Professional Organizers Share Their Favorite Way To Get Organized

It's about to be a new year, and for some, that means it's time to declutter. Whether you want to purge your wardrobe or become an organization maven, here are five helpful tips to remember, from cleaning and decluttering experts:

Not only will you have the most motivation and momentum at the start, but once the biggest task is out of the way, everything else will seem that much easier.

Dooley is also a big fan of creating "zones" in rooms that are multipurpose. "Think about it like a kindergarten classroom with different zones," she explains, noting that this will help keep everything in the right place. In the garage, for example, you would have a zone for recreation, a zone for gardening and lawn tools, a zone for maintenance and repair tools, etc., she adds.

From there, Jackson says she always keeps a "donations" bin in her closet, and all year round for that matter. "Things come and go all the time, so keeping a bin and adding to it regularly over time really helps prevent the buildup that takes place," she adds.

"Offer them to friends and neighbors to see if they have any use for them, go to freecycle.org to see if any local organizations can use the products, or call your local sanitation department to see if there is a hazardous waste disposal program in your area," she adds.

And last but not least, Jackson is also a big fan of labels. Even if you don't have a label maker, sticky notes will do—and you can use them for anything and everything. "Organizing labels are really important. It just keeps things going back to the right places," she says, adding that you can use them to label things in your pantry, label different bins for donations, and so on.

Decluttering isn't a one-and-done deal, it's very much a lifestyle practice. But as with any practice, the more you get the hang of it, the easier it becomes. So bust out those labels, create your zones, and prepare for a clutter-free home.