Once the Christmas decorations have come down, homes and healthcare settings can look a bit dreary. However, rather than feeling down about the end of the festive season, why not turn your attention instead to getting everything ready for a sparkling 2025? January can be a great time for clearing out old clutter and things you no longer need in order to make way for exciting new projects and plan for the year ahead.
Decluttering has become a highly popular post-Christmas pastime – and the good news is that it can be done as little or as often as you like, in pretty much any way that you choose. You can use Care Vision to keep track of task lists, record any repairs or maintenance jobs that crop up along the way and organise your budget to buy or hire replacements for broken or obsolete items and equipment.
Decluttering and organising can also be a great activity to involve residents in if they would like to join in the new year sort out. It comes with many benefits, including a clearer, safer and tidier space to live and work in, less cleaning required going forward and less stress involved in looking for things you have misplaced
Here are some helpful clearing and decluttering tips to get you started.
Plan ahead
As with so many activities of this nature, creating a plan in advance can help you understand what you want to achieve and how you are going to do it. Work out who is going to do what, for example, who is responsible for each room or space, who is going to sort items into piles, stick labels on bags and take things to the recycling centre, charity shop or list them for sale online. You can find checklists online that you can print out and use to move through each room to make sure nothing is overlooked.
Start small
Decluttering need not be a daunting or time-consuming activity. Start by allocating just five or ten minutes to the task. You could choose a drawer, shelf, cupboard or wardrobe to be your starting point and aim to spend a short amount of time working on it. Set an alarm clock or phone to alert you when time is up. You can always build up to longer sessions, or larger areas once you get into the swing of things.
One at a time
Go through your items, looking at each one in turn. Make lots of small decisions around whether you want to ‘keep’, ‘throw away’, ‘donate’ or ‘relocate’ each object as you come to it – and take the associated action straight away. You could label four boxes or bags with these terms and use them to sort things as you come to them. Don’t wait until you have a huge pile of items in front of you to sort through, as this can put you off continuing. Another ‘one at a time’ method is to take one bin bag, fill it and then sort, rehome or get rid of the contents however you wish to before moving on to a second bag.
Fresh eyes for a new perspective
Look at the space you are decluttering with fresh eyes. If you can, ask a visitor to help you identify where the messy areas are. Otherwise, imagine you are seeing the space for the first time yourself. What impression do you get and how would you change things to make the area feel larger, more inviting or enable it to be used more efficiently? This can help you prioritise tasks and gain insight and creative ideas for how you want the room to look. Another way to achieve this is to take ‘before’ photos to keep and compare to ‘after versions once you have finished decluttering.
Come back to the task regularly
It is human nature that once a space is cleared, we feel the urge to fill it again with new and exciting things. This is OK, so long as you keep on top of the clutter and ensure the area remains safe, organised and effective for what it is intended for. So, in a care home, keeping communal areas free from trip hazards and towering piles or books, for example, is of paramount importance. Freeing up room in kitchen or storeroom cupboards and shelves is only worth doing if you can then keep the space organised and useful for storing equipment and ingredients you do use to make residents’ meals and snacks. Make a note in your digital care management system to return to decluttering regularly through the year and book time in your diary to make sure it gets done.