Should You Declutter Before or After the Holidays?
Ok, so you know you want to declutter.
You’ve done your research, you’ve read the posts, and you know that decluttering is something that would be good for you and for your family.
The only problem is that now the holidays are just around the corner…
So should you start decluttering now, or should you wait until the new year?
In this post, we are going to go over the pros and cons of both options. And by the time we are done, you should know if it is best for you to start decluttering right now… or if it is best to wait until January.
Let’s start by taking a look at Decluttering before the holidays.
The Benefits of Decluttering Before The Holidays
1) You Will Stop Procrastinating
It can be really easy to keep putting something off that you know you should be doing… even when you know that something will improve your life.
Starting today will keep you from putting decluttering off for one more day.
2) You Won’t Have It Hanging Over Your Head
If you wait until after the holidays, it might be difficult to fully enjoy the festivities because you know that you will have a big project to start when everything is over.
Think about when you were in school and the teacher would assign a large project that was due right after Thanksgiving. Was Thanksgiving much fun? Or was it stressful?
If you wait until after the holidays you are kind of assigning yourself a project that will be hanging over your head in the same way.
Getting started will get rid of this feeling!
3) You Won’t Feel As Stressed
There are many studies linking clutter with stress, especially in women.
That’s because women tend to take on more responsibility for keeping the house clean than their male counterparts.
And when you have a lot of extra clutter, it’s really hard to keep your house clean.
So if you want to feel less stressed during the holidays, get started decluttering today!
4) Your House Will Feel Cleaner
Decluttering is the biggest secret to having a house that is clean all the time (check out this post or this video for more details about the other 6 secrets!).
I go into detail about how decluttering can help you keep your house clean in this video, but essentially if you want to effortlessly keep your house clean, start decluttering!
Even if you aren’t able to complete your project before the holidays arrive, just getting started can make a huge difference in how clean your house will feel.
5) You Will Have Space for Any New Gifts That You Receive
If you typically exchange gifts for Christmas, you will have more things coming into your house.
And if you have started decluttering already, you will be able to find a place for the new items much more easily!
The Downside to Decluttering Before The Holidays
You Will Have to Pause From Time to Time
I could only think of one downside to getting started right away, and that is that you will *most likely* need to pause your project from time to time.
It’s no secret that the holidays are busy.
You might be hosting family, visiting friends or family, and cooking holiday meals.
Obviously, you don’t want your house to be in shambles during those times, so you will need to put everything you are working on away for a couple of days or even a week during the holidays.
For some people, the idea of stopping and starting might be frustrating enough that it would be better to just wait until the can do their project from start to finish without any interruptions.
The Benefits of Waiting to Declutter
1) It is Easier to Declutter Toys After the Holidays
If one of your biggest areas to declutter is your kids’ rooms, it might make sense for you to wait until after the holidays.
It is easier to declutter toys after the holidays for a couple of reasons:
The first is that it is much easier to get rid of old toys when you just received some new ones. So if your kids receive toys for Christmas, it will be easier to talk them into parting with some of their old ones.
The second reason it’s easier to declutter kids’ things after the holidays is because you can talk with your kids about how many children didn’t receive new toys like they just did.
As you do this, you can also talk to them about how it is good to give things to people less fortunate than we are.
2) You Don’t Have to Pause
If you wait until after the holidays, you won’t have to pause your project for different holiday festivities that are bound to come up.
Some people (like your’s truly) don’t mind taking breaks here and there as long as they are able to get back to the project quickly and keep moving forward, but other people find it very frustrating to be interrupted.
If you don’t like it when you have to take a break from your projects, then it may make a lot of sense for you to wait until after the holidays to get started.
The Downside of Waiting
1) You Might Just Be Procrastinating
Often we know when we need to do something, but it’s really easy to say “oh I’ll get started on this after the holidays.”
The problem is that after the holidays there will be something else that you can say you will start after…
Until before you know it, it is just before the holidays again and you still haven’t gotten started decluttering.
If you feel like you might just be procrastinating, get started now.
Even if it isn’t perfect and you don’t have all of your ducks in a row, just getting started will move you so much closer to your goal.
2) You Don’t Get to Enjoy The Benefits of Decluttering
You will still feel stressed in your home, your house won’t feel as clean as you would like it to, and you’ll still have a huge project hanging over your head.
Whereas if you just get started, even if it isn’t completely perfect by the time the holidays get here, it will still be better than it is right now.
What Would I Do?
With all of these pros and cons in mind, if I were beginning my decluttering journey right now, I would choose to start decluttering before the holidays.
There are two reasons for this:
- I don’t like procrastinating. I do much better when I just get started once I have decided to do something.
- Now that I know what it is like to live in a decluttered house (and let me tell you, it’s pretty amazing!) I would want to get to the end result as quickly as I possibly could!
BUT…
If you are the type of person who doesn’t like to pause projects when you are working on them, it would probably be best for you to start after the new year…
Just don’t wait too long, I promise, it will be worth it when you are done!
You Might Also Like…
If you aren’t quite sure if you should declutter your home yet, check out 10 Reasons Why You Should Declutter Your Home.
If you want to get started decluttering your house, check out 10 Steps to Declutter Your Home and Where to Begin Decluttering: 5 Steps to Get Started.
And if you are interested in Minimalism for your children, check out The Best Intentional Gift Ideas for Kids and How to Throw a Simple, Clutter-Free Birthday Party for Minimalist Kids.
Are You Ready to Get Serious About Decluttering?
If you are ready to change your life with decluttering, but aren’t quite sure where to start, I would love to work with you!
If you know you want to declutter, but just need a little help getting started, check out Decluttering 101. Decluttering 101 is a one-hour, private coaching call where I help you develop a game plan for tackling your biggest pain point.
If you want to be sure you see your project through from start to finish, check out Kick Your Clutter to the Curb. Kick Your Clutter to the Curb is 12-week coaching program with weekly coaching calls and unlimited text and email support.
Kick Your Clutter to the Curb will help you with your decluttering journey from start to finish!
