Organize + Energize: It’s Time to Refresh and Recharge!

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Kristin MacRae, GoLocalWorcester Organizing Expert

Do you feel comfortable in your home? Do you avoid coming home after a stressful day? Is the vibe and energy in your home making you feel depressed? Are you tired of feeling this way? If so, it’s time to make some changes.

Here are 6 ways to refresh and recharge:

Be more mindful. We need to be more mindful of the items we purchase. Think about the money you’ve wasted on impulse purchases. You may have items that are sitting in the basement in boxes that haven’t been opened in years. Think about all the clothes that are hanging in your closet with tags still on them. Next time you go to purchase something, ask yourself if you really need it.

Save money. Think about how many times you’ve purchased a duplicate item of something you already own. If you are disorganized, you probably don’t feel like scouring the house for a misplaced item, so you usually just purchase another. Think about how much money you could have saved if you didn’t waste it on purchasing duplicate items. Create systems in your home by itemizing and categorizing everything so when you need it, you’ll be able to find it.

Get it out of the house. You’re holding on to items that you’ve wanted to donate. You have items that don’t belong to you that you need to return. These items are cluttering up your home and need to go. If you’re holding things that belong to other people, go through the piles and make a list of all the people you have to return items to and send them back immediately. Put the bags of donate in the car, get them out of the house and make a plan to drop them off at a donation center. Take items you have to sell and make an appointment right away with a consignment store or schedule a yard sale. Are you holding onto items with the hopes that you can pass them onto other family members? Does that person you’re giving it to really want them? They might not want it, but feel bad and take it and now it ends up in their basement. It becomes a vicious cycle.

Keep what’s important to you. I’m not telling you to throw away everything. I want you to keep the items that mean something to you. When you have too much stuff, the sentimental items get entangled with the items that don’t mean anything to you. As you declutter, decide what will be useful, what is sentimental, and what is never going to be used. You want to be able to appreciate the sentimental items. Decide whether you want to keep them in a box in the basement or whether you would like to display them. Don’t let the sentimental items become part of the clutter.

Tell people how you feel. If somebody wants to pass an item down to you and you really don’t want it, be honest with them. Tell them that you don’t have room for it or you don’t have a good use for the item. If you don’t like it, don’t take it. How many of you have taken an item somebody has given you and it ends up in the back of a closet or thrown in the basement?

Organize. Once you declutter and get rid of everything that you no longer need, it’s time to organize. Remember to break this process down. Don’t look at the project on a whole or you will get overwhelmed, stressed, frustrated, and nothing will get done. When you are organized, it’s easy to see what you have in your home. When you need something, you will find it immediately. You will be able to appreciate and respect your belongings.

Watch how your energy will shift when you refresh your home and practice some of the above tips. People that I’ve worked with describe this process as cleansing, cathartic, and freeing. Tackle one room a week or a month. Take note as to how you feel once you’ve completed this project.

Kristin Carcieri-MacRae, is an organizing & efficiency expert and owner of Organizing in RI. Kristin teaches her clients that living an organized lifestyle will save them time and money, decrease their stress levels and help them become more efficient and productive. Her articles have been published in local and national magazines. Kristin's CD, Organizing Basics, is a 1-hour guide for the person who wants to get organized but doesn't know where to begin. She is also available for organizing workshops.

Related Slideshow: Organize + Energize: Year in Review - 2015

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