The turn of a calendar year is notorious for all sorts of new starts, goals and challenges.  Everywhere we see people trying to take on new habits, break old ones, and put their best foot forward.  Business is at its peak for life coaches, personal trainers, and professional organizers.

I’ll admit that my curiosity gets the better of me and I have to take a look at all the upgraded life hacks, new and improved menus, and life-altering cleaning schedules.  And there is a time or two that I give those tips and tricks a try, and once in a while there is a winner idea I keep around. 

Unfortunately, in all my time perusing those cleaning, organizing, or rearranging work sheets there has never been a category dedicated to decluttering a rancher.  Either no guru has had a rancher in their life to see the need for such specific instructions on purging or they haven’t been brave enough to take it on.

Today is that day we finally have a chapter on “How to Declutter a Rancher.”

To start the process with an easy win, begin decluttering with their overwhelming hat collection.  Every fertilizer rep, bank loaner, nutrition consultant, tractor dealer, feed clerk and vet has probably given your rancher a new hat or two.  And despite what they tell you, they do not need every hat, they don’t even like them all.  There are always hats that can be tossed.  

Whether it is the old sweaty, greasy ball cap they were given last year and have clearly worn out or a new hat they were given but don’t actually like, it’s time to part ways.  Tell them to keep a few nice clean hats to wear around town, get rid of the grungy few that have given all they can, and put a few different hats into the work rotation.   

After getting the ball rolling with a few hats out the door might, a rancher next needs to purge the glove pile.  I can tell you all the arguments that they will give- “That one is still good, its mate was just worn out,” or “It just has a small popped seam here and has a lot of life left,” or my favorite “This is the back up pair to my back up pair.”  

Now I have seen enough to see the logic of hanging on to the backup pair and I know there are winter work gloves and there are summer work gloves.  But when there are backup gloves to the backup gloves and seven left handed gloves to only two right handed gloves, it’s time to throw some away.  

The same logic of evicting old worn out hats and gloves can also apply to old worn out boots.  It’s completely sensible to have a pair of town boots and work boots.  I can even see having work boots to ride in and then a more comfortable pair of work boots for those long days on the feet.  But there is no need to hang on to those boots that were replaced two or three or four times ago.  If the boots need replacing, the boots need chucking.  Don’t waver- you know I’m right and the chaos those boots bring sitting in the way, tripping people left and right just isn’t worth it.

Don’t leave the mudroom without decluttering the coats, sweaters, vests and scarves.  Your rancher will try to use the same logic to hang on to those tattered, old favorites but you also know how to negotiate them into the toss pile.

The next place a rancher will need to declutter is his closet.  You already know it is their nature to make do with the old but that they also can’t resist a little bit of something new.  But you can draw the line at keeping ALL the work shirts when there just isn’t any more room in the closet for them.  Here’s how to proceed: Step one- throw out anything with a hole in it.  It was really never going to get fixed.  Step two- anything stained with grease, tattoo ink, tag marker or paint stick can go because they will likely complain about it.  Step three- if there are still too many shirts, it’s time to make your rancher try them on.  This is likely to produce some whining but the solution to their objections is an offer to just pick a “few more” yourself.  One way or another, the wardrobe is eventually purged.

There is only one rule necessary for decluttering the work pants pile.  Never mend a patch you have already mended.  If the pants are so worn out they need fixing again, it’s time to replace them.

With so many decisions decluttering their work gear and wardrobe, the next move is to simply send your rancher out with the collection of wire bits, fencing clips, loose tags, miscellaneous tools and the like that has been collecting in the house for far too long.  It’s possible that they won’t actually be put away where they truly belong, but they are no longer in the house and that’s a win for you.  

Now it’s time to turn to the less obvious but still unnecessary collections a rancher might stash.  In the bathrooms will be far too many bull sale catalogs and ranching magazines.  If they haven’t read it already, they likely won’t now.  

While you may have already thrown out all the outdated food from your fridge and pantry, go back and do the same with all the old vaccines and medicines your rancher has in there.  

It’s ok to go through the burgeoning collection of lunch boxes, coolers, water bottles and ice packs.  If you never get another, you still have too many and I’m confident that over the next year, you will probably get one more of any of them, or all of them.

One final tip- remember that ranchers are sorting pros, you just might have to set the scene up a little different.  They have no problem sorting culls out on the ranch so I figure if they should do just fine calling out “by” for keep or “in” for trash to cull things in the house.

If you were successful in any amount of helping your rancher declutter inside the home, it may be worth it to encourage a little decluttering outside the home.  Start in the garage by getting rid of broken tools, old truck parts, and useless project materials.  Then move on to the more testy items like old broken down tack or destroyed sorting sticks and hot shots. 

In all transparency, I have a rancher that could use a real dose of decluttering.  There are just too many good hats, gloves with a little life in them, favorite shirts, cool magazines and hot shots that just need a little attention.  This tutorial is largely theory and wishful thinking instead of successful experience being passed on.  If you happen to use this advice and actually make some progress on the ranchy hordes taking over your home, let me know.  I’d love to hear that someone has triumphed over the ever growing collections.