One of the first steps to home health is decluttering your home. In the process of creating calm living spaces decluttering is king. Clutter is the overabundance of possessions. It creates chaotic and disorderly living spaces according to Joseph Ferrari, professor of psychology at DePaul University, who studies the causes of clutter and its impact on emotional well-being. There is also research that connects a cluttered home with increased feelings of stress. And in our home health journey, stress is something we are trying to minimize. When we deal with a stressful day out of the home, we don’t need to come home to be overwhelmed with more stress. Decluttering will be the starting point of our journey towards emotional wellness and home health.
How to Declutter Your Home
Next, I want to talk about the emotional aspect of decluttering your home. This may be a goal many of us have but the thought of it can evoke anxiety or feelings of overwhelm. Or maybe you try but things just end up going back to how they used to look. For me decluttering a space has always seemed like an elusive goal. It seems like even when I get rid of things new things come in to my space to overcrowd it. But it’s about making a conscious effort to acquire less things as well as letting go of things that no longer serve a purpose. This can be a struggle, believe me I know. So it seems that decluttering isn’t a single act but a continuous way of being.
Do An Emotional Check…
Firstly, do an emotional check of how you’re feeling in your space. Seeing a space as cluttered is subjective. One person may see the room as disorganized and cluttered, and another may feel that the room is just fine. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say. As you may not even be aware of the energetic impact of the stuff in your space, it’d be good to check in with how you are feeling. A good practice is to sit quietly in your space, look around you, and take several deep breaths. What feelings arise in you? Do you feel anxious? Are you having difficulty taking deep breaths? Do you feel weighed down and heavy? If you can say yes to any of those questions, you may need to take an intuitive look at your space.
Practice Letting Go….
Decluttering your home can be an emotional process of letting go. Being consistently mindful of what objects are purposeful, enjoyable, or precious and then letting go of the those that aren’t. If this sounds difficult, start with baby steps. Maybe start with giving away or donating magazines or books that you’ve already enjoyed. Having a system in place, such as keeping a trash can near to your desk, can also make it easier.
As you continue, it’s good to be aware of the emotional impact of these steps. Do you feel a little more clear headed? Calm? Relaxed? Lighter perhaps? Departing with our things and the feelings associated with them can sometimes be cathartic. Are you moving on from a past relationship? Starting a new career? Have 10-15 years passed since you graduated college? Decluttering can be a form of purging. What are you still holding on to that no longer serves a purpose in your life? The practice of letting go will strengthen you. The more you do it, the more power you have over your belongings rather than vice versa.
Redefine Your Relationship with Things…
In addition, when you redefine your relationship with your things it’ll be easier to acknowledge that it’s purpose was served but now it’s time to move on. You’ll see that the objects we surround ourselves with don’t truly define who we are at our core. They only have value because we placed a perceived or learned value on them. They don’t define our relationships. If we can redefine our relationship with our possessions, we will truly experience a shift in our perception of what “valuables” actually are. Letting go offers us the opportunity to truly define not just our style or our environment, but the core of our inner being as well.
Visualize Your Space…
The best way to reach your goals is to create a visual image of what that goal looks like. The same goes for decluttering your home. Here is an example of how clutter can affect our mental wellbeing. Below are before and after pictures of a linen closet (aaahhmmm…my closet) that was over stuffed with blankets and towels. Even in a picture there is a huge difference energetically. But in order to get to the after picture, I had to visualize what I wanted it to look like. Then I took the steps to get there. As you can see one picture looks like a nightmare and the other a happy dream. Let’s take a look….
Please! Close those cabinet doors! I really don’t wanna look anymore. Looking at this mountain of towels and blankets is overwhelming. But it was a mountain that got tackled. Pulling everything out and then sorting through what to keep and what to get rid of was a big step but a necessary one. I kept in mind, while sorting, that someone out there may need some of these towels and blankets more than I do. So I sorted into “keep” and a “donate” piles. Make sure to donate because someone else may be much more in need of your items than you! Plus keeping in mind the end goal of how I wanted the linen closet to look was helpful. I also took my time and spent several days working on it as well as shopping for sturdy storage containers. Was it some work? Yes. Was it worth it???
Totally worth it!!! The end result just feels soooo much better! It’s lighter, brighter, cleaner, organized and prettier. Decluttering and letting go of excess is the starting place of organizing. There’s no way I could’ve fit all those towels and blankets into the storage containers. And without storage containers, the linen closet wouldn’t look so organized. It’s about everything having a place and a home. With less clutter and better organization, it is much easier to find things, there’s more space, and it’s easier on the eyes!
Next, 5 simple steps you can use for decluttering your home….
