According to organizing guru (and frequent momready contributor) Peter Walsh, " the secret to staying organized and maintaining a clutter free home is to make organization a natural part of your life."  Instead of following the old schedule of only cleaning out your house in Spring, Peter proposes a new ritual: a year-round set of traditions that will help keep your home organized and clutter free.

Here, in an excerpt from his new book It's All Too Much: An Easy Plan For Living A Richer Life With Less Stuff (Free Press 2006), are the plans for January.


A new year.  A new you!  With the turning of the year, we all think about resolutions and what we can do better in the next twelve months.  Make your resolutions realistic, write them down, and most important of all remember, that a more organized life is a happier, less stressed life.  

The holidays are a busy time.  Why?  Everyone's shopping.  When you're busy, things tend to slip around the house.  Bills fall behind.  And with all that shopping, more stuff sneaks into your home.  Start the year right by taking control of post holiday clutter.


PURGE THE HOLIDAY DECORATIONS
When you take down your decorations -- whether it's the lights on the house or the ornaments on the tree -- it's a great time to discard old, unused or broken decorations.  Also limit decorations to the space you have, and clearly label boxes in which they are stored.  Use different boxes for each holiday to avoid confusion and help keep order.  A little effort here will pay off next holiday season!

USE THE RIGHT STORAGE CONTAINERS
Using divided boxes for tree ornaments and flat sectioned boxes for wreaths will ensure that expensive items are not crushed or damaged in storage.  Large plastic stackable bins are great for lights, decorations, and larger seasonal items.  Label them clearly and store them in the less-trafficked zone of your home or garage.  Consider numbering bins and creating a master list of what each contains.  Here's a bin label sample:



CLICK HERE to download bin sticker template -  prints on Avery Shipping Labels #5164

Print out a stack of these labels and attach one to the front of each bin so that you can clearly and quickly find what you're looking for.

HOLIDAY IN/HOLIDAY OUT
Remember the In/Out Rule - you don't want more to come in than goes out.  But holidays tend to be one-way.  Items come in, in, in!  What goes out?  Now's the time to examine your haul and see what items of equivalent size and use can go.  Did you get a new sweater?  Time to toss an old one.  Donate old versions of new electronics.  Don't go from being a two-TV family to a three-TV family just because you were given a new one.  By the time you die, every single room will have it's own TV.  Who needs that?

When you give, be sensitive to the clutter issues your friends and family may have.  Make it a policy to always give a gift receipt.  That way it can be exchanged for something the giftee wants or needs.






CLICK HERE to purchase Peter's NEW book It's All Too Much






CLICK HERE to purchase Peter's book How to Organize Just about Everything




Peter Walsh is the organizational expert featured on TLC hit show 'Clean Sweep'.  He talks across the country and internationally about the importance of de-cluttering and organization as key to living a happier, less stressed life.  

Visit Peter's website at www.peterwalshdesign.com to read more about his work and approach to organization.