40 Weeks to Forever

Organizing Your Home For Baby

Episode Summary

Decluttering is essential in any household, especially for parents who have kids on the way. You need a system in place so that you can focus on taking care of and enjoying your time with your baby instead of feeling overwhelmed by our messy surroundings. In this episode of 40 Weeks to Forever, Megan Golightly shares how you can get started on clearing out your spaces as you welcome your little ones. She also talks about the psychology of decluttering and how you can organize the nursery and all your baby items for maximum efficiency. If you want to find out how to clear out your home to prepare for the birth of your baby, then this episode is for you! Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode: 1) Find out how to declutter your home for the new baby. 2) Learn about the psychology of decluttering. 3) Discover mindset shifts and tricks to make house cleaning and organizing easier.

Episode Notes

Episode Highlights

[01:30] Getting Started with Decluttering

• One common reason behind clutter in many homes is the lack of room for organization.
• It’s important to take everything out before putting it all right back. This creates a sense of mental and physical clarity.
• After taking everything out, rebuild the space by only putting in the things that are top priority.
• We have to go back and address the exciting milestones in our lives because these big events usually bring in the clutter.

Megan: “My big advice would be: don’t get in your own way. When you’re ready, you’re ready, but don’t be your own enemy. Get after it, and do it right, and just address the issue, which is usually clutter.”

• Keeping clutter is costing you.

[08:54] How to Store Important Documents

• Get a small bin once you know how much you have and label it.
• We never touch twice much of the paperwork we keep. You can instead scan and access these documents online.
• Designating a place for them helps avoid anxiety and enables you to find things easily.
• Establish organization systems before the baby — or even the next baby — comes.

[11:20] Systems in Diaper Changing and Closet Organizing

• Create a cart containing all the essentials. You can wheel or move this around the house.
• Keeping it simple and only having the essential items make it easier to stay organized.
• It also helps you avoid getting overwhelmed or taking too much time looking for and organizing your things.
• We all have different organizational styles, so the first thing to do is to identify your style.
• Always have a bin in the nursery labelled too small, for donation, or giveaway.

[17:16] How to Organize Baby Clothing

• When you rebuild a room, take everything out and rebuild the space from highest to lowest priority.
• Less is more. You get to enjoy your time with your baby and not waste time managing the things around you.
• When something comes in, another thing has to come out.
• Sometimes it’s easier to declutter while telling your story out loud, which gives you permission to let go of it.

[24:51] Why It’s Hard to Let Go of Things

• It comes from our evolutionary feature as hunters and gatherers, but we no longer live in the wild. Our lifestyles have evolved as well.

Megan: “Sometimes you hear your parents’ voices too, and they were raised a certain way. It’s so ingrained in us, so we almost want to protect them by hanging on to things. But you need to realize you’re your own person, and you are allowed to live the way you want to live, not out of guilt or shame.”

• Many people hang on to things because of perfectionism.
• Some people have made poor purchase decisions, and it’s easier just to keep them than to admit they made a mistake.
• Learn to let go. You can give these things to other people who need it more.
• There is joy in giving.

[29:56] Instilling Good Cleaning Habits in Your Kids

• Parenthood is a new season of life. It’s okay for things to get messy, especially for first-time parents.
• It’s a wild ride, but there are a lot of ways to build good habits in our kids.
• Start teaching them responsibility while they’re still young to help set them up for future success.

[31:44] Toy Rotation

• It can be hard to get rid of kids’ toys.
• Toy rotation is great because it only lets them have a few bins at a time. Megan recommends having a maximum of six bins and putting the rest away for a week or a month.
• This practice helps kids avoid feeling like they’re drowning from their toys during play.
• Having fewer toys or employing toy rotation makes the child more focused, most especially for sensitive children.
• Flip the mindset and dig deep. It won’t be easy or comfortable, but don’t get in your own way. Your kids don’t need all their toys at the same time.

Megan: “Remember that things need to earn the right to be in your lives, whether they're people, whether it's feelings, whether it's friends, whether it's toys. And, it needs to be there for a reason, not just because it showed up in a box and someone gave it to you, and so you feel guilty and you need to keep it.”

About Megan

Megan Golightly is a professional organizer and the Founder of Simplified. Megan believes that if your life is simplified and decluttered, then you can then enjoy the small moments. 

Megan’s interest in home organization has evolved from a lifelong fascination with how our brains work. She has a degree in psychology and an ongoing interest in neuroscience.

If you want to know more about Megan and her work, you can connect with her on her website or on Instagram.

Resources

• Shop at Canada’s Baby Store, Snuggle Bugz
• Medela Breast Pump
• Learning Centre Articles
• Simplified’s How-to Guides
• Sarah Landry of The Birds Papaya
• Jillian Harris
• Connect with Megan: Go Simplified

Enjoyed this Episode?

If you did, be sure to subscribe and share it with your friends!

Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning in, leave us a review. You can also share this with your friends and family. This episode will help mommies declutter their homes as they prepare for a new baby.

Have any questions? You can connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Thanks for tuning in! For more updates, visit our website. You can also listen to more amazing episodes on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.