Are you ready to declutter your life and make things easier for yourself and your family? In this podcast, we look at the things holding you back and how to declutter in a way that is super effective.

I’m in the midst of the new year, and I’m in the process of clearing up my files. The house has been put to order, mostly, but the end-of-the-year files need to be labeled, stored, and accessible this year as I prepare to file the new year’s receipts. It is a chore I typically dread and push off as long as I can, but this year, as I mentally prepared for the paperwork mess, I decided to not only take inventory of the old files but also look at my life in the same way.

When I store files, I look at the things I need to keep, essential records, and the receipts I can throw away, such as those from the grocery or retail stores. I file the papers I need for tax time or house repairs. I keep a file for warranty items as well. Those files stay available through the years, weeding out the items I no longer have.

I especially made an effort to categorize my kid’s homeschool papers so that I could show the progression of the year’s work. This is especially important if you opt to have a homeschool evaluation instead of your kids taking a standardized test.

Sometimes, I was overwhelmed with sorting and filing when I restarted my homeschooling in January or, truthfully, after any holiday like Thanksgiving or Easter. Whenever we took an extended period off, it wasn’t easy to jump back in, except for the new school year in September. I created an energized “back-to-school” atmosphere, and the kids looked forward to new school supplies, books, and topics of study.

This mess adds to the chaos and can become overwhelming. We all lead busy lives, so giving you a list of ten things to accomplish would be counterproductive. Instead, I would like you to think about the incremental approach. Or, as I call it, one step at a time.

What are some actionable things you can do easily in a short amount and find some measure of success?

1. 
   
2. Get up earlier than your children to increase your time.
   
3. Take time to recharge daily or twice a day if time permits.
   
4. Set aside time to work on personal projects.
   

You need time to recharge. If not early in the morning, then when? Is it late at night? Is it midday? Set aside some time, five, ten, or fifteen minutes, to take a breath and let your mind relax. This is not the time to make lists. If you are afraid, you will forget – jot yourself a note, but that’s it. During a busy season in my life, I put myself last, and when I eventually began having chronic migraines, I needed to reevaluate. Praise God. I learned it was an easy fix, so I drank copious amounts of water and added salt to my diet.

Decluttering your life takes a one-syllable word that is two letters. Did you guess the word “No?” If so, you are correct. No was so freeing for me, and it was such a blessing when I focused on my own physical and spiritual health, my spouse, home, and my kids over a homeschool co-op, field trip planning for large groups, or staging a play for 200 kids where I rewrote the play so everyone could have a part. (Yes, I did this for two years.)

I eventually learned that I had trained the other homeschool moms to rely on me to get things done, and I also found out that if I set aside one project, some other activity quickly took that place and all of my time to organize. I’m not saying you don’t help or that there is no season for this, but most homeschool moms I know jump in as new homeschoolers and quickly burn out. That is what happened to me.

Most of us are highly capable, or we wouldn’t be homeschooling. We can multi-task with the best of them, but seriously, this takes a toll on your family. Saying NO is my number one way to declutter my life to this day.

Another is looking at my tasks, setting up a day to complete them, and adding a time element. I started Media Angels when I had two children and was pregnant with my third. (No, this wasn’t planned. ) I then had two more children, all while running a thriving business. I knew traveling and speaking extensively was the norm, but my husband and I decided we’d keep it local and in our state (a few trips out of state), and then online conferences and speaking became a thing. Thank goodness for podcasts and, subsequently, this network that I began in 2013.

I had to decide whether the focus was family or business. Sure, many homeschool vendors are successful and make it full-time, but decision-making as a family is imperative, and we decided against full-time travel. What is your big decision to make this year, and how can you compromise as a family?

What are some decisions you need to make to thrive at home?

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2. Set your priorities.
   
3. Discuss with your spouse.
   
4. Bring the kids on board with a plan.
   

Working together as a family has been something I treasure. Whether it is helping to clean the house, make meals, or do the laundry, we are all in this together. Simplifying also means organization. (Media Angels has many planners. One of my favorite planning sets is the 12-Month Organizing & Goal Setting Bundle.)

For me, a clean surface helps me declutter mentally.

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2. Making sure my kitchen counter does not become cluttered.
   
3. Workspaces. Having an area to work!
   
4. School books and materials. Do they have a home?
   

Routines help me with productivity.

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2. Daily routines for prayer, meals, chores, lessons, and errands.
   
3. Daily routines for school.
   
4. Daily evening routines.
   

Learning to say no, working together as a family, and using available resources are super helpful to start your new year. Whether listening to this during the summer months or in the New Year, looking at ways to declutter your life using an incremental approach is helpful.

Lastly, decluttering your personal life. What does this look like? Sadly, I’ve had to detach from different things throughout the year.

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2. Social media consumption.
   
3. Reading for pleasure.
   
4. Toxic relationships
   

Leaving social media is difficult for some of us, of course we want to catch up with family and friends. However, analyze how much time you spend and what you can do instead if it is taking up your brain space. Does that make sense? This didn’t happen to me regarding social media, but it did in pleasure reading. When the characters take up my thoughts and wonder what they will do to get out of a specific situation, I can commend my fellow authors for a well-done job, but then I need to consider my time and reclaim my head space!

And let’s not forget toxic relationships. I’ve had friends who flit from one problem to another and make up a problem if there isn’t one that naturally occurs. Okay, I’m exaggerating, but you probably have a friend in this category, or perhaps you catch yourself in this role. I can’t handle complainers in the long term. And if I do complain on this podcast, you can have permission to email or leave me a post on the podcast show notes and tell me to stop! Of course, we all complain occasionally, but those who chronically complain about everything and everyone make it challenging to deal with in a positive and uplifting way.

I’ve made a point of focusing my day on God and prayer in some way. This priority has helped me in my spiritual life and my outlook on life in general. God’s got this, which encourages me as I navigate the sometimes busy and harrowing life of a wife and mom. (Check out A Few Minutes with God Podcast.)

Decluttering your life can take many forms, from organizing stuff to becoming more productive in the short term to letting go of the things that bog you down. I commend you for homeschooling and taking the time to focus on your family. I pray this podcast has been helpful and you refer to it at times when you need to be reminded of some quick fixes to help declutter your life!

Thanks to our episode sponsor! NowPrograms. I wholeheartedly agree with this unique approach, “Don’t accommodate, remediate. ” Check out the website today!

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