Need inspiration to declutter your space this new year? How to declutter with energy and intention to create a home you love #136

Feeling overwhelmed by clutter? Wondering how to turn chaos into calm?

It’s time to tackle the mess, reclaim your space, and start the year with purpose! ✨ In my latest podcast episode, I’m diving into how you can declutter with energy and intention to create a home that sparks joy and supports the life you want.

Here’s the truth: clutter isn’t just physical—it’s mental, emotional, and even financial. And it’s holding you back. Imagine stepping into a space that feels light, organized, and completely yours. That’s not just a dream—it’s achievable.

In this episode, I’ll show you how to:
 ✔️ Set intentional goals for decluttering your home.
 ✔️ Use simple decluttering strategies to create small wins that build big momentum.
✔️ Apply the KonMari Method to align your space with your values and vision.
✔️ Overcome the overwhelm with actionable steps that actually work.

Whether it’s post-holiday clutter, a stuffed-to-the-brim closet, or the mental load of “too much,” I’ve got you covered. You’ll walk away feeling motivated and ready to take control, one intentional choice at a time.

🎧 Listen now to kickstart your journey toward a clutter-free home and a calmer life. Because this year isn’t about perfection—it’s about progress. Let’s make 2025 the year you love your space again.

👉 Hit play and let’s get started!

Get your home tidy in just 15 minutes a day! Grab my FREE 15 Minute Declutter Kickstart Guide HERE!

Thanks for listening! For more organizational motivation, support and free resources:
Join my online membership Clutter Free Collective
Join my podcast Facebook group Living Clutter Free Forever Podcast: KonMari® Inspired Organizing | Facebook
Visit my website www.caroline-thor.com
Come and say 'hi' on Instagram @caro.thor
Follow me on Facebook @carolineorganizer

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:00

Hi there, I'm Caroline Thor, professional organiser, konmari consultant, teacher and mum of three. I started off my life as a mum feeling overwhelmed, disorganised and desperately trying to carve out some time for me amongst the nappies, chaos and clutter. One day, one small book called the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying changed everything and I began to learn strategies for making everyday life easier. Today, I have the systems in place that means life can throw almost anything at me, and I want to share them with you. If you're an overwhelmed mum struggling to keep it together, then this is the podcast for you. Grab a coffee and settle in for a quick chat with someone who gets your reality.

Speaker 1: 1:57

Hello and welcome to the first episode of the Living Clutter-Free Forever podcast of 2025. The last episode was on New Year's Eve, and so we've now hit the new year. I hope your first week in 2025 has gone amazingly well. Mine has been absolutely fantastic and I am super excited for what is to come in the rest of the year. I hope you are too, and I hope that it perhaps includes a bit of decluttering, a bit of organizing, a bit of tidying in all areas of your life. If you've listened to this podcast before, you will know I'm not just talking about decluttering and organizing physical things. We're also talking about things like decluttering your calendar, your bank account, your commitments, your friendships, whatever it happens to be. We are going to always apply what we are talking about to all aspects of your life, because when you apply the KonMari method, you start by visualizing your ideal lifestyle, and what better time to do this than the new year? But one thing I would like to warn you of is please don't fall into this trap of it's a new year. I have to become a new me. Suddenly, everything has to be different. I have to do everything perfectly. I have to do it better than last year. You are setting yourself up to fail if you do that. Nobody can make all the changes that we would love to make in the space of one week. This is why New Year's resolutions generally don't last much longer than the end of January, and that is why I love when my membership Clutter-Free Collective, why I love when my membership Clutterfree Collective setting goals, because they help you have clarity and energy for achieving what you need to do, and I'm always goal setting. We had a brilliant session last night where we were all goal setting for the whole year and looking at what our priorities are and what perhaps needs to be done first, what we can manage at the moment and it was really super motivating. So I am looking forward to being able to talk to you a little bit today and give you some inspiration for decluttering your space this new year how to declutter with energy and intention to create a home you love.

Speaker 1: 4:28

So what on earth does it mean to declutter with intention? Last year, I had a word of the year, and my word of the year was intentional, and what this meant was, before I started, anything and by anything I literally mean anything whether it was something to do with my business, whether it was something to do with my family life, whether it was something to do with my health, whether it was even just the cleaning which I can't stand doing, which you will also know if you've listened before. I did everything with intention. I really thought about whether it was something I needed to do. There are some things that we need to do but don't want to do, so I always look for what was the intention in me doing it? What was it going to change, what was it going to improve for me? And it made me so much more focused last year on everything I did, and I absolutely loved it, and I shared in my last episode that I would let you know today what my word of 2025 is going to be, and you're going to find this one a little bit weird. My word for 2025 is magnetic. Magnetic I would like to draw to me all the things that I feel that I need in order to improve all aspects of my life, and I thought the word magnetic summed that up really well. So I am going out into the world this year trying to feel magnetic about pulling towards me all the things that are going to help and support me. And let's see how that goes, because being intentional last year was absolutely amazing. Anyway, I've got sidetracked, as usual. What does it mean to declutter with intention? It means that you go into your decluttering, connecting your decluttering efforts to your goals and values for the year. So if your goal for the year is to feel calmer, then your decluttering should be intentional in helping you reach that goal. Or if you would love to be able to leave the house without getting stressed, then your decluttering should be done intentionally to help you achieve that goal. So setting an intention can really help you gain clarity on what it is you're trying to achieve.

Speaker 1: 7:08

When I first decluttered and organized our home, my intention was to feel more in control of my life again. I really felt like I had lost control and I was being a very stressed mom and I was feeling very overwhelmed and out of control a lot of the time. So my intention was to gain back that control, to lose the overwhelm, and therefore everything I tackled I saw it as an opportunity of taking me one step towards being the calmer person I wanted to be. I was doing it for my future self, and my current self, as I am now, is so grateful that I made that investment in my future self 10 years ago at that time made that investment in my future self 10 years ago at that time because it has been truly life-changing. So this is what the power of intention can do, and if you go into this decluttering and organizing phase of your life with some fresh energy, then it's going to really help with motivation and excitement.

Speaker 1: 8:24

So how can you do this? First of all, visualize the outcome. It's so, so important If you have a vision of what it is that you are trying to achieve, the motivation and excitement to get there will be huge. It's like when you book that holiday and you've got the tickets and you know in three months time we're flying to Italy. The motivation and excitement to get through the three months and work really hard so that you've got enough money to spend when you're there and perhaps buy a few new outfits before you go, and the excitement you visualize the outcome and that motivation will keep you going until the holiday. And it's exactly the same with your decluttering and organizing. So visualize the outcome.

Speaker 1: 9:18

Create some motivation by starting with a quick win. So if you feel overwhelmed by doing all your clothes at once, don't do it. Start with just tops or start with just socks, which is even easier. And when you're looking at your sock drawer, thinking wow, all these socks have got a pair and I love them all and they all fit me, me and they're all comfortable and don't they look lovely, all organized according to color. That will motivate and excite you to move on to doing t-shirts or pants or whatever it is that you're going to do. So do that quick wins and then set a timer or focus on short bursts so that you can keep the motivation going If we know we've got three days ahead of us of just decluttering and organizing. That is really demotivating unless you've got someone there to support you.

Speaker 1: 10:13

So at the weekend I was at a new client's. I did five hours with her on one day. I did five hours with her the next day. She was so motivated. After I left her at three o'clock on the first day she kept working until 11 o'clock that evening making changes. She was just so motivated and excited and was super happy to see me again the next morning and was happy to carry on. Her motivation was huge.

Speaker 1: 10:42

But if you struggle to keep that motivation up and keep going, then do it in short bursts. Focus on saying, okay, what can I do in 20 minutes? Create a decluttering playlist or set the mood with lighting or light a candle, or do something that will motivate you and keep you going and keep the excitement going and then have some practical steps for your decluttering. Obviously I love and I totally think you should be using the KonMari method, but there are other systems out there. So ask yourself does this item bring me joy or serve a purpose, or does it align with who I'm becoming this year? Do I really need 10 bottles of shampoo in backstock? Personally, I don't think you do, but that's your choice. Things to ask yourself as you're going through and be aware of where you're going to donate or recycle items responsibly as you go.

Speaker 1: 11:42

One thing that makes it really hard to let stuff go is not knowing what's going to happen to it and we are all much more of our environmentally aware than we were even five years ago and the thought of putting something in the bin knowing it's going to just end up in landfill and knowing that in 20 years time, because it's made of plastic, it's still going to be there, is just absolutely soul destroying. So being clear that you can donate it or sell it so that it's still being used and it's not going into landfill will make it much, much easier for you to let stuff go and then maintain the momentum once you've started. Build habits to keep the clutter at bay A daily reset routine or scheduling decluttering sessions regularly, monthly or quarterly, so that you keep on top of those areas that you've already done, and involve your family members or your housemates in the process. Get everyone motivated and involved, give them tiny little jobs to do, celebrate the wins and maintain that momentum going forward. So I really think that it's important to acknowledge that decluttering is a process. It's not a one-time event, and anyone that thinks they're going to declutter their home and organize it in a week and in a year's time it's still going to look like that I'm sorry. The reality is it won't. It's a process. We've always got more stuff coming in, so it's naturally going to get cluttered again if we don't build in these habits to keep the clutter at bay.

Speaker 1: 13:19

Start small and celebrate each win, and you can come along on saturday to my free online workshop about decluttering your mindset getting you really started for the new year. I would love to see you there. Click the link in the show notes and let's get your 2025 off to the start that you deserve. And before I go, I would just like to give a shout out to Leanne. She has been messaging me throughout the last year on Instagram and I got a really lovely message from her at Christmas where she wrote finding your podcast has been such a gift in its own. Can't wait to continue the decluttering into the new year.

Speaker 1: 14:08

I'm officially updated on all of your podcast episodes, looking forward to more. I love getting messages like that. If you're not yet following me on Instagram I'm at Caro Thor. Come and see me there. I love getting your messages. I had a few more fun ones over the holidays and I'm going to be sharing them with you as the weeks progress, so I look forward to that and hopefully I will get to interact with you as well. So if you listen to this podcast before Saturday, the 11th of January, I really, really hope to see you at my live workshop and if not, until next time, if you've enjoyed this episode, please send the link to a friend you know would appreciate it, subscribe and leave a review. I look forward to bringing you more organising tips next time, but if you can't wait until then, you can go to my website or find me on Instagram, at carothor, or on Facebook at Caroline Organiser. Thanks for listening and I look forward to guiding you on your journey to find your clutter-free ever after.