I like to declutter my environment at least 4 times a year. I like to declutter around the changing of the seasons. I will declutter a week before or after the new year, in the spring time, summer time, and in the fall. I believe every season brings new changes and new revelations.

I love reflecting over my life and my goals in each season. I am always listening inwardly to hear if the Holy Spirit wants to reveal important information to me. I also love changing out my fashion style with what I call, “my colors for the season.” I will write another blog post about how I invested in a fashion and style coach, “The Brown Closet” but for now, click the link to pay The Brown Closet a visit.

There is something about the New Year that makes me want to hit the reset button and start all over again. I love having systems in place in my home and decluttering is one of the systems I use to keep things organized. It always make me feel like I have a new start.This year thou, I feel different. I don’t know how to explain it but it feels like a major shift has taken place in my heart. My New Year’s theme is a “New Year, a New You.” A part of that is really being intentional about changing some bad habits I had in 2017. Like being on time to scheduled appointments. I have 5 people that I am responsible for. I have to make sure they have what they need before we walk out of the door and I did not include myself in that number. I used this as an excuse to not be on time to places. But this year, I am going to intentionally put a plan in place to help me get to places on time. I will give myself lots of grace if things comes up that are out of my control.

This year I am decluttering my schedule, my time and my focus so that I will have breakthrough success. When I do my seasonal decluttering, I have items on my list that can never take a back seat to be decluttered, because if these things are not monitored, they can get out of control. These items are papers, clothes, shoes, toys and homeschool materials. Some people never get rid of things in their environment and it just accumulates.

I have 4 children all under the age of 12, it is challenging to keep things organized. My household includes 6 people. That is six people with things, stuff and items living in one environment. Imagine with me for a moment, if I never got rid of things from the time I got married and gave birth to my children, up until date, that would be 17 years of accumulation in a 1240 square foot of living space. The results would be stifling!I use to have 3 bookshelves but now I have just one. I got rid of the other ones because I want to live a more simpler and intentional lifestyle. The less you have in your environment, the less you have to clean and maintain the upkeep of it all. The less you have in your environment, the bigger your space feels.

I can only read one book at a time. I realize when I am done reading a book, I rarely go back to read it again. If I want a book, I can just check it out at my local library. The same goes for my children.

Unless you have someone that comes in and clean your home, what I found out is that, moms are always trying to stay on top of the cleaning, laundry, cooking, schedules and trying to keep things orderly. A lot of times we moms get frustrated and overwhelmed because we are trying to maintain the upkeep of the things we are constantly bringing in our homes for our families. It is exhausting to keep cleaning up the same old things you’ve just cleaned up 2 hours ago.

When I get disorganized, the things I instantly want to tackle are the dishes, paper/trash, clothes, shoes, toys, laundry and homeschool materials. I have to constantly stay on top of those items.When I tackle my seasonal decluttering, I make sure to get every single detail. I clean out every cabinet, every closet, I get rid of any clothes that have stains, rips and are too small. I get rid of furniture that is broken and is not working for the space. I get rid of any appliances that are broken and dishes that are chipped. I get rid of shoes that are to little and worn out. I declutter homeschool material and papers, I clean out every drawer, I declutter linen, I get rid of toys that my children have lost interest in and are broken. I declutter medicine, I declutter food that is in the cabinets and refrigerator that have expired. I declutter books and I wipe down and clean everything; walls, doors, ceiling fans, light fixtures, carpet, furniture and floors.

I use to have a beautiful glass coffee and end table, glass vases, and the pretty decorative balls that sit on the coffee table but when I started having kids it was too much work to monitor it all and keep the glass mark free. I had to redefine my style of decor because the season had changed in my life. I remember trying to hold on to those glass tables because thy were one of a kind and we paid a lot of money for them, but my husband was adamant about letting them go after one of my children bumped their face on the glass. Those items were not working for us anymore.

Sometimes we try to hold on to seasons that have come and is now gone and God wants to do something new with our lives. If we are too attached to things and if our identity is wrapped up in them, we can become stuck in a formal season.

I would love to hear about ways you keep your life decluttered. Leave a comment. Follow me on social media by clicking the links down below. To follow me on Instagram click here.

Coach Angie!

http://www.noboundariesbtc.com