Declutter Your Life

The first principle to consider is the famous acronym, KISS, which stands for Keep It Simple (Stupid)! Overload in many people's lives is due to having a very complex and busy lifestyle. It does not have to be that way. By changing your attitude to consider how you can simplify your life and remove some of the unnecessary layers you may discover a much easier freer life waiting for you.

By changing the way you think you will help yourself to move forward in a clearer more focussed way. It won't matter if you have a good sort out mentally and physically, without changing your attitude to hoarding or taking on too much you are likely to start the cycle all over again.

Think about how much calmer and at peace you feel when in an orderly and tidy environment. The sense of serenity you can feel when not surrounded by mess and unfinished work. This is what you need to create in both your mind and physical environment to feel at ease with yourself.

What do you want out of life; success, happiness, love and serenity? People often believe that these states can be achieved through possessions and a 'comfortable' lifestyle. Comfortable here means having a lot of money. Advertising helps to perpetuate the myth. True, needs are met through material things. An initial feeling of satisfaction is reached, but if it is not addressing the true need, this wears off and further ways are sought to give the good feeling again.

This can turn into a life complicated with an expensive lifestyle, which requires a heavy workload, leading to stress and unhappiness. Escape is then found through alcohol, drugs or holidays that can fall heavily on our pockets and so repeat the cycle.

When considering your life who do you find yourself comparing yourself with; those that have more than you or those that have less? If it is the former then you probably feel dissatisfied with life a lot of the time and continue to crave more, continually struggling to improve your life.

Try to think about those that have less, yet seem happy enough. Think about what you do have. Think about what is really enough to satisfy your true needs. For example, how many pairs of shoes or trousers can you wear?

This does not mean that you should live the life of a pauper; it is about putting things in perspective. We all have basic needs such as food, warmth, shelter and clothing. We also need love and companionship. We certainly don't truly need three TVs, ten pairs of shoes and three coats. Sounds excessive? According to Mintel (2006) women in the UK own, on average, 14 pairs of shoes each, whilst men own around 6 pairs.

You will not find success, happiness, love and serenity in things or money. Consider first what these things truly mean to you. This will take time but persevere. Learn to accept and be grateful for what you have, especially the non material things, for that is where you will find happiness and serenity.

The hardest part about de-cluttering is learning to let go, to give up trying to control everything and to go with the flow of life. We hang onto all sorts of mental baggage worrying about our futures, our children's futures, our investments, global warming, rising crime levels, the list goes on and on.
Why do we worry about so much that we have little or no control over? Is it going to make any difference? Obviously we can make an impact in our own way but if you are already doing this why are you worrying? Worry does not change anything about from potentially leading to ill health.

Do you brood over things that have happened in the past? Maybe someone hurt you emotionally, maybe you did something that you feel or know was wrong. Once again, let it go. If you can make amends for your wrong doing consider doing so. Most importantly practise forgiveness, and that includes forgiving yourself. You are only human and are allowed to make mistakes. Behaviour does not make a person good or bad, it is purely some actions we follow at some point in time. Let it go and move on. Shake off your baggage to a newer, freer you.

Once you can accept that the only thing you can control is your own behaviour you are on the way to a more serene and calm life. By accepting 'what is' you will eliminate stress in your life and feel a lot happier. These principles are very simple but achieving them is very hard as old habits are difficult to let go of.

If you can manage to embody these principles into your life you will find that things become a lot clearer and the desire for a heavily material lifestyle will diminish as it will no longer be the focus of your attention.

As discussed above you can easily end up surrounded by lots of stuff that stifles your whole self. It weighs down on you, clutters your house and creates dust.

Consider the feeling you get in a large comfortable open, tidy and minimally furnished living room. Compare that to the mood created by an overly busy environment with piles of incomplete work, books, clothes and magazines etc. lying around. The first will probably create an atmosphere of serenity and calm, the second will feel decidedly uncomfortable, dirty and if it is your space will frustrate you with thoughts of incomplete tasks.



So how do you get rid of the stuff you have accumulated over the years or organise what you want to keep? This part of de-cluttering becomes easier if you have mastered the change of attitude as outlined above, although it can still be time consuming. You can hire declutter consultants, enlist the help of a friend or friends to help you or you can try a fantastic little book I've discovered and tried out for myself called "Declutter Fast" to reveal some great little secrets to decluttering. This great little read will inspire the most overwhelmed and disorganised to have a go as several different approaches are given to make the impossible become not only possible but actually pleasant.

"Declutter Fast" gives you ways to tackle all your household areas where clutter becomes a problem. Simple systematic approaches allow you to take it one step at a time, at a pace to suit you, from super speedy to learning to let go at your own pace.

"Declutter Fast" only takes about an hour or so to read. The beauty of the book is it is designed to be quick and easy to read so that reading it doesn't become a chore in itself - however the advice is succinct, complete and to the point; you get all the information and instructions you need to create a clutter free home.

There are 5 minute declutter systems for instant fixes and one day workouts included, but even better once you've cleared your space there are tips and methods to help you stay clutter free.
Once you've read through it make sure you have what you need to put the advice you choose to follow into action, otherwise you may stall! However the book is inspiring and flexible enough to give you options and motivation to start straight away!

As mentioned previously modern lifestyles create complex situations that cause worry, stress and anxiety for many people. A fast paced life where everyone is always doing something does not allow any time to relax or clear the head. Constant noise and light from many directions makes silence an alien concept. Creating and staying quiet in mind and body become increasingly difficult and physical stress and strain on the body is increasingly leading to ill health.

There are various things to do to try and de-clutter this part of your life. How many things do you do that are unnecessary? For example, do you wash your clothes more often than you need to, do you iron almost everything? Are you spending longer at work than you should do, perhaps out of a feeling of guilt because everyone else does it? Do you spend a lot of time arranging holidays for yourself and your family? Do you find yourself always taking on little extras to help other people out?

Going back to the de-cluttering process mentally work through all aspects of your life that occupy your time, sorting them into keep, bin or give away. For this exercise the keep things are those you must do or intend to do yourself, the bin stuff covers things you know you can stop doing or thinking about and the give away are tasks to delegate. Question yourself about your habits, remember KISS.

Make time for true relaxation, not time in front of the TV, but real quiet time. If you tend to suffer from anxiety or stress consider learning yoga, taking up meditation or just walking or gardening.

To clear our minds is very much about attitude, it will take time but persevere as it is truly worth it.

Jacky Tustain
Founder and Owner BeCanDo Life Coaching
BeCanDo Life Coaching