The Spring Reset

First sign of Spring

Spring is almost upon us – the season which typically sees the big SPRING CLEAN happening. I love this season – the freshness, the longer days, and in the past, it has always been a time for me to declutter the spaces and LET GO.

I’m purposely not calling this blog the SPRING CLEAN – but rather the SPRING RESET. Professional organising and decluttering is NOT just cleaning or throwing out. Lets follow my E.L.F rules instead:

• Eliminate clutter

• Love it or Let it go

• Feel good in your home

We’re all working so hard whether its in employment or at home with families – the hardest job there is – so we should feel good, happy and relaxed in our safe place. The goal is to ensure that you:

• LOVE everything in your home

• NEED everything in your home

• Have a PLACE for everything in your home

Once you know what is staying in the home you can then begin to implement an organised system that is maintainable.

The benefits of decluttering are:

1. Reset space – reset mind – you can think more clearly when your environment is clutter free

2. Easier to maintain – less stuff means less stuff to put away – tidy up time is quicker

3. Quicker to clean – less stuff also means less time cleaning as you don’t have to move huge amounts of ‘stuff’ off counters, floors to do a proper deep clean

4. Less stuff – less stress – cluttered homes can cause stress – your mind even subconsciously sees the clutter as a job that needs to be prioritised but as it can seem like a immeasurably big task we don’t prioritise and the cycle continues…..

5. Create a calm space – we all know the feeling we get from clearing spaces and putting everything away – you could have this feeling more often by keeping on top of clutter and having an organised system in place

Now that we know WHY a Spring RESET is so good for you – let’s look at HOW to start the process of RESETTING YOUR SPACE.

The most common issues people face when they attempt to organise a space is they underestimate the time needed to complete the task, they begin to feel overwhelmed with stuff everywhere, they don’t have a plan on what to actually do with the items that need to remain in the space, and they don’t have an exit strategy for what leaves the house – I’m going to suggest ways to address all of these issues and hopefully help you feel able to go ahead and tackle those spaces and head into this new season with a fresh, clear and reset home and head.

1) Under estimating the time needed

The best way to address this is to ensure the space you select to declutter and organise is a small one to start off. Completing one press, or even one corner of a room will give you a good sense of time management and enable you to take on bigger spaces in the future. Completely a reset will also motivate you to continue resetting throughout your home.

2) Overwhelm sets in

When you are at the mid-point of any declutter and organising project, it can start to feel overwhelming. There is stuff everywhere, it is a bigger mess than when you started, time is ticking by and you can’t see an end in sight. ‘Why did I even start this….?’ is definitely a thought that will spring to mind. The best way to avoid this feeling is to ensure you follow step 1 and start small with small achievable areas. Be realistic on what you can achieve and recruit help from friends and family.

3) No plan on HOW to organise the space

Once you’ve decided what is staying do you then start to panic as you don’t know HOW you’re going to organise the space? In order to address is this the best thing to do is PLAN PLAN PLAN. Measure the space and research storage options if containment is the solution. I find sketching out the area helps me to decide what needs to go where. Always start with the obvious – so if you were tackling a kitchen – start under the sink or with the cutlery drawer as the items being stored are apparent and starting is the hardest part. In a hot press or similar think about the easiest shelf to access and use that for the high use items. The items you won’t need to access as often should go on the higher shelves.

4) No exit strategy

Depending on what space you’re working in you need to consider, in advance, where the items can go if you decide to let them go. For example toys….does your local charity shop accept them, or maybe playgroups or Montessori’s would gladly accept them? Contact charities, schools etc in advance. Same for clothes will they be donated or do you wish to sell them online? Have the plan to ensure the items don’t hang around for weeks in bags in the hall or your car boot.

I hope these tips and tricks will help you reset your space in a calm manner, give it a go you may even enjoy it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog – any questions you have please add to the comments or drop me a message through my website or Instagram. Let me know what topics you’d like covered in future blogs.

Thanks,

Hazel