It’s time to clear the clutter again!

It’s that time of year…the time after the holidays when you may realize you’re having a hard time finding room for everything.  Or you’re suddenly just tired of all the “stuff” around you, taking up space, cluttering the corners of your home, collecting desk.  I believe it’s a revelation most of us have about this time every year (or when it’s time to spring clean) and whether we decide to do anything about it will usually have a glaring effect on how well we’re able to make the same attempt to clear away the clutter the following year. 

Sound familiar?

I’ve seen a large assortment of books for sale lately about how to organize, tidy, and declutter your home, your life, or even your mind, as well as how to live with less, spend less, and make use of what you already have.

I’ve also seen an absolutely obnoxious amount of coloring books for adults – I’ll admit I bought two for myself, the Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest, before the craze really stuck and it was actually hard to find them at the time – but the choices available now are just about overwhelming.  It just goes to show how quickly others will jump on the band wagon when an author/illustrator strikes a vein of mass proportion. 

Anyway, coloring books are like many hot topics…it’s a fad that may soon pass when the next big idea strikes a chord.  But the idea of organizing, tidying up, decluttering, living with less, being happy with what we have…that idea tends to invade our thought process every year as we all move into a fresh New Year with a relatively clean slate, or around the spring when the formerly bashful sun glaringly exposes our weaknesses, and the clutter around us becomes annoying, mind-numbing or toe-stubbing. 

I haven’t purchased any books about organizing or decluttering – it’s in my DNA to be organized and I am, if we’re using labels here, an organized packrat (um…collector) so it’s not in my DNA to just get rid of stuff.  I’m almost an expert (according to my husband) at organizing items so well, it’s not always apparent how much I may have actually accumulated.  However, organized clutter is still…clutter and while it’s difficult for me to get rid of things on a whim, this is usually the time of year when I look around each room with a critical eye and begin packing away items I believe I can do without.

With an inherent need to declutter as we moved into another New Year, I focused on all the above:  home, life and mind.  The boxes and bags scattered throughout the house, each filled with various items I feel might be better use for someone else, will help declutter my home.  I’ve already found a way to declutter my mind, to become “unstuck” from my crippling mindset, with the onset of a new outlook at the beginning of this year.  And when it comes to decluttering life in general, that’s a more difficult task since we can’t always control what life hits us with, but my way is to use my new day planners (one for personal and one for writing) to keep track of what’s important rather than trying to remember it all.  In addition, I also continue to journal so that each day, whether good or bad, may be confined to the page to reflect upon so that I can then purge myself of the mind clutter and begin the next day with optimistic expectations and a clear focus.    

I’m clearing away the clutter – again.  Eventually, I do hope the process becomes simpler with time but I’ll admit it’s a learning process.  If I finally begin to learn my lesson, I’ll have less clutter to go through this time next year.

Only time, and the items I have to dust every week, will tell…  J