6 Tips to Help You Decluter

Is it time to declutter?

Are you suffocating in all your stuff?

Mental and physical clutter keeps us stagnant. We accumulate more and more things that we don’t really need, only to feel emotionally stifled under their weight. Our creativity and wonder suffocate under the piles of stuff.

When we decide to minimize the clutter and excess in our lives, we leave room for abundance and meaning to move in.

I often find myself asking – what physical clutter is holding me back? How are the piles and piles of stuff around my house draining me? Now, how about you? Are you feeling lethargic, uninspired, or unmotivated? Look around you. Are the things in your life taking up so much space that you have capacity for little else?

Clutter makes it hard for us to relax. It is difficult to find motivation to be creative when we have an excess of things hindering our movement.

Why do we hold onto the things we do?

Do our things make us feel secure? Do they make us feel valuable? When we get rid of stuff that no longer serves us, it sets us free. I love the feeling after I’ve purged my closet or a room in the house. I just feel lighter. Creating a space free of clutter allows us to be mindful about the space we choose to live in.

After I had a lightning bolt moment about the excess and disarray in life holding me back, I came up with a few simple life hacks to help clear the clutter.

Simple Ways To Clear The Clutter

Declutter Tip 1.

Organize your work space at the end of every day so when you sit to work or create the next day, your creative energy isn’t being held back.

I am a tactile and experiential learner. When I write, I have to see and touch practically everything to get inspiration. I have 3 spirals out and open to what I’m working on, two books at the ready, scraps of paper with quotes, and oodles of sticky notes with all my thoughts and ideas scribbled on . . . you get the idea. This gets multiplied over days and days as I continue to work without really putting things back in their place. It gets to the point where I can’t do another thing because I’m drowning in papers.

And yet, I have found I just can’t be creative when my space is cluttered.

Organizing my desk and work space helps my creative flow. The less clutter I have, the more productive and inventive I can be.

Declutter Tip 2.

When tackling a daunting area, set a timer for a specified amount of time; 30 minutes, an hour, whatever feels right. When the timer goes off, stop where you are.

When the task is this overwhelming, it is easier to feel successful when we can break it down into bite size pieces. We don’t have to do it all at once. Which in my case would take days.

I have a few closets in my house that might cause an avalanche if the door was opened too quickly. The thought of even looking inside overwhelms me, so I never do. But, they need to be gone through. I can feel the weight of the excess keeping me off-balance. Do you have a closet, drawer, garage, or room like this, that overwhelms you to even think about?

Declutter Tip 3.

When you are purging items, ask yourself, “Does this bring me joy?” Enough said.

Do your clothes or household items need to be purged? This was difficult chore for me until I heard a suggestion from the book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo.

Honestly, I didn’t read the book, but I know many people who loved it. They shared the main idea with me and this one simple question revolutionized my closet.

For example: I had this flirty, boho orange blouse with lace at the neck and wide flowy sleeves. I loved the look of this blouse. It channeled the hippie in me whenever I saw it. The problem was, the arms were too tight and it wasn’t comfortable. But I just couldn’t part with it. I loved the idea of it so much, it took me two freakin’ years to realize I was never going to wear it because it didn’t feel good. When I was cleaning out my closet a month ago, I asked myself, “does this blouse bring me joy?” I had to be truthful and say, “no.”

Into the donation pile it went.

Declutter Tip 4.

Make sure everything you keep in your life has a place. 

If we have to buy more things, containers and organization paraphernalia, to keep our stuff organized, then maybe we should let go of the things we are trying to make room for.

Declutter Tip 5.

Only touch something once.

For example, with mail, take care of it now instead of putting in a pile to do later.

Declutter Tip 6.

Don’t hold onto the things you might want someday. 

This takes energy from the here and now. If we are to be mindful, we must live in the present.

These are just simple, real life ideas, I am certainly not an expert on organizing – just ask my husband!

I do think it is important to get a handle on the stuff in your life.

Once you clear the clutter, you will free your mind.

For more ideas on creating a life you’re in love with, join me at OneSaltyKiss.