Although Jan. 1 is the customary date for making New Year's resolutions, this maligned tradition makes sense. After weeks of stress getting ready for all the events between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve, feeling bloated and burned out is inevitable. While this leads many to leap gung-ho into a life of fitness (and often run screaming from it sometime before Valentine's Day) an approach you may not have considered is to work on getting your home in shape as well.

More than one author has proposed a connection between less clutter and a healthier physique. However, we eat food and accumulate stuff because they are a way to fill an otherwise empty place in our lives. The result is clutter piling up on every flat surface in the home, and adding inches to the waistline. Depending on the shape your space is in, you may need just a few weeks or a few months to make lasting changes. Here are three solutions that will help you get started:

Take the Cure

Apartment Therapy has grown from a one-man blog to a multi-city source for organizing, decorating, cooking and even parenting information. Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan took the ethos of his Web site and turned it into a book. "Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure" is filled with eight weeks of assignments that keep you on track and progressing toward a more livable space.

There are two programs: the deep-treatment for a whole-house makeover, or a one-room cure. At certain times of the year, the Web site hosts a "group cure" in which blog readers work on their own homes and offer advice, opinions and encouragement.

This book is best suited to the young, or young at heart, with an average level of Internet savvy and an ample supply of willpower and DIY ingenuity. Gillingham-Ryan's approach emphasizes keeping only what you need and love.

The best solution I got from reading the book is the idea of a landing strip: a place within arm's reach of the front door to keep keys, loose change and incoming/outgoing mail. You can buy the book and participate in the vibrant community at www.apartmenttherapy.com.

Learn to Fly

Marla Cilley was stressed out, newly married for the third time and living in a house in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). Clutter was everywhere in her house, and she was diagnosed with clinical depression.

Eventually, after reading a book about Sidetracked Home Executives (SHEs) and visiting the Web site www.shesintouch.com, Maria logged on to the message board as FlyLady (she loves fly-fishing) and posted her testimonial on how her version of the SHE method had transformed her life over 9 months in 1999.

Her advice was so popular, Marla started her own e-mail group and Web site, www.flylady.net. The advice is simple: take baby steps and change one small thing about your life at a time, until keeping a clean and organized home is an established routine. Her routine started with a bedtime ritual of shining the kitchen sink. Soon she had established routines for morning, midday and bedtime, as well as weekly and monthly routines.

Her routines are outlined in the Control Journal created during the beginning weeks of the program. The program is essentially free. All the instructions for the control journal, and the Yahoo Group subscription reminding users how to stay on track, can be accessed online.

Cilley's books or the FlyLady feather dusters, calendars and other accessories are not free.

One of my favorite aspects of the system is the constant reminder, "You are never behind, just jump in where you are!" The FlyLady is gentle, encouraging, and motivating, and her system just may be the kick in the pants you need to get your home in shape.

There are now more than 430,000 subscribers, many of whom are stay-at-home mothers or women who do not work outside the home. Although the religious tone of many e-mails can be offputting, I'll be the first to say that this system is almost foolproof if you just stick with it. It can work for anyone: men or women of any age or family type and size.

The philosophy behind the system: You're really a perfectionist at heart, so since you can't keep your home perfectly spotless, you don't try at all. I doubt that this is universally true. My significant other made a good observation: many families live in clutter and disorganization because they have grown used to it. We humans adapt easily, but sometimes it's better to work for change than become comfortable in a situation that's less than ideal.

Get Professional Help

If you've already failed in previous attempts to de-clutter and get organized, it may be time to call in the professionals. Much like hiring a personal trainer, a professional organizer will take time to understand who you are and the source of the clutter.

In the Richmond area, rates for professional organizers run from $50-150 an hour. Professional organizers often belong to the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), and may be a certified professional organizer (CPO) as well. Visit www.naporichmond.com to find a professional organizer who will be a good fit for your needs.

I spoke with NAPO Richmond Chapter President Katherine Lawrence to find out more.

Katherine and her teammates at SpaceMatters (www.myspacematters.com) work primarily with three types of clients. Roughly half are considered chronically disorganized. They are the type who consistently miss appointments, lose important items or documents, or can't seem to pay bills on time.

A second group of clients include those anticipating a move or other life event that will affect their home. Professional organizers can help the elderly downsize possessions to move into assisted living, help combine two established households (a la the Brady Bunch), or help prepare for a wedding or holiday gathering.

The third group of clients does most of the heavy lifting. This approach involves a roughly 2 hour visit to your home, followed by a detailed action plan that you execute yourself.

There are numerous reasons for hiring a professional organizer. You might feel completely overwhelmed and not know where to start. It can also be more efficient and effective due to the organizer's training and the accountability the client feels toward making progress. The organizer's focus will keep you on task.

One of the hardest obstacles to overcome on the path to a clutter-free, organized space is the strong emotional attachments to our material possessions. Along with chronic disorganization, hoarding and compulsive shopping are disorders that can manifest themselves in our living space.

Losing a child, spouse or parent presents grief issues as well as the practical question of what to do with the loved ones' possessions. A professional organizer can assist with "Collaborative Therapy," in which the organizer is in touch with the client's therapist. If your disorganization stems from emotional or mental health issues, visit www.nsgcd.org, review the "Clutter and Hoarding Scale" and get in touch with someone who can help.

No matter where or how you live, there's almost certainly some way to shape up your space this year. Grab a mug of tea, a pad and paper, and get started on creating your better space today.

w What are your resolutions for 2008? Go here to check out our RBlog: 2008 Resolutions.