De-Clutter Your Life

Clutter adds stress to our lives. A cluttered home is a big stressor in itself, and intensifies the frustration and exhaustion that a stressed person feels. According to the principles of Feng Shui, clutter drains you of your positive energy. You can actually feel it. A cluttered environment can cost you in energy, time and even money, while a clean, organized home can soothe you and provide a haven where you feel safe and at peace.

Clutter can also be a symptom of someone living in inertia and not taking control of aspects of their life. Not taking action to clear clutter fosters feelings of helplessness. Taking action, even if it only involves committing ten minutes of your time each day to organize, is empowering and relieves stress. Clearing clutter can be a catharsis. Declutter you home and feel some of your control return. Here are some ideas on how to declutter your environment. Once you become organized then you may be ready to declutter mentally too an let go of some old feelings that only drain you and bring you down!

When you declutter it isn't enough to simply clean and organize. The only way to truly lower the amount of clutter is to remove items from your home. Donate the clothes and other items that you no longer use. Don't get trapped into feeling that every gift you receive needs to be saved forever. Re-gifting or donating items to a community center raises the value of the item by having find a useful new home. Have a garage sale and turn that clutter into cold hard cash. Recycle items that you can and donate items like magazines and yarn for artwork activities at your local preschool. Check your local library and see if they accept book donations. Don't forget to include your donations on your taxes and then you are rewarded by both donating and and saving on your tax bill!


Just as clutter arises gradually, over time, so it must be fought gradually and over time. Beating clutter requires building new habits, applying new organizational methods, and creating new household routines. The clutter cure takes time. A successful attack on clutter requires time, energy and motivation. There is no such thing as a declutter fairy, who works while you sleep! Scheduling declutter sessions brings the goal into the light and into real life. By committing time to decluttering, you strengthen motivation and embrace the goal of a clutter-free home.

Creating a way of sorting through your clutter is the only way to get rid of it. Set up a system of boxes with different categories. Each home will have a different number of boxes depending on how much clutter you have. The minimum you'll need is a box for items you want to keep, a box for items you want to give away and a box for items you are unsure about.
  • Locate several large empty boxes.
  • Using a thick marker, label your boxes with categories such as Donate, Save, Unsure, Recycle, Move and Trash.
  • Depending on how much clutter you have, you may also want additional boxes for items you'd like to Sell or Fix.
  • Purchase a box of sturdy trash bags. Line your Trash box with one of the bags or simply use the trash bags by themselves.

    • Things to ask yourself as you get rid of your clutter:
  • Do I love this item?
  • Have I used it in the past year?
  • Is it really garbage?
  • Do I have another one that is better?
  • Should I really keep two?
  • Does it have sentimental value that causes me to love it?
  • Or does it give me guilt and make me sad when I see the item?

    • Cleanse each room of everything that does not make you SMILE.


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