Most people hit the ground running in the New Year, aiming high towards their resolutions, adding on a new gym membership, excited about projects ahead, and the idea that we’re going to declutter the whole house in one fell swoop in 5 days. We’d like to believe we are superheroes, and we can somehow do it all. But then we are met with the mid-month slump where we realize we bit off way more than we could chew. Have you been there before?
It’s not to say that all of those things I mentioned above aren’t worth pursuing. They absolutely are. But January may not be the best month to do it. Here’s why.
In my estimation, December is the busiest time of the year (and as darling as it is to say “it’s the most wonderful time of the year”, which it is, the latter is also exceedingly true). Parties, get-togethers, holidays, shopping, vacationing. It’s a lot to take in. The truth is that a lot of us experience needing a vacation from our vacations. A break after a break.
For me, January is not the best time to start a mega project. January is quiet. A break from the December break. It’s a time of reflection, planning, sipping way too much tea, reading, and internalizing what just took place (not only in December, but the whole past year). I’d recommend allowing yourself a break. Your future self will benefit from having a clear, rested, organized mind. And you can always start tackling the house in February/March when you had a month to recoup.
I’ve found that decluttering in our seasonal transitions is much more logical and actually easier overall. Changing seasons forces us in a period of change and flux anyway, so why not take advantage of that? So consider the following:
Session 1: Late Feb - April
Session 2: Sept - October.
Clothes: An end-of-season decluttering session (such as end of winter/beginning of spring or end of summer/beginning of autumn) are the best times to declutter clothing, for instance. We get to look over the past 3 months and make an educated decision based on reflecting on our habits. For instance, I have many cute sweaters, but only wear a handful of them. All of them are beautiful, they spark joy, they’re pretty to look at and functional and keep me warm. But for some reason, I never reach for them. Maybe there’s a mini fraction of discomfort, or I need to have a white cotton undershirt for some of them, which. may be in the wash. Whatever the reason, I don’t gravitate towards them and keeping them for beauty sake isn’t enough. My habits don’t lie, they’re black and white, and they’re your best source of data. And if I haven’t worn them this winter, it’s highly unlikely I’ll wear them next winter. You can’t really argue with that.
Decorations: How often do seasons come and go and we forget to put out various decorations? In our case, I happen to love our house minimal and the most decor I’ll use is plants ~ and yes, the plants do change seasonally. Mums in the fall, bright flowers in spring, that sort of thing. When they take a turn for the worse, which they often do, I either plant them outside with the roots, or if they’re cut flowers, I just refresh with new ones. For those of you whose decor is much more elaborate (think pumpkins, paintings with quotes, pillows, throws), then use this time to really reflect on your habits once again. Did you forget to put those pillows out? Why? Do you love them? Did you miss them? If not, feel free to release them. Again, I can’t say this enough - but your habits and actions are the best data you have. Use the opportunity we get when we transition from season to season to look back and release anything you haven’t used.
Cosmetics: Not sure if I’m the only one, but I don’t use the same cosmetics for fall/winter as I do for spring/summer. For instance, my summer skin needs a light moisturizer and zero foundation. My winter skin needs a richer moisturizer, and I need a little foundation. My hair is also a little different between the seasons, and so my products change. Transitions into the next season makes me use up what I have, and helps me transition to the next products I’ll be using. But while I’m at it, I also look over any make up, products, anything else I haven’t used. I use that data to realize that I may not be in love with some of them, or some of them have expired. It’s the perfect time to do a cosmetic inventory and purge expired or unloved cosmetics.
Pantry/Kitchen: Fall and winter is a time for grains, beans, and deeply comforting hot food. Spring and Summer are times when I move from those types of foods and include more fresh fruits and vegetables. Spring and Fall are great times to take inventory of your pantry and fridge, use up what you’ve not used yet, and then plan going forward. For grains especially, you’ll want to go through them and not store them as they can attract little critters (for us, it’s moths ~ although my hypothesis has been confirmed that they come from the store like that, embedded in the grain). Late winter, I start making a plan for all of our heartier grains so we can use them up and make new for a revived, fresh pantry.
Floors: Spring and Fall are a great time to move furniture aside completely and conquer what’s under the bed, what’s under the couch, and give the floors a good cleaning. We have a Japanese style bed which is low to the ground so I physically have to undo the whole thing to vacuum underneath. It’s a project, but it’s important to schedule those things. Also, did you know that dust collects vertically? I never knew it was a thing until I looked under our piano, and I saw it collected under the the vertical board of our upright. Crazy! One of my friends in college used to “spring clean” and take out ALL of her dorm room furniture, put it in the hallway, and give her room a good scrub down. Back then I thought I’d never do that. Now, I highly respect that and admire it. Fan, walls, baseboards, floors - work from top to bottom. Open up windows, diffuse some lemon oil, and look back on all of your work and congratulate yourself!
Schedule sessions: I’d do all for these also on a continuous basis, year after year - every spring, look over grains. Every late winter, look over clothes and release. Every January, indulge in tea. These items are actually in my calendar, since I don't want to use up valuable brain space to remember! We declutter mid-season, we may have a harder time parting with items because we’re still using those items. But if you add a decluttering session in March for some of those items, it might prove to be a more advantageous time to declutter. Keep an eye out for when seasons change, and schedule a weekend at that time for some massive decluttering. Anyway, would you rather be doing this in 90 degree summer heat, or the beauty of spring days when the air is warm and comfortable? Point taken.
Comment below if this has been helpful, and let me know what your seasonal practices are!