Did you know that too much clutter can cause stress? According to the Cleveland Clinic, stress and anxiety increases with clutter. An organized environment can help boost creativity, decision making and even lower the stress hormone, cortisol. Clutter can make it harder to focus on other tasks of daily life. By taking control of your space and organizing your environment, this can help you feel more in control and restore feelings of competency in your home. Various mental health professionals have educated us on the importance of a healthy space for a healthy mind. Often our outer world can reflect our inner world, so when we keep an organized space it can help to clear our mind. The new year is a great time to declutter, get rid of old items and organize your space. The benefits of this not only are great for the home but is the perfect boost of mental wellness to start off your year.
Clean and Organize Your Workspace
Having a sufficient workspace in the home helps you feel more productive and more easily able to concentrate on the tasks at hand. A place where you can organize your tasks and plan out your days is a great foundation to get started on this new year. Gather supplies and materials to complete what you need. Creating a filing system for important paperwork or documents is helpful when keeping various strategies together for an organized system. By reducing stress levels from clearing the space this can naturally enhance the mood, making for a more positive outcome when it comes to what you need done.
Clear Out Clutter and Donate Items You No Longer Need
Getting rid of clutter and donating is a great way to boost self-esteem while getting rid of some old items. Sort through your closet and sell, donate or give away any clothes you have not worn. Go through your pantry and rid of anything that has expired for your health and wellbeing. Declutter your medicine cabinet and make sure you get rid of any medicines that have expired. Take a look at your makeup and toiletries to also check expiration dates. The most successful method is to break up the decluttering projects into smaller tasks, which can make this more easily manageable.
Review Your Calendar and Plan Your Events
Having an organized schedule helps to make it clear what you need to prioritize in your life. See what commitments and activities brings you the most joy and adds value to your days and revolve your free time around this. Utilizing a planner or app on your phone to set reminders can help prevent you from double booking events or overwhelming yourself with plans. The brain can’t remember everything, so using a calendar is helpful to know what kind of appointments you have coming up and give yourself a more organized day.
Getting on a Routine
Building habits is a great way to start putting yourself on an organized, yet flexible routine that can help you get your day on track. Having a small morning routine and evening routine can help bring consistency in your life, which reduces stress. Start off small such as exercising, reading or showering in the mornings or trying a self-care facial routine at night.
Set Aside Time for Self-care and Relaxation
Carving out time in your day to focus on your body and mind’s wellbeing is essential for living your best and healthiest life. Whether it’s a hot bath, going for a small walk, or even taking the time to listen to a few of your favorite songs. Participating in an activity you enjoy for at least 15-20 minutes a day will help prioritize yourself and give your body time to rejuvenate. The importance of self-care is unrivaled and necessary for both good physical and mental health. A proper self-care routine has been clinically proven to reduce depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders.
Purge Your Email Inbox and Create Folders for Important Messages
Clearing out your inbox is a great way to decrease stress and take control of what to put your energy on. Go through your emails, texts, photos and messages to eliminate storage and clear out old or unwanted messages. With the number of email subscriptions now of days many of your inboxes are overflowing with unwanted spams. This can make it harder to go through and respond to the people we actually communicate with. Many people have switched to working online and having an organized digital world is just as important to keep yourself organized and productive. Try to take steps to reduce your digital clutter by creating folders, files, utilizing a platform such as google docs and organizing your email inbox.
Create a Home Maintenance List for the Year
Making various lists for different parts of your life keeps you from getting overwhelmed with too many tasks. Having a list for specific tasks you want to accomplish in your home around the year is a great way to prioritize what needs taken care of. These can include outdoor tasks or various DIY home improvement projects. If you anticipate you will need support or someone to hire to complete any home projects, this is a great time to track spending and plan out a time in the budget to get that done.
Learn Skills to Improve Efficiency
Improving self-efficiency is great for getting you in the mindset of taking advantage of your time and energy. Make time to check in with yourself and ask yourself how you’re feeling during the day. Set boundaries around your time and the tasks at hand. Take a few minutes each day to plan out what you want to accomplish for the day. It doesn’t have to be anything huge, even just accomplishing a day of self-care is important. Navigating ways to make your tasks easier is helpful for improving efficiency.
Start Today and Start Small
Don’t overwhelm yourself with a ton of tasks as this can actually slow productivity and prevent you getting what you need done. Give yourself time and cut yourself slack when you don’t get everything accomplished you planned. Begin with cleaning up stuff on your work area or creating a plan for your day and then slowly move to larger tasks. Focusing on different aspects of your life one at a time will help make the organization process easier.
What are you decluttering for the 2023 new year?