Pandemic purge: Local professional organizers extol benefits of decluttering

Being stuck at home during the coronavirus lockdowns caused people to take a look around, and what many people saw were piles — of clothes, books, papers, boxes. Clutter.

For some, the time at home made it possible to tackle the clutter and organize some long-delayed projects.

Lindsey Neels, a professional organizer and kindergarten teacher, said she noticed an uptick in people's desire to get organized and declutter during the pandemic.

Getting organized is a common New Year's resolution, so she's used to a January rise in interest, however, Neels said, "I definitely think that with the pandemic, it's been in the forefront of a lot of people's minds."

Holly Moran, founder and lead organizer of Holly Homemaker, a professional organizational service, said the business idea for home organization was in the works for years, but the pandemic prompted her to go for it.

A before picture of a project done by Holly Homemaker.Submitted

Since she started in February last year, business has been steady for Moran.

"It ended up being the perfect time since people were stuck at home," she said. "Even with the recent winter weather, we're kind of stuck and isolated at home; it just really makes you very aware the chaos and the disorganization."

More functional

In addition to general clutter, spaces within homes needed to be utilized in unique ways to accommodate a new way of living, such as home offices, which became a necessity for many people working remotely.

"People were finding different purposes and functionalities for a room," Moran said. "Not only is it your bedroom, now you have a corner that has to be your office, too, creating a new set of problems."

Holly Moran of Holly HomemakerSubmitted

Being locked down at home has made people more aware of untidiness or disorganization, she said.

The goal for both Moran and Neels is to help clients make homes more purposeful and functional for families, while recognizing everyone has different goals.

Moran often directs clients to downsize and eliminate items in the home as a starting point.

She said tells clients, "You can have the space or you can have the stuff. We can organize your stuff, but minimizing is the first step, otherwise we're just going to be shuffling stuff from A to B."

Less stress

According to Psychology Today, clearing clutter has benefits such as creating a sense of confidence, reducing anxiety and even occasionally finding long-lost treasures.

Neels added, "Keeping a home free from clutter makes a "huge difference mentally for myself, and I just love helping other people get there, too."

Neels said she believes the benefit of decluttering on mental health is "just unmatched. Having a clean and clear space in an environment is going to improve everything in your life, and you're not even going to realize it until you've done it.

"There's such a strong connection between anxiety and depression and your environment. If you can have control of it, and only have the things that you love and everything has a home, you're just going to feel so much better," Neels said.

Moran agrees eliminating clutter allows people to not have to manage so many choices daily. She gives an example of minimizing the number of coats in a closet: "Now you don't have to deal with six decisions in the morning when you're looking at your winter coats, you can deal with two decisions of 'Do I wear this one or that one?'"

Moran said she strongly believes people have more inventory in their homes than they truly need.

"I see it all the time when people can make do with a lot less stuff than they actually have," she said. "What they don't realize is that all the stuff that they invite into their home, they now have to manage. You just want to make sure that the amount of items you're keeping is reasonable for your lifestyle."

Volunteer Janet Dickerson organizes donated shoes at the Safe House Thrift Shop on Friday in Cape Girardeau.Sarah Yenesel

Passing it on

Once the clutter is clear, Neels said she encourages clients to donate items to a thrift store or sell them.

Jessica Hill, Safe House for Women executive director, said that at the start of the COVID shutdown in March, the Safe House Thrift Shop closed for about eight weeks. However, it reopens to receive donations a couple of days a week because people were taking advantage of the time at home to clear out their houses.

Various donated items sit on shelves in the back room before being put out in the store at the Safe House Thrift Shop on Friday in Cape Girardeau.Sarah Yenesel

Hill said she's thankful people considered donating items to the Safe House and for the need to open to receive them.

"They had donations they were very eager to share with us," she said.

For Moran, she said she has seen a huge surge in donations at local drop-off sites. She always recommends clients donate items instead of selling them. However, if a client prefers to sell them, she gives them a rule, "You have 48 hours to list it on whatever site to sell it. And then if it's not gone and picked up within a week, it's goes in your donate pile." That way, the items do not become a pile of clutter yet again.

The Safe House Thrift Shop has had a steady stream of donations throughout the pandemic. Hill encourages donations of not only clothing but household items. She urges people to not throw items away, but to "bless others" through donations.

Where to begin?

"Start small and give yourself an easy win," Neels said. She suggests starting in a linen closet to get rid towels with holes in them and sheets that are dingy.

"There's not a lot of sentimental value attached to things like that, so if you can clean that out and declutter and feel really good about it, it's going to give you that shot in the arm to go to the next thing that might be a little more difficult."

As a kindergarten teacher, Neels said children are capable of organization, too.

"Phrase it as, 'We're looking for things that you don't use anymore and we're going to give them to someone that can use them.' Most kids are super willing to do that," she said.

Moran suggests getting a single trash bag and going through each bedroom drawer, and then each item on hangers in the closet.

"Give yourself a goal," she said. "Just say, 'Tonight, I'm going to go through this closet,' and once you see success with that, 'Tomorrow I'm going to work on the dresser.'"

To help groups at a time learn about decluttering their homes, Neels teaches three-week courses at the Cape Girardeau Career & Technology Center called Organizing 101: A Place for Everything, which guides participants through decluttering each room including paper clutter, guidelines for purging, how to sell unwanted items and create organizational systems.

But then, of course, if someone can't declutter on their own, that's where a professional can "come in and clearly walk you through that process and help," Moran said.

For more tips, visit Holly Homemaker on Facebook. Moran will also be sharing her passion for organization and decluttering at an upcoming Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon.