New Year’s Decluttering

January 17, 2025

The new year brings a sense of optimism and promise for many people wanting to organize their homes. You may have started out the year feeling that sense of encouragement, but now that we are mid-way through January, are you still feeling it? If not, keep reading this post for tips on how you can make 2025 your most organized year of all!

Cleaning and organizing often go hand in hand, but they are different. Cleaning is wiping away dirt and grime, doing laundry, vacuuming, and generally getting things “clean”. Organizing is a mix of sorting, decluttering, deciding how and where to store things, and then following through. It’s important to keep a good balance of both cleaning and organizing so you feel good about your home, so you can find the things you need, and so you can do the activities that feel meaningful to you in your home. If you’re trying to get on top of your home and your habits, I recommend starting with creating a cleaning schedule for yourself. You don’t have to abide by it 100% of the time. You can allow yourself some flexibility and grace. But if you’re trying to establish a rhythm for yourself, I recommend starting here.

A basic cleaning schedule might look like this:

Monday- Bedding

Tuesday- Bathrooms

Wednesday- Vacuum/mop

Thursday- Tidy up surfaces and dust

Friday- Wipe kitchen down well, water plants

Saturday- Yardwork

Sunday- “Other”

“Other” might be tasks that you rotate throughout the month, like vacuuming the couches, dog bedding, windows, or other seasonal tasks.

Things like laundry, dishes, kitchen counters, taking the trash out, and other various tasks will need to happen at variable intervals (probably more often than once a week), so I recommend working those into more of a daily routine.

As for organizing, a to-do schedule is going to vary significantly depending on what you’re organizing and what your deadline is. As a professional organizer, my home is well-organized (but not sterile). I am not a neat freak. I’m ok with making big messes when I work on projects. I have 2 dogs (and one is still a puppy), so I’ve made peace with their hijinks! Haha. I don’t want my house feeling so uptight that I can’t relax. But I do like to know where all my stuff is! With all that said, every January, I like to make a list of 30 micro-organizing tasks that have gotten a little wonky and need some love. Here’s what’s on my list (in no particular order). Some projects are more than “micro”, and are going to need a little more attention.

Technology

-Photos- I will usually either pick a number that I want to delete or a certain amount of time I want to spend on it, just so it’s not a never-ending task.

-Email- I keep my in-box pretty empty, but I’m going to take some time to go through old folders and delete the extras. I also make new 2025 folders for my business and personal receipts.

-Computer files- Most of my files are very organized, but when I’m in a hurry or deeply concentrating on a task, I might leave some strays. I’m just going to take a little time and tidy things up.

-Phone apps- I like to keep most of my apps within folders (unless they are ones I like to access very often). I went through my phone to re-organize strays and delete apps I don’t use.

House Areas

-Entryway- I straightened up the drawers and put some things away that I’ve been meaning to deal with.

-Entryway Closet- I just needed to spend a few minutes straightening up the closet. It was an easy win.

-Laundry Room- When we moved in last summer, I organized most of the laundry room, but there are still a few odds and ends that need to be dealt with.

-Pantry- I organized it when we moved in. Everything is basically in the same place, but it could use a little tidying.

-Bedside table- It had a few extra books and things that could go back to where they belong. The drawer needed a little straightening.

-Outdoor area- With all the dust we have here, I like to use the electric blower to blow it all out into the yard. I do this on a regular basis, but I’d like to wipe down some areas out there.

-Garden stuff- Again, this stuff is pretty organized, it just needs to be straightened up a bit.

-Weed garden- This is a never-ending task here, even in the winter. But before the spring comes, there are a few areas that I’d like to get weeded.

-Dog stuff- I just need to spend a little bit of time consolidating bags of treats and tidying up.

-Bookshelf- I just needed to straighten it up a bit. I also identified 13 books I definitely wanted to read this year, and I put those in a separate stack so I could work through them.

-Desk- I will take everything off and wipe it down well.

-Desk drawers- Just need some minor tidying.

-Jewelry- I put back the earrings that I’ve been meaning to put back on the rack.

-Bathroom- Go through old products and get rid of anything that I don’t want anymore. Straighten up cabinet and drawers.

-Energetic space clearing- this is an energetic process that I like to do, and it’s time to do it!

–Add more curtains- there was a room that just needed additional curtains, so I put them up.

-Decor- During Christmas, I decorated the shelf above the TV. I didn’t want to put up the same decorations that I had on display before Christmas. I am in the process of making a new season display that’s almost done.

-Paperwork- File the small stack I’ve been meaning to put away, and toss anything that I don’t need.

Art Areas

-Set up kiln- I have a small kiln that I’d love to do a project in this year!

-Cricut mats- I need to go through my old mats and see what needs to be recoated or what needs to just get tossed.

-Shop- After all the projects I’ve been working on this winter, I needed to do a little tidying.

-Art desk- I just want to take everything off and wipe it down. The problem is, I keep starting new projects! Haha.

-Closet in office- It just needed some minor tidying.

-Surfaces in office- My office also gets used as an indoor art space, so with all the projects I’ve been working on this winter, it just needed a little love.

-Unfinished projects- Oooh! I love starting new projects, but I still have so many that I want to finish. I am in the process of finishing those now.

-Other- I knew when I was making this list, I would come across things to add to it. And I did! I needed to do some mending that I finished last night!

As you can see, most of these self-contained micro-projects didn’t need a whole lot of projects planning or breaking down of steps. Things were basically in place. But what do you do when your home isn’t mostly organized? You sort! Group together like items. Then you figure out how you want to store the stuff you want to keep. Try breaking your organizing projects down into 30 minute chunks (or less). Print out your list, and cross things out as you do them. As you go through your list accomplishing your micro-tasks, you’ll be making meaningful progress and will feel productive and organized. Best wishes for 2025 to be your most organized year yet!