Start the Year Off With a Stuff Purge

It’s 2011! The holidays are over and we all survived (at least we hope that you survived)! Now it’s time to tackle the new year and make it your own. What are we suggesting? We’re suggesting that one of the first things you do is a “stuff purge?” Why is that? It comes down to two things: convenience and setting the tone for the next year. Yes, we know that we should have something more deep and philosophical to say about why we purge and clean in January, but honestly it’s just a matter of practicality on many levels.

Many times, what keeps people from undertaking a stuff purge is simply the time and effort involved in doing it. Fortunately for you, in January, that time is time you will have to spend anyway. After all, you have all of those holiday decorations to take down, pack away and then store. This is a perfect time to just extend yourself a tiny bit more and simultaneously clean out closets and storage areas. You’ll be packing and storing and moving things around regardless. Make this an opportunity to move things out instead of just around!

There is also another reality at play here, and it’s simply mental. If one of your goals for the year is to reduce your dependency on stuff and relationship with the consumer-driven media, then it’s important that you start the year out right. The longer you go into the year holding onto the idea that things can make you happy and not working to find the real satisfaction of enough, the less likely you are to make progress on your goals. It’s a natural human trait to procrastinate and eventually lose momentum. Utilize your energy at the beginning of the year to set the tone for how you want to live for the rest of the year.

A January stuff purge may sound like extra work after a very busy holiday season, but in reality it’s a key to a successful postconsumer year! Have another idea on how to start the year off in a very postconsumer way? Like us on Facebook and share it!