off more than we can chew. Then, nothing actually gets done.
• Start In One Corner: You don’t have to do the entire bedroom, or the entire living room, or the entire laundry room… Just start in one little corner and work your way around. Again, we’re dissecting our spaces. Still think it’s too much to tackle? Set that timer!
• Make a Toss Pile (or Bag): Anything you come across that you absolutely know you do not need, throw it out. If you’re like me, you wind up throwing it in a box with intention of donating it and then it just sits in the corner of the room until the next bicker about clutter. Don’t be like me, just throw it out. Unless, of course, you WILL ABSOLUTELY donate it and you’re sure it will ABSOLUTELY be out of your house by that evening! If it’s broken, toss it. If you haven’t seen it in a year and forgot it was there or why you even have it in the first place, TOSS IT!

• Use cleaners with Seasonal Scents: Seriously… this will 1000% get you in the mood to want to finish. Something about winter pine that just puts me in a happy mood every single time!
• High Traffic Areas Get Higher Priority – If you’re hosting Christmas or New Years this year, just stick to the areas that you absolutely KNOW your guests will see! From the entryway, to the bathroom, the living room, and maybe even the kitchen. Unless you are thinking about giving a full tour of your home including your bedroom and closets, forget about it! If you have guests staying over, don’t forget to tidy up the guestroom!
• Give Yourself Grace – Your home doesn’t need to be PERFECT. We’re not beating some kind of holiday race by going crazy decluttering. I know the clutter gives me anxiety but sometimes decluttering when I’m on a time crunch doesn’t help ease that anxiety. Get what you CAN do at your convenience. If you’re having guests, they should understand. Just be sure to have toilet paper and clean sheets. That’s really all they need!
• Declutter Your Mind – Don’t forget to give your mind some time to reorganize itself. It seems like most of us walk around the holiday season in a fog. Take some time to sit and just recharge. Your body, and your family will thank you for it!

Do you have any other tips for decluttering and organizing for the holidays? Let me know what they are in a comment below!

Un Besito,

Rocío