5 steps to declutter your home or office in 2022

New year, new you? We start the year with good intentions. For 2022, let’s switch it up from going to the gym 3 times a week or trying a trending juice cleanse to a different type of self-care—removing clutter in your life.

With proper execution, you can make sure this New Year’s resolution gets checked off your list. Cleaning out your home or office will not only simplify your life, it could also benefit your mental health. 

Benefits of decluttering your space 

Studies have shown that clutter inhibits your ability to focus. Decluttering your home and office is the perfect way to kick off the upcoming year. Here are a few benefits of getting rid of clutter:

• Reduces stress and anxiety

• Improves sleep 

• Boosts productivity 

• Saves money

• Increases organization

Why does clutter affect us? Clutter over stimulates our minds and distracts us. This makes it more difficult to focus, accomplish tasks, and relax. So, now’s the time to get rid of clutter. Where should you start?

How to reduce clutter in your home and office

Cleaning out your home and office can seem like a daunting task, but you don’t have to do it all at once. It’s a process. First, take small steps to reduce clutter and then improve your space’s organization.

1. Take steps in your life to go paperless 

If you want to remove paper clutter, start at the source. Begin the new year by eliminating paper usage and removing junk mail. This will also help the environment in the process. By removing yourself from mailing lists, enrolling in e-statements, and making the switch to digital subscriptions. This will give you the opportunity to control what unwanted paper clutter enters your home. 

With a virtual mailbox, our staff securely handles your incoming mail and important documents. You choose what mail gets immediately shredded. So, you’ll never deal with junk mail again.  

2. Practice purging 

Why wait until spring cleaning to declutter? During your holiday break, set aside an hour or two and tackle one room at a time in your home. Remove any items stacked in closets or gathering dust on shelves that you don’t regularly use. Anything placed in the rarely used pile can go into one of two boxes: one to donate and one with items you can organize and store out of sight.

Once you fill your “donate” box, think of a cause that matters to you and see if the nonprofit has a thrift store you can donate to. A lot of charities run thrift stores to fundraise for their mission. 

3. Buy something, donate something 

Each time you buy something new, consider getting rid of the old item. For example, if you buy a new pair of jeans, donate an older pair you no longer wear–or if you buy a new broom, donate the old one.. This will end the cycle of items piling up in your home. 

4. Organize your mail and receipts 

Are you someone who lets incoming mail and receipts pile up? Chances are good you’ll never have a second thought about that letter or paid invoice you kept “just in case.” So, toss it in the recycling bin.

What’s a great solution? Digitizing your mail, important documents, and receipts. A virtual mailbox makes organizing your mail convenient and simple. 

Virtual mailboxes receive and scan all your incoming mail, converting all important mail into a text-searchable PDF. You can keep all your important documents in the cloud, forever, without having a stack of papers to sort through each time you need to reference an old invoice or receipt.  Cluttered papers become a thing of the past. 

Companies, such as Shoeboxed, exist to simplify and organize your receipts. All you have to do is gather your receipts and send them then, they do the rest! 

5. Buy storage items 

For the items you kept during your purge, make sure everything has a designated place in your home. Organize each room with storage containers and title them for easy future accessibility. If you have any outliers that you can’t bundle, maybe reconsider adding it to the donate box. 

Wrap up

Let’s make 2022 your healthiest year yet! Before you ring in the new year, sit down and set a goal for yourself. Then lay out a plan to achieve that goal. You got this!

If you want a solution to remove paper clutter, signing up for a virtual mailbox is a great first step. Earth Class Mail offers a range of options to best fit your needs. Learn more here.