Declutter Your Life and Your Mind

Decluttering is a magical thing. Not only does it clear the household of unused, unwanted things, but it also has an amazing effect on us mentally.

When the rooms around us have less clutter, we can think more clearly, maintain organization more easily, and even spend less time cleaning or putting things away.

It also has this unexpected psychological effect on us because when we declutter, it’s only natural to evaluate how little you actually need versus the massive amount that we tend to keep in closets and drawers.

This simplification can easily affect our pocket book as well. When we realize how much we don’t need a bunch of material things, we tend to actually buy less and have less of a desire to shop.

Once I decided to clean out the junk that’s in all of our storage bins (that we haven’t touched in years, by the way), I realized how much stuff we don’t even need! It’s truly a physical, mental, and psychological cleanse of our lives and this is one thing I can’t wait to tackle again this year.

Too much junk in the trunk…uh, house

First off, what’s in your closets? Drawers? Cabinets? How many purses/ shoes/ clothes do you have that are hardly ever used?

If we are all honest with ourselves, I bet we could come up with a massive pile of things that we don’t like for one reason or another. As a general rule, if it has not been used or needed within 6 months to 1 year, you don’t need it at all.

Maybe the kids grew out of it, maybe it’s not the right color or it doesn’t fit well, maybe it’s a project that you are never really going to get to tackle. I know I have at least one box worth of junk that I think I’ll need one day that honestly just needs to go.

I’ll be the first to admit that my closet is absolutely overflowing and that I LOVE clothing! I’m well aware that I own too many pieces.

In fact, my husband is pretty much always a little annoyed at my closet’s ‘bursting at the seams’ status. I love shopping for clothes, I love wearing new clothes, and I love how new in-season colors and materials make me feel.

BUT… I’ve definitely realized that this is all so unnecessary & I’m on a mission to clean it out!

Gift, Sell, or Donate

I’ve learned to approach this one of two ways, either gather everything possible that you want to get rid of OR go through things and attack one thing, or maybe a small number of things, at a time.

It depends on your personality and mood. For me, I think I’d like to tackle this one thing at a time and post them for sale online as I go.

But the truth is, I’ll never get it done that way AND I’ll lose track of what I posted versus what I wanted to post. So, for me, it’s better just to pull it all out from every space possible in the house, make a massive pile of the stuff and block off time to handle it.

We’ve all heard that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. You may roll your eyes, but it’s SO true. Something that I may consider junk may be a highly coveted item to someone else.

When people get a new piece of furniture or clean out something in our neighborhood, they put it out on the curb for pick up. It’s almost guaranteed that the item out on the curb is still really nice, useful, and definitely not trash.

Put in the work

I totally understand not wanting to deal with the whole selling or donating process, because it can be a pain. But, putting things out on the curb excludes you from the fantastic opportunity to donate to   the Salvation Army, Goodwill, and other charities for women, children, and even soldiers.

Receipts from these organizations are a welcome addition to paperwork at tax time and may help reduce the tax burden.

The other big option is to sell the item instead of putting it out on the curb. Some extra cash is always nice! There are so many apps out there that can help with this process: Decluttr, 5 Miles, Facebook Garage sale groups, and many, many more. There’s even the original Craig’s List.

Of course there’s more work involved in posting the item – no pain no gain, right?  Coordinating with people, bargaining, and even meeting the buyer for the sale can be time consuming or frustrating.  And I’m not even going to get into the details about making sure you’re meeting people in a public, safe place and other details about selling the safe way.

But, there are apps out there that are making this easier and some of them even allow you to just ship off your things! Decluttr has created an awesome way to get rid of your junk, get paid for it, but not have to meet any buyers or worry about the negotiation process.

Motivation to find Clarity

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. If you want to simplify your life, you should.

If you constantly feel overwhelmed, crowded, stressed, and scattered, there’s a huge possibility those feelings are a direct reflection of your environment.

Ever notice how clutter free all the influencer’s beautiful insta pics are? There’s a reason for that – even something so simple like viewing a clutter free picture has an emotional effect. 

If you think there’s ANY room for simplification or organization in any corner, you should attack it with a vengeance. If you don’t, you’ll never know what’s clouding your mind!

Until we accomplish some of these seemingly unrelated tasks, we cannot possibly have the clarity needed to be ultra-productive, creative, and even passionate about the things we should be in life.

Why allow yourself to be held back?

A clutter free home is obviously cleaner and more organized, but the positive, yet often forgotten, side-effect of decluttering is that you create more physical and mental space for positivity to come into your life.

When you declutter your home, office, car, or any other personal space you may have, you’ve automatically opened up the window for fresh new things to enter into the space.

Maybe with less clutter if won’t be so overwhelming to organize that closet in the back room.

Maybe the coats could actually go in the coat closet if it weren’t full of outdoor toys and strollers.

Maybe you could make better fashion choices if the closet weren’t full of items you dislike or that don’t fit well.

The possibilities are endless.

I strongly suggest picking a project or a space to declutter, and commit to it. It’s not like we need anything else on our to-do list, but once you complete that task, not only will you feel good about your accomplishment, you’ll begin to see the positive effects in all areas of your life.

A decluttered space leads to a decluttered mind.

A clear mind is able to focus on the things that really matter – like spending time with the kids, getting out of debt, securing a positive financial future, pursuing passions, reconnecting with your spouse, and appreciating experiences instead of material things.