De-Cluttering Your Life is Beneficial

When I say de clutter your life I am talking about your entire life. For the sake of this post I will only focus on things.

Extra stuff adds to stress. You must let go of anything that adds stress. Anything you are currently not using and have to re-organize over and over is causing you extra stress. Lets get rid of that, let go of stress. 

Most of us don’t have never really thought about why it is that we keep things around us. We never questioned why we need more than a few pair of shoes. But that exact avoidance is what keeps our piles of things growing. They grow until they overposer our ability to get out form under them. You must re-frame the way you feel about the things your surround yourself with, you must let stuff go.

How long will it take you?

This is going to take you at least one weekend if you do it all in one foul swoop or if you decide to go slower (due to the anxiety itself, or your job) a few weeks. I suggest getting it done all at once, but I understand having commitments and time constraints.

But please make it a goal to commit. We might not have motivation at times but if you can at least commit to this one thing, it will be worth it.

If you have gone in this direction before and you are wondering why you fail at staying organized, check out this post by Just A Girl and Her Blog.

Find Your Why

Lets get our why in order here. Why are you doing this? If you can’t find inner drive for the type of life you want, you won’t be able to stick to this. A why helps you keep things in perspective.

My why was finding a calmer life. It helped me realize that I needed to feel calmer in my every day. Read my “Why Minimalism is not just an IN-THING!”and get an idea as to the reason you need to do this.

Let’s Begin

Make sure you have the following:

1. Garbage bags

2.Three large boxes

(Label one box ‘upstairs’or bedroom, the other ‘give’, and the last one, ‘put away’.)

3. Sleep (you don’t want another excuse to quit).

Start in the Kitchen

1. Begin in your kitchen and entryway. Why? Because you need a reminder how amazing you can feel. And no better way to do this then to walk in your door and walk into calming tranquility.

Gather all the items in the hallway, including hallway closet, hanging items like coats etc. Place them in the center of the hallway where there is room.

Go through each item and ask yourself if you use it? If you love it? Does someone you love want it? Or if you would buy it again?

And, if the answer is No, place it into one of the garbage bags (this is your goodwill, thrift shop give away).

But, If the item goes in one of the bedrooms, place it in that box.

Or, If another family member loves the item, or someone not living with you, place it in the give box.

However, If the item is still useful but in the wrong place, place it in the put away box. Once you have gone through all the items in the pile.

Go a head and put away the YES items, the items you love, want, or need that belong in that part of the house.

Need Kitchen Organization ideas? Here is a beautiful layout of 12 Creative and Smart Kitchen Organization Ideas by Artful Homemaking.

The Bathrooms

2.Move on to the bathrooms and repeat the above scenario. Make sure you keep all useful items and that you are asking yourself those questions that weed out the un-necessary items.

Time to Hit the Bedroom

3.No not to sleep! The bedrooms are third on my list because its a great push to see your personal items in order.

Fallow the same steps as above, but be a little more discriminating here. Don’t keep things that you hate wearing or that have a tag on them just because you hate to get rid of them.

This is a good time to remind yourself that YOU ARE WORTHY  of a better wardrobe. You don’t need to let go of everything, just the things that no longer serve a purpose or no longer give you peace.

After you finish the bedroom, put everything away. Place things by class of use, like workout clothing together, work clothes together, daily wear together, etc.

Check out these wonderful ways to organize your bedroom once you finish de-cluttering, by HomeBNC.

38 Brilliant Bedroom Organization Ideas that Will Help You Keep Everything in its Place 

Last But Still Important

4.Last is the laundry room, basement, and garagee. Fallow the same patterns as above. Remember be discriminating (this is the only place to put discrimination without getting into trouble). The more things you can let go, the more breathing room you have. THe more breathing room you have, the more likely you will begin to fill your life with things that bring you joy. Declutering is about making room for more joy.

Finally,

Get rid of S@#t! Say adios and good riddens, but with love. It once was useful so don’t forget be thankful. The more you takle and get rid of things that weigh you down, the more you realize miraculouse things happen. New apportunities appear.

Note: If you decide not to tackle everything all on one weekend. Write the order of where you want to begin and how much time you have to spend on it each day.

 Commit, commit, commit, no way around it, if you don’t commit it wont get done and you deserve to have a calm life. Repeat, “I deserve a calm and serene life!”Hugs and Happy Minimizing!