Episode #144 - Refresh & Reset: Decluttering with Purpose

Welcome to Organizing with Ease, where we simplify and organize our lives for the better. I'm Diana Moll, your host, ready to lead you on a journey towards a more organized and enriching life. Together, let's explore practical strategies, inspiring stories, and expert advice to simplify every aspect of our lives. Let's declutter our spaces, free our minds, and cultivate genuine happiness. Are you ready to embark on this journey with ease?

Let's get started. Hello, friends, and welcome back to Organizing with Ease. I'm your host, Diana Moll, and I'm so excited to kick off February with you. If this is your first time tuning in, welcome. You've joined at the perfect time to reset, refine, and refresh your home.

And to my returning listeners, I'm thrilled to have you back for another episode full of practical tips and motivation to simplify your life step by step. But before we dive into today's episode, I wanna share something fun. Are you ready? I received my first fan mail from one of our listeners. So if you're listening ninety four forty, I'm gonna be answering your question.

The question was, do I actually work with clients in their homes, or do I just talk about organizing on this podcast? And the answer is yes. I do work one on one with clients, helping them declutter, organize, and create systems that truly fit their lifestyle, not just for the short term, but for the long term. I love getting these questions, because sometimes we think of organizing as just, I don't know, you probably think about this and hear about this a lot, right? Organizing is all about the pretty baskets and the bins and the labels.

But it's honestly, it's just so much more than that. It's about creating a home that supports your life and your goals. If you've ever thought about working with a professional organizer or need help tackling a big project or small project, you can always reach out to me directly through my web at www.dsdeclutrr.com or on my email address at diana, d I a n a, at d s d e c l u t r r dot com. I'd love to help you. Now if you've been following along, you know that my kitchen remodel has been quite the journey for us here in the household.

So for a couple of months now, well, actually, if we really think about it and getting really specific, it's been since late August of last year, I've been living in a temporary setup, creating makeshift zones for coffee, meal prep, and daily essentials. And while I thought I was prepared for the chaos, let me tell you. It actually has been a lesson in patience. But now that my kitchen is finally coming together, I can feel the shift in my energy. There's something about having a functional, organized space that brings so much calm and control into daily life.

Maybe you've been through a renovation, a move, or even just a major or minor cleaning project. Right? Or you know what I'm talking about. That when you feel that feeling of chaos, when everything is out of place, even with the best temporary setups, there is nothing quite like having your home fully functional again. Can't wait for that day.

This is exactly why we're talking about refreshing and resetting our spaces, not just after big transitions, but also as a regular part of maintaining a clutter free home. You know, we actually had an amazing January together. If you participated in our thirty one day January decluttering challenge, New Year Fresh Spaces, you've already made huge progress in clearing out your home, simplifying your routines, and building sustainable habits. But decluttering isn't just about those big cleanups, or clean outs. It's a lifestyle shift.

Now, did you know that the average American home contains over get this number. You ready? 300,000 items? That is huge, according to NAPO, National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals. Eighty percent of the clutter is due to what?

Disorganization, not lack of space. That means that if we don't have clear systems in place, the clutter will find its way back. So that is why February is all about maintaining the momentum and refining the systems we've started building in January. Now that we're a month into the new year, have you noticed certain spaces starting to feel a little bit chaotic again? Maybe a few cluttered areas were overlooked in January?

Or some of our, you know, our new habits are already slipping. That's completely normal. Did you hear that? It's completely normal. Life happens.

Organizing is an ongoing process. No worries, because this month, we're not just decluttering. We're making small but meaningful adjustments that will keep our home functional, calm, and what? Easy to maintain. So I've written out a couple of, like, key points that I think that will probably get us and keep us into this momentum.

And that is we're gonna reassess and refine. So, like, how do we do that? How do we maintain this momentum right from the new year going into the next month? Right? The motivation of the new year gets us started.

Right? But how do we keep up with the progress when real life sets in? The key is to regularly check-in. Yes. You heard me check-in.

Make small tweaks. Ask yourself these questions. So I have three. You ready? Are these areas we rushed through last month that need a second look?

Let's think about that. Probably. I did go through a couple of areas in my own home that I probably have to take a just one more lap through just to make sure. Have any cluttered hot spots reappeared? Well, for me personally, of course, it's the kitchen.

So I really can't keep thinking about that, but that would be my one area that I know that keeps reappearing because it's not organized. Needless to say that I don't even have a kitchen. But here's the third question. Do our new systems feel sustainable, or do they need tweaking? So, again, the three questions to ask yourself are, Are the areas we rushed through last month, which was January, do they need to have a second look at?

Second question to ask yourself: Have any cluttered hot spots reappeared? And number three, do our new systems feel sustainable and or do they need tweaking? So families found that clutter in the home directly increases cortisol levels, which I think I've said this more than once, but it's so true. Meaning that more clutter equals more stress. Decluttering isn't just about tidying, it's about protecting your mental well-being.

So here we go. Hidden clutter hotspots. What we overlook. We often focus on the big clutter zones, like closets, kitchen counters, mail piles. But what about the hidden areas we don't see every day?

So here are some common cluttered areas that are what I would consider hot spots. The bathroom drawers and cabinets, expired makeup, half used lotions, and old medications. Are you saying, Yeah, I can I can see that? But what about under the bed? You know, the forgotten storage bins, those old shoes, out of season clothes, or maybe you stuck some old electronics underneath the bed because you didn't know where else to put it, and there was no roof in the office.

What about that linen closet? Mismatched pillowcases, worn out towels, old bedding you never used, but you're thinking, well, if I have guests, this is probably a good backup. And what about those handbags? And what about your car? That's one that sometimes gets overlooked.

You know, the receipts, the old snacks, tangled headphones. When was the last time you cleaned out your car console and or your purse? Think about it. So here's a study alert. Ready?

A study found that an average person spends about two point five days per year looking for lost items. That's over sixty hours wasted. I'm telling you, these stats are quite alarming. That cuts the number down by keeping our spaces clutter free. So why don't we do that?

Why don't we let's why don't we try to cut down that number? So if we even think about trying to apply the fresh start method to make the refresh process stick, let's go through it step by step for a recap. You ready? We're going to separate the items into categories and assess what you truly use. Then we're going to be honest.

We're going to, do you actually use it, or is it just keeping up space? And yes, these are questions and thoughts that we hear about that are very frequently used. But it is true that one has to actually ask ourselves these questions. Then we're going to set up an organized system. Why?

Because it's going to be something that's going to make sense for your lifestyle. Everybody is different, but there's always that one system that's going to work for you and for your family. And then we're going to build simple habits, like maybe think about a ten minute nightly reset to maintain your space. Your home should be the antidote to stress, not the cause of it, by Peter Walsh. So here we go.

I don't know about you, but I just love starting the new month with a new challenge. And so the challenge for the week is, find one clutter hot spot, and we're going to what? Reset it. So we're going to challenge ourselves to find that one clutter hot spot that you didn't fully tackle in January, and spend fifteen minutes resetting it, Whether it's a bathroom drawer, under the bed, or your purse, pick a space that needs a refresh, and what we're going to do, we're actually going to do something about it. Yes, we are.

I know that you are. I know that I am. I'm back on my kitchen again, and I'm really hoping that possibly by maybe, I don't know, February, that maybe I'll have a full kitchen complete? Let's keep our fingers crossed. So next week, we're gonna shift gears, and we're gonna talk about decluttering for connection.

How about that? And that's all about how clearing out physical and emotional clutter can create more space for meaningful relationships, self care, and calm. Perfect timing as we approach what's coming up soon? Absolutely. And that's called Valentine's Day.

So I'm going to leave with you with a quote. The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past. Marie Kondo. If you found today's episode helpful, please leave us a review. Until next time, step by step, little by little, let's keep making progress.

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