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The process of decluttering something, especially if you likely associate the word with work,can be overwhelming. Learn the guidelines you can start utilizing today in order to declutter your space for better mental focus and clarity below!
Decluttering can seem like such a daunting task. Which is why you most likely continue to put it off and worry about the stuff that you only THINK is more important in life.
And that’s true if you lead a busy life. If you have kids, are in a committed relationship, have parents that are aging and need to be looked after, a demanding job, staying physical active, preparing meals for the week (or even just for dinner) is tough enough as is! Who wants to clean on top of all of that?
Well how about if I tell you that decluttering can actually make you feel LESS overwhelmed? How about if I said that it can bring you calmness instead of more chaos in your already frantic life? That if you declutter your space, you’ll have more mental focus and clarity than ever before? Because believe it or not, it’s all very true.
Psychologists believe that having more clutter around you, whether in your physical, digital, or emotional space can be distracting, infuriating, messy, and suffocating.
The Mayo Clinic discusses how clutter can impact our mental health the most. Meaning if you decclutter your space, your mental clarity will improve!
Cortisol, also known as the “stress hormone,” rises in times of stress. You know what else stresses us out? Disorganized, messy, and cluttered spaces.
High cortisol levels can lead to a variety of issues such as, increased weight (especially around your belly), higher blood sugar levels, poor sleep, and joint aches and pains.
Most notably though is that it is thought to create an environment that promotes poor concentration, memory and can become a foundation for Alzheimer’s if it becomes chronic in nature.
I believe that it is truly to one’s benefit to look into their spaces, physical, digital and emotional and cleanse yourself of the areas that are causing your stress.
It can make you less overwhelmed, happier, improve your mood and concentration, you’ll sleep better AND be even more productive.
Table of Contents
How do you go about decluttering your space?
There are NO rules written in stone that determine where, when, and how you should start decluttering your space. BUT there are things to know beforehand that can help you get started.
Here are some guidelines that I have outlined below that you can follow to. They will help declutter your space, result in better mental focus and clarity, and get rid of all the stuff in your life that is hindering your growth mentally.
Guidelines
1) Have a GOAL
- Why do you want to declutter? What purpose will it serve? What are you hoping to achieve from this? Do you want to declutter for a better sense of clarity and more mental focus?
- Clearly know how to answer these questions and write down your goals. Having it written down will force you to focus and serves as a reference point as well.
- Whenever you feel unmotivated, lost, and/or confused come back to your goals and realize why you are doing this to begin with.
2) Share your GOALS
- Writing your goals is powerful. You know what else is powerful? Being accountable. Telling others what you’re planning on doing makes you stick to your plan and allows you stay focused all at the same time.
- Tell a friend, a co-worker, your dog, just share your goal!
3) Have a CHECKLIST
- Writing down what needs to be done, what areas you plan on tackling, knowing which areas require what to be taken care of is as important as knowing your goals.
- Make a checklist and decide which of things need to go and place a check mark next to one of the 3 piles you will be putting your un-necessary items in: a) donating b) recycling or c) into the garbage.
4) Concentrate on KEY AREAS
- Before beginning, decide which areas you will declutter first. It’s only then that you should go through your checklist and start ticking.
- Making your checklist before deciding on your key areas is actually helpful because it can help you SEE which areas may be easier to tackle in the beginning.
- So if your key areas are your desk at work and/or your albums app on your phone, then you’ll want to start in one of those areas!
5) Take before and after PICTURES
- Take a picture before you begin decluttering and then make sure to take a picture after you’ve finished as well.
- This not only shows your progress but gives you a tangible sense of how much you have accomplished.
6) Look for INSPIRATION
- Look through books, magazines, Instagram, basically anything that will spark inspiration within you to get started on your goals today.
7) Start SMALL
- Start small but think big.
- For example, if one of your key areas is your office than don’t start by looking at your entire office space as a whole. Instead focus on your desk or even just one drawer. That one drawer may be causing you more anxiety than the entire room or cubicle so just concentrate on that one area instead.
- Beginning with something small will make you feel better that you did something vs trying to clean your entire office and feeling burnt out and frustrated.
8) FINISH what you started
- If you start with the drawer, finish the drawer as well.
- Don’t convince yourself that you’ll come back to it because you most probably will not. Just do it and get it over with. And then take a picture.
9) A TIMER is your new best friend
- Setting some time, whether that’s in the beginning, middle or at the end of the day, within your day to look after YOURSELF and your space is important.
- Make it a priority by dedicating a set amount of time (ie. 5, 10, 15 mins etc.) to declutter that one particular area that you’d like to cross off your checklist.
10) Involve your FAMILY
- If you have a partner, kids, family, literally anyone living with you or sharing space with you who can help you accomplish your goal(s), then ask for help.
- Make it a fun thing and celebrate afterwards by rewarding yourself for completing something as big as decluttering a space that now means MORE to you and your loved ones.
11) Focus on what you are KEEPING
- It’s easy to focus on the things that we are getting rid of, especially if they carry some sort of sentimental value. It’s important in those moments to remember your goals and to change your mindset.
- Focus on the things you ARE keeping and what purpose they serve you today.
- Look at your new space and realize how much happier and content you are now that you have room to breathe.
12) One thing IN for one thing OUT
- This is simple. For any item that you plan on bringing into your new non-cluttered space, be ready to get rid of another item that is already in that space.
- This keeps you from making the same mistake twice.
13) Enjoy your NEW space
- Be proud of everything that you have accomplished! You are rockstar, a boss, an amazing human being who did what you thought was impossible: You were able to declutter your space for more mental focus and a greater sense of clarity. Congrats!
There’s a freedom that comes with knowing what you give out to the world, will come back too you. Spread that happiness you now feel and rejoice in your new space!
It’s important to know what you will end up doing with the stuff that you are getting rid of. For your physical space, home or work, decide where your stuff will go:
- Donation Box
- Recycling Bin
- Garbage
Try NOT to do the following when you decide to declutter any space:
1) Declutter someone else’s stuff
– This is one of the worst things that can happen. Thinking that you are actually helping the other person but in actuality you’re just doing more harm than good. It can be hurtful to the other person knowing that you got rid of something that was of value to them without their knowledge.
– Avoiding making someone else feel this way by only looking at decluttering your own stuff.
2) Cleaning and organizing before starting
– You might think that this would make things easier, after all it makes sense to organize something before you start to throw things away. However, the point here is to get rid of the stuff that is no longer serving any purpose to your life.
– If you first decide to clean up and organize that very stuff that you need to actually just throw away (whether that be in the donation, recycle, or garbage pile), you are in fact making your task of decluttering THAT much harder instead.
– Avoid the compulsion to organize your space first.
3) Allowing yourself to get distracted
– As humans we have the power to feel nostalgic about a lot of things, events, moments in our lives. And it doesn’t take much for us to go down memory lane.
– Avoid letting yourself get distracted by powerful memories of items that you will never use again just because of the emotion it carries with it unless it serves a purpose in your life today.
– How do you know if it serves a purpose? If you’ve used it recently (say within the last 6 months), it’s a family heirloom, it has a place in your house WITHOUT taking up space.
– Like Marie Kondo says, if it has served its purpose than be thankful for it and move on.
4) Feeling guilty
– Guilt is a very powerful emotion. It invokes a feeling inside of us that is hard to deal with and therefore most of the time we just end up caving in to it.
– Don’t let this feeling take over you! You have the power to NOT feel guilty about wanting to feel good about your life!
– Focus on your goals and why you are doing this in the first place. So even though you may have to throw out stuff that you paid a lot of money for or were gifts from loved ones, unless they are CURRENTLY adding value to your life – You don’t need it.
5) Trying to be perfect
– No one is perfect. So let’s NOT break the mold. Life is short and in order to make it sweet we need to concentrate on what we accomplish vs what we could/should have done instead.
– Be proud of yourself and what all you did because that is a step in the positive direction.
Get the 13 guidelines for the successful way to declutter for better mental focus and clarity below! Tick mark the things you accomplish as you go along using this FREE PRINTABLE!!
