The Benefits of Organizing Your Home Before the Holiday Season
Fall is here and we may have only just set out the jack-o-lanterns, but already it’s nearly time to start decking the halls!
The holidays are approaching, and although three months may seem like a long time, it is three months full of festivities that will make the time fly. Before you know it, it will be December and you won’t even have started your Holiday season shopping! The holidays are a time for laughter, family tradition, wonder, and enjoyment. If you’re not careful, it can also become the most chaotic and stressful time of the year! There will be decorations to put out, flights to book, guests to prepare for, meals to cook; it certainly is one of the busiest times of the year.
Allow us to impart some suggestions that can keep the holidays stress-free.
It’s time to purge!
We’ve already established that there are a mountain of things to do in anticipation of the holidays. Starting off with a clutter-free home will better prepare you for the oncoming hustle and bustle. It will give you the perfect launching ground for completing your holiday to-do list as well as provide you a clean slate, both physically and mentally.
Throughout the year, we tend to accumulate a lot of…well…stuff. This is especially true during the Holiday season. The house gets littered with boxes and wrapping materials, the kids’ new toys overflow from just about everywhere, large family gatherings generate large messes, and there’s just no time to clean!
If, however, you take the time to organize and downsize before the holidays even arrive, you will have the extra space needed to accommodate new gifts, and there will be less to clean, which means more time to just enjoy yourself. Not only that, but decorating will be far easier if the shelves are already empty!
Apart from all that, you will just have some more breathing room. Having a cluttered house is stressful and the holidays are stressful. Combining the two can be too much to handle! It’s simple but having a clean home will truly improve your mental state and allow you to better enjoy the festivities and the company of your loved ones.
But where to begin? De-cluttering your home is never a bad idea, but it can be quite time consuming and tedious. As such, it is an often actively avoided chore. But if you go about it the right way, you can manage to complete the task as painlessly as possible. And the rewards will be well worth it!
1. To begin, draft a plan.
Visualize what you want your house to look like and write up some steps to get you to that point. Even if you don’t really use the plan much while you are working, the act of making it helps to get you in the right headspace.
And understand that this is not a simple project that can be completed in one afternoon. If you make that mistake, you will be setting yourself up for failure. It will take more time than you think and it may be more emotional than you realize. And if that is what you are afraid of, then simply take your time. If you are having a hard time letting something go, allow yourself to reminisce and feel the emotion; perhaps even take a picture of the item so that you will always have a way to remember it.
2. Divide the project into bite-size pieces
Try to tackle small pieces of the project even if it’s just 30 minutes a day. This will ensure that you don’t overwhelm yourself and become disheartened into giving up.
When sorting items, ask yourself:
- Does anyone use it regularly?
- Is it broken?
- Does anyone want it?
- Can it be thrown away immediately?
These basic questions will be a huge help in the process of getting rid of things.
3. Try to avoid adding more storage
Try to avoid things like buying more bins and shelves. In the end, this will just take up even more space. Focus instead on reclaiming the storage space you already have. Remember, the goal is to reduce, not to expand.
4. Don’t get too carried away
Don’t get carried away in arbitrarily throwing things away. It can be extremely difficult for some people to let things go. This is especially true for children, who will be very reluctant to part with any of their toys. The holidays are exciting for children and they know that they will be receiving new toys in the near future so they may be more receptive to letting go of some of their old ones.
Furthermore, you can take this time and create a learning opportunity. By sorting through things with your children, you can impart to them the message that happiness is not contingent upon material possessions. And what better time for that message than the Holiday season?
5. Now, what to do with all of this stuff?
There are a few options; if the items are in decent condition, they could be sold and the money could help relieve some of the financial burden of buying gifts. If, however, you are not in need of the money, consider instead donating the items to charity so that they can bring joy to others. As for the items that are in poor condition, they can be thrown away and/or recycled.
Preparing for the holidays need not be a time full of headaches and anxiety. With a little preemptive thinking, this Holiday season can be the best one yet! And if you still have doubts, give your personal concierge a call! Whether it’s helping to create a plan, assisting with the sorting of items, or the disposal/donation/selling of items, we are happy to help!
Call us today for all your concierge needs, (864) 283-6770 or contact us via email. We are here for you!