So with a new year, are you thinking of sweeping out the old and bringing in the new? Or, just sweeping out the old and living in a more orderly, clutter-free environment? Many if not most of us have way too many possessions sharing our living space, much of which is neither necessary nor useful- but for one reason or another, we can’t seem to part with it. A few interesting data points seem to support our societal systemic clutter: According to a recent book review in The New Yorker, the average American spends 2 ½ days each year in search of missing household items; more than ⅓ of homeowners say their garage is too cluttered to use for parking; and there are now more storage units in the US than there are Starbucks, McDonald’s, Pizza Huts and Dunkin’ Donuts combined. That’s a lot of stuff we’re storing, hoarding, and likely ignoring. 

In recent years, there’s been a surge of websites, professional organizers, and iconic figures all trying to get us to declutter, discard, and organize in a mindful and meticulous way. Of course, you likely remember the craze following Marie Kondo and her minimalist Japanese aesthetic (although a recent article casts doubt on exactly how representative that aesthetic is for the average Japanese resident, who’s likely more comfortable with a “joyful” cluttered environment) or the philosophy espoused by Margareta Magnusson in her book, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, which continues to hold sway by appealing to the guilt you may hold for leaving clutter for your children to clean up. Recently, a post in Good Housekeeping extolled the virtues of this decluttering approach which allows for a better prioritization of what items truly have value and which do not. There’s also been a whole new creation of the profession of “organizers” who help sort and sift through the mountains of possessions and clutter that have taken over so many homes (For a history of the rise of the professional organizer, take a look at the above mentioned New Yorker article or grab your copy (perhaps on a Kindle) of the new book More Than Pretty Boxes: How the Rise of Professional Organizing Shows Us the Way We Work Isn’t Working.)

The beginning of the year is as good a time as any to take stock of what you have, what you need, and what you can do with the avalanche of stuff cluttering your home. The Guardian recently published a list of questions to ask yourself when you embark on decluttering your home, following a walk-through that should be a ‘space audit” of your environment. Then ask yourself, what do you love, what do you use, what do you need, and what’s important enough that it needs to be located in a “prime” location (does your mother’s old teapot really need to be front and center on your most reachable shelf?) House Beautiful also provides a list of the tasks and questions professional organizers always pose in January of each year, including using the month to take stock of what you have, developing a schedule of monthly “edits” to clear a different room each month, determining what items you have that are worthy of a cleaning, repair and better storage option and creating a “rotation zone,” a place for questionable items which allows you to decide whether or not to keep or discard. This planning, examining, and deciding all takes time and energy, energy that is then unavailable for other activities in your life. So it’s best to set your mind to the task in a way that’s thoughtful but efficient. As one organizer makes clear, you need to find your “Why?” when you embark on this task. Why do you need to declutter? What are you hoping to achieve? A better sleep environment? An easier time entertaining in your home? A more organized and efficient move process? A way to find things more quickly when searching? Once you find your “why,” your decluttering direction should become clearer.

For some additional decluttering tips, take a look at the website Be More With Less or click on these most recent suggestions from The New York Times Wirecutter for organizing and decluttering your closets. And be happy that you’re embarking on cleaning up. As professional organizer Peter Walsh once said, “Clutter is not just the stuff on your floor – it’s anything that stands between you and the life you want to be living.”