It’s the beginning of 2021 and I’m feeling the itch of the new year. You know the one that makes you think you have to do something to make the new year your greatest year yet? Yep, that’s the one I’m talking about.

I’m not actually really into New Years resolutions. Well not anymore, anyways. So that’s not what this itch is about.

When I was younger, I used to start every year by setting a bunch of New Years resolutions on January 1st….only to find that by December of the same year, I had changed precious little. Maybe it was because I never wrote anything down. Back then, the setting of resolutions was more an act of day-dreaming than it was about setting intentions that I would actually structurally attempt to achieve. After multiple years of feeling like a serious under-achiever, I felt it was better to just quit the game of setting “resolutions” at the beginning of each year.

So now, I set intentions.

Same thing, you say? Well, maybe for some people who are particularly mindful, it is in fact the same thing. But for me, the terms “resolution” and “intention” are not synonymous. Having an intention seems to have more self-compassion and be less rigid than a resolution. A resolution seems so much more absolute and unforgiving….and therefore, less likely to transpire. Intentions are also, for me, associated with positive action and personal growth and again, I like this better.

This year, I’ve set several intentions. One of them is to be more peaceful. A big intention for sure, I see this as essential to my mental health and well-being and also that of my family. I’ve got loads of ideas for being more peaceful that I’m trying and I’ll be sharing them all on the blog in the weeks to come but today, I want to focus on my efforts to de-clutter my home.

Why De-Clutter Your Home for More Peace?

Maybe this is blatantly obvious for some people, but the reality is that a cluttered space equals a cluttered mind. If you have lots of stuff lying around, you’ll spend a lot of time worrying or thinking about that stuff, where to put other stuff, how to clean your space and organize your stuff and whether you even need the stuff in the first place. If your stuff is not lying around per se, but is super disorganized and all over the place, you’ll likely just find yourself frustrated all the time as you try to figure out where things are. All of this thinking, worrying and frustration undoubtedly clutters the mind and keeps us from finding space to rest and relax or, said differently, find peace.

Now, I’m no organization expert but I’ve always been inclined towards the concept that everything has a space. I’ve pretty much trained myself and my family to put things away in the same place every time so we can easily find what we need to, when we need to. So, a disorganized space isn’t really my issue. My challenge rests in the fact that we are a busy family of four, each with our own things, and over time, the things really, really add up. Living in a home, this is exacerbated by the nooks, crannies, shelves and drawers that it becomes possible to just stash things away in, saving them for that day you’ll need them, that day that never really comes. I often get super frustrated when I go into less frequented, less in-my-face areas of my home and find piles and piles of clutter and chachkas lying around. In spite of being organized, there is plenty of stuff lying around to frustrate me and make me less calm on a daily basis.

This is why I decided to try to focus on this area of my life in the first month of 2021. In keeping with my ethos, I would describe this by saying I have set an intention to make my home less cluttered during the month of January!

How My De-Cluttering Challenge Works

Look, I’m busy. My children are always calling on me, there is always work to do, I need time to exercise, cook, sleep and even possibly do something for myself from time to time. This really doesn’t leave a ton of time for me to putz about, decluttering my home. I don’t know who these people are that have hours to reorganize their closets….because this definitely isn’t me. An abundance of time is not a luxury that I have.

So, the only way I can make this work is to make it simple, easy to do and quick. With this in mind, I have set the following rules for myself for this challenge (notice there are only a few parametres to the challenge because otherwise it won’t be simple :-))

Simply put, here are my core rules:

1. I must get rid of 3-4 things every day

2. I will not spend more than 5-10 minutes per day identifying clutter, unless I have time to do more and actually want to do more

3. Regular cleaning of the house doesn’t count. I need to find unused things to get rid of.

4. I have to gain the approval of a family member before I get rid of their stuff. This one is especially important for the kids. I don’t want to just get rid of their things and have meltdowns happening all over the place. There’s no peace in that!

In terms of what I can do with what I find, it’s fine to throw things away, donate them, recycle/upcycle them in some way or share them with someone else who might be able to use them.

The last point is around accountability. My most successful endeavours - the ones that I stick with - have to include an element of accountability. Otherwise, it’s too easy to try to set out to do something and then quickly give up when it gets too hard or there is something more interesting to do instead. So, in this case, I decided to set up accountability by sharing my challenge on Instagram. What better way to remain accountable than to tell thousands of people that you’ll keep them updated on how it’s going! :)

A framework is needed to set one self up for success and I think this works for me. I think it can work for you too!

How It’s Been Going So Far

As I type this, I’ve finished Week 1 of my self-imposed decluttering challenge and so far, it’s been reasonably fun and rewarding! There have definitely been days when it has felt hard to find the time, but then the accountability factor kicked in and I reminded myself that I can find five minutes no matter what. And you know what? It is in fact relatively easy to find five minutes no matter how tired you are or what else you have to do.

I’ve had a few key insights in this first week. I’d summarize them as follows:

• I discovered that the kids rooms are gold mines for decluttering! Furthermore, it can be relatively easy to get them involved in getting rid of things by asking them to find XX number of items that they are willing to part with (you fill in the blanks with your own goal for your kids). Of course, usually this ask has to be accompanied by some sort of bribe - as in, “if you help me find things to get rid of, I’ll let you have (fill in the blank)”. I know that this technically qualifies as bribery but hey listen, I’m not above it! And furthermore, involving the kids helps them to also appreciate the importance and value of not letting clutter pile up.

• Nooks, crannies, drawers and closets are a great place to find stuff quickly! These areas, especially in a family home, tend to be choc-a-block full of little things that have been forgotten about and are no longer wanted or needed. The advantage of getting rid of this stuff is that it frees up space for you to put away other things that you actually need to keep but are lying around in less than ideal places.

• Accountability is key. I can’t stress this enough. Figure out a way to keep your head in the game and your mind focused on your intention. For me, posting an Instagram Story daily about what I found really helped me to not give up/give in.

So what did I find? Lots of stuff! Check out everything that left my home after week one, below:

Looking Ahead to Week 2

I can honestly say that I’m excited about Week 2. Getting rid of stuff consistently for a week has ignited a “you can do it!” fire and the challenge part is fun. Am I hugely peaceful yet? Not entirely :) There’s still loads of work to do, but chipping away at it this way makes it seem attainable and does bring a sense of accomplishment and therefore some level of peace.

Time to go grab a glass of bubbly to celebrate, and plot where I’ll be poking around in Week 2!

Bye friends!