Clean up and clear out for 2022

If you have been putting off a really good clean out, now is the perfect time to get yourself motivated and moving and start the New Year with a bang.

Getting your living spaces into workable, usable and fresh form feels amazing and will give you a lift every time you enter the room, and a sense of achievement when you have gustes drop in.

As an added bonus you free up some much needed space to give that side hustle or business idea you have been putting off the workspace needed to launch, or some homework space for the kids, or maybe a quiet spot to sit with a coffee.

Finding motivation

If you are a procrastinator, there is a remedy, mood setting. Procrastination just means you don’t have much motivation. You can ramp up your desire to clean out by setting a great mood.

Emotions that put you off a clean up

• Overwhelm (it’s just too much!)
• Sadness about letting go
• Fear of getting rid of something you might need
• Disgust or anger that you let things get this bad
• Anxiety about making changes

Have a really good think about what is happening emotionally.

Often these emotions happen and we don’t pay them any attention, we just lose motivation and put off the task (this is a big reason so many businesses fail too).

If we really stop and think about the reasons behind our lack of motivation or procrastination, we can see that we’re over-feeling it and pull those hidden emotions back into line.

Unless you find a bigger, more positive emotion to trump it, you will continue to be easily side-tracked, procrastinate or just flat out ignore it.

Positive emotions you can use to get started

Finding positive drivers to outweigh your negative hesitations is simple and instant.

Sit down and give yourself some time with no distractions where you can be calm and relaxed. Make a list of all the amazing benefits you will get when you clean out.

• More space (Freedom!)
• Pride
• Happiness
• Feels great and clean
• I’m in control of my space
• I can find things easily
• I won’t keep buying stuff I already have lost in storage
• It’s so organised
• Someone else can use the things I’m not

Get some music pumping

Put on your favourite good mood music, find an energising playlist or even opt for some white noise to turn off the internal chatter telling you it’s boring.

Give yourself a reward

After you have completed a certain area or been decluttering for a set time, give yourself a reward for sticking with it. You might just have a stretch, or give yourself a break to do something else for ten minutes and come back.

Break it down

You don’t have to organise everything at once, although it is good to start early and have time just in case you get caught up and want to keep going. If it helps you stay motivated, break down the clean to one cupboard in the morning, one cupboard in the arvo, with a plan to have everything done over the next few weeks.

Cleaning, tidying and organising are skills

Just like learning a language, martial arts or riding a bike, being organised is a skill we have to learn. It’s not born into us and it requires tactics and practice to perfect. Most people though view cleaning and tidying as a punishment or chore rather than a skill, so rather than develop and strengthen it, we do it as fast and thoughtlessly as possible to get it over and done with.

What if instead of pushing cleaning and de-cluttering aside you embraced it? You have the power to transform your space into anything you want, with limitless means and methods of storage, filing and designing in front of you.

You don’t need a big budget as most sorting solutions are simple enough to DIY and you can repurpose items you already have around your home.

Well framed questions to ask:

What would your ideal space look like, feel like and function like?

What do you need to do to get it there?

When you look at the problem with a focus on the solution you will be astounded at just how clever and flexible you will be at creating a solution.

Abolish the idea it’s not for you

A great way to weasel out of work is to tell yourself you’re not worth it. If you are the type of person who dismisses what you want or need easily, feel that you don’t deserve wonderful or beautiful things or that you will only destroy it again, it’s time to stop and revisit your self-worth. When you look into it I’m sure you will find that deep down you do want these positive results, that you want to deserve them and you want them to last.

All this negative talk is just a screen over the top to help protect you from things like failure and disappointment. Here’s the thing, failure and disappointment only pop up when you quit. So make a pact with yourself not to quit (no matter what) and hold those positive emotions in front of you like a big golden carrot YUM!

Think about how incredible and worthwhile you will feel when you have achieved your task and finally give yourself permission to go after what you want, even if it’s uncomfortable, difficult or challenging.

You are most certainly worth it and you do deserve to live in an energised and vibrant home, even if your place is small, even if you are busy at work, have half a dozen children, even if you are renting, you absolutely can get amazing results by putting in a little work, clearing out and getting organised.

Get creative in how to overcome your excuses, get your kids to help with ideas and decorations, find renter-friendly solutions and enlist friends or relatives you love and trust to help you get through the tough stuff. Even if they live far away, some encouragement over the phone or live chat can do wonders for getting you unstuck.

Be okay with whatever you do

No matter how far you get in a day, be thankful and give yourself a pat on the back. It may have only been ten minutes, but that’s ten minutes done. Rome wasn’t built in a day so be forgiving, and also realistic if your entire house isn’t clean in two hours.

Every bit of work counts towards the end goal.

So why will a goal based on positive emotions work? Because you are genuinely and consistently motivated to seek out an outcome.

Even when it gets tough, messy or takes longer than you expected you will be able to dig deeper and keep going. And the rewards will be well and truly worth it.

Plus, you have spent time exercising your organisational skills so they will be more ready to respond and help out next time you are motivated to make a change for the better around your home or office space.