Does any of this sound like you?:
- You can’t help buying 10 of the item that was on sale at the grocery store.
- You can’t bear to get rid of the clothes that your kids have outgrown.
- Your filing system at your desk consists of tossing paper into a giant pile and hoping you can find it later.
- You still have clothes from high school in your closet.
- You have broken appliances or electronics in your garage/basement.
If so, you’re probably experiencing reduced productivity, wasting time finding things, and experiencing increased stress. Decreasing the physical as well as the mental clutter in our lives can help decrease our stress levels significantly. So, where to start?
Perhaps the hardest place to declutter is our minds. We hold onto negative thoughts, situations and people. Eliminating all of them will bring you immediate relief, but it can be hard to do. Try clearing your mind of the negativity. Meditation, a long walk, a talk with a positive person in your life, a hot bath can all help give positive thoughts and experiences to focus on. Spend at least 15 minutes a day doing something that brings you happiness and peace.
If you work, you spend a lot of time at your desk. Having everything in piles on top of your desk can make it hard to focus on what to do next. If you can’t see the top of your desk because of the paper on top of it, the first step is to take the time to go through and make 3 piles: items that require attention in the short term, items that do not require attention but may be needed in the future, and items that can be thrown away or shredded. Then throw away the trash pile immediately. Now you can focus on the pile that requires attention in the short term. Each time a new piece of paper comes across your desk, it should go to one of 3 places: a file for items that require short term attention, a file in a cabinet or desk drawer for items that you need to hold onto for later, or the trash. This same system works for email inboxes as well.
Clean out your closets. Start by taking everything out. EVERYTHING. Then go through it piece by piece. If it doesn’t fit, get rid of it. If you haven’t worn an item in a year, get rid of it. If your children have outgrown it, get rid of it. There are plenty of charities around Clifton Park that have bins to collect shoes and clothing that you can donate the clothing to, giving you a tax break while helping others and yourself.
Go room by room in your house and see what’s in it, including the closets. Anything broken should go to the trash. If it’s too large to go in the trash bin, hold onto it for bulk garbage collection next year. But make sure you have ONE designated area in the house to hold those items. That will keep the clutter from spreading and make it easier when it’s your week for pick up as all you need to do is move it to the curb. Anything not broken, but not used should be pulled aside for donation. Depending on what it is, there are various charities in the are that are in need of everything from furniture to small household items.
Now that you’ve gotten rid of the clutter, you need to make sure it stays gone! Go through and purge regularly. You’ll find your stress levels will go down and you’ll actually be able to find what you’re looking for!