5 reasons why you should declutter your life & 5 ways how to do so

Firstly let me explain what decluttering is.

Decluttering is the action of removing things that you don’t need anymore from a place. Decluttering may be also applied in relationships where you decide to let go of a person you do not resonate with, in negative emotions and in repetitive thoughts that may form unpleasant patterns in your life.

Why do you need to declutter your life?

1. Decluttering creates space: By decluttering your home, work-space or environment you live in, you create more space for nothingness. This nothingness in the physical form gives a feeling of spaciousness, of breathing, and the opportunity to move more freely. In the mental and emotional state, when you decide to let go of a person, forgive a behavior or break a repetitive thought pattern, you immediately create space within your own self for new things to come: new people, more positive feelings and more pleasant thoughts.

2. Decluttering promotes relaxation: As soon as you decide to declutter your life in all levels, physical, mental and emotional, you will realize that you immediately start to relax. Many objects, especially those you don’t need or you don’t use, create tension which is probably unconscious in most people. Also thoughts and emotions that arise due to unresolved situations of the past or the present, need to be cleared, otherwise they will keep coming and coming till they create emotional tension and therefore physical tension (psychosomatics).

3. Decluttering activates creativity: During this process of getting rid of clutter and minimizing your life to the things you really need, you will probably feel creative of how to use specific items, how to change things in your home, work-space and life, and how to bring a new "touch” onto the ones you decide to keep and as you are tidying up your new environment. On the other hand, by decluttering the mind will give you a push to new ideas about your life, your dreams and the new things you want to bring into your life in terms of people, feelings, experiences and many more.

4. Decluttering keeps your mind focused: Decluttering your living and work space helps your brain focus. Imagine a space full of objects and how this can possibly affect your attention. Organized environments with only a few objects that have a functional meaning help your mind to be productive, sharp and concentrated. In addition to that, a mind with unstoppable thoughts and intense emotions is not able to take important decisions simply because it does not function within a balanced state of being. In addition, a very busy mind is not able to be aware of smaller things that occur or it may not be able to perceive something in depth.

5. Decluttering helps others: By decluttering your space and giving away the things you do not need, you can make somebody else happy because they probably need what you don’t. Your clatter might be very useful for people in need. On the other hand, decluttering your self in a psychological way, you generate positive emotions and you promote calmness that definitely help and support people around you especially those with whom you share your life and space with.

How can you declutter your life?

1. Give away the things you no longer need: Open your wardrobe and while checking each item ask yourself 3 important questions: “Do I need this? Do I use it? If yes, when was the last time I did?” If the answer is more than a year it is clear that you don’t really need this item and you are ready to let it go. If you start thinking that you might need it at some point in the future, then there is an emotional attachment onto it that also needs to be released and along with it more emotional attachments too, regarding people, memories and experiences. Then do the same with every little corner of your house and every single part of your brain. It might take time but it is totally worth it.

2. Be honest with yourself regarding what you really want to keep: When you decide to keep something try to be honest with yourself whether you need it or not. Ask yourself: “Do I really want this? Does it make me happy? Is there an attachment behind it?” Ask the same for objects, people, habits, situations, experiences and relationships. If you feel that it is difficult to let go of something or someone, intentionally give some more time to yourself with the willingness to re-evaluate the same issue again in the near future, by asking the same questions again. You might need to do that several times before you totally let go of something or someone, so prepare yourself to be patient.

3. Understand how clutter prevents new opportunities from coming in: You really need to understand that keeping old things (objects with emotional attachments, thoughts, memories, beliefs, emotions) that are not aligned anymore with who you are now, may create a misalignment that prevents you from bringing all the wonderful new stuff that await for you and you desire to have right now in your life. Instead of keeping this blockage in your way, choose to create space for the new to come by removing the old first.

4. Offer to those in need: This is a wonderful opportunity, to make others happy while getting rid of your own shit. Other people might really need something we keep for no particular reason. You can offer your unwanted items to charity, to people in need and to poor people who are not able to buy them themselves.

5. Make money out of it: In addition to the above, by giving away your second hand clothes you prevent the production of new clothing and therefore you protect the environment. There are many shops that take and sell second hand clothing and in this way you can also make some profit. In the same way you can sell books, cutlery, paintings, furniture, carpets and many more.

I suggest that you go through a deep decluttering process once a year alongside the intention to stay aware of what you shop and collect in between the decluttering processes. The same applies with experiences, thoughts and emotions. Keeping a journal along the way it will help you keep yourself in track and in alignment with your main purpose which is to live a life that represents the essence of your soul and not a life that follows personality traits that kill your authenticity as a human being. So be aware of what you bring in your life, heart and mind, every single day.

One of my biggest dreams is to minimize my “necessities" to the maximum, and be able to put them all in one suitcase which I can carry around and travel with. This is also the reflection I want for my inner world: the lighter, the richer!

Thank you for reading, and remember that everything you seek lies within your Self.

Heart to Heart,

Christina

  © Christina Georgiou