Part 3: Maintaining your space! I wrote a post late last year on this but maintenance and habits are key to this whole process so I needed to recycle some content for this last part. While doing quick decluttering and organizing projects will always be necessary, who wants to have to do a major declutter and organizing project again? Take a minute and sit with the feeling of completing your project. Awesome, right?
So what happens after?
The truth is if we don't make lasting changes to maintain the space we will be right back where we started. After all the work you've put in, here are my tips for maintaining your fresh new space:
Everything in it's place
Put items back where they belong after use and do a quick 15-20 minute sweep of your home each evening to make sure everything is put away.
Get everyone on board
This is a great opportunity to set some rules to ensure everyone in your home is on board with maintaining it. I'll admit, this can be difficult so lead by example, communicate, make things easy by keeping designated places for things such as mail, shoes, coats, toy baskets, etc. and maybe even make a game out of it.
Scheduled maintenance
You can do this with so many areas but I'm going to use paper as a starting point. Schedule scanning and shredding each month. It could be weekly, bi-monthly or monthly depending on what works best for you. Scheduling something on your calendar (yes - really put it on there) makes it automatic without delay and prevents piles from stacking up.
Habits
Change your consumption habits and be mindful of what you bring into your home. Give yourself time to ponder before you purchase to avoid random impulse buys. Go with a list of what you really need and if you do buy something new, get rid of one or more items. Resist the freebie and/or good deal unless you absolutely love and need it - you usually don't.
Systems and experimentation
Things are going change, that is inevitable. One category will grow while another might shrink so the system you had in place might need to change. I actually love switching things up, creating new systems and experimenting with moving things around. Be flexible and open to these changes but don't allow them to be an excuse for allowing things to get out of hand and cluttered.
Pass on it or pass it on
Kindly decline items that are not useful to you. If you do receive a gift that is not useful to you, pass it on to someone who could use it or donate it.
Consistency and commitment
Be consistent with all the items listed and the scheduled items on your calendar. Commit to these small steps to maintain your space and free up your time and energy for other things in life!
So there you have it the last part of this series. If you've made it this far in the process or even to part 1, cheers to you! I'd love to hear more about how the process was for you. Please share with me here. If you have any questions or need help with any part of the process, schedule a free 15 minute call here.
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