We’ve already talked about clutter and the ways it can stress you out, but the topic is definitely worth revisiting. This is particularly relevant when it comes to your home environment. As they say, your home is your sanctuary. It’s where you go to be alone or with the ones you love most and where you retire at the end of the day. Decluttering your home is probably the best thing you can do to foster calmness in your life. It’s also one of the most intimidating, I know. That’s why I’m here to give you encouragement and some tips for getting started.
About Decluttering
As we’ve discussed, there are two types of clutter – physical and mental. Removing much of the physical clutter can actually have a big impact on getting rid of the mental kind, leading you to feel more relaxed. It lessens the chaos around you and helps you to feel more in control of your environment. There’s no one right way to declutter. It simply involves providing a less visually- and physically-obstructed space in which you feel comfortable.
Benefits of Decluttering
When you get rid of the clutter in your home, you make it easier to find things. Thus, you’ll save time. You’ll also save yourself the panic of having lost items in the first place. It also gives you peace of mind and a sense of security to know that things are in their place. You free up physical space when you get rid of the mess, meaning you’ll have more room to move around freely. That open space is visually calming for your brain, as well. Clutter has actually been shown by researchers to raise levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, in our bodies.
Tips for Decluttering
The biggest suggestion I have when it comes to decluttering is simply to start. Just making a move to get started can often provide the momentum and motivation to keep going. Perhaps clearing just one surface is the step that will help you to feel you’ve made some progress. Something else that often helps a great deal is to begin by getting rid of things that can be thrown away. Removing that type of useless, physical clutter is quite freeing. If you need some motivation, cleaning by category or type can help. Choose one kind of item such as books to get rid of or tackle just one room at a time.
Decluttering your home can have such an impact on your overall mindset. That sense of calm is likely to spill over into other areas of your life. Making just a few small changes can spur on larger ones, so just get started on a small home-decluttering project today to see where it takes you on your journey to Zen.
