To Gain Control of Your Life You Must Declutter Your Mind Along With The Space You Live In
Is the thought of decluttering your life a daunting task you have been unwilling to face? If so, you are not alone. For many people, decluttering their life can be a roller coaster ride filled with emotions ranging from elation to anxiety to anger to fear and even depression. In other words, to declutter your life, you must declutter your mind so you can learn to accept, understand and deal with these emotions.
Decluttering ones life begins with understanding why we allow clutter to exist. There are many reasons we allow clutter to accumulate; however, one of the main reasons is because clutter keeps us in touch with the past. Much of our clutter consists of things or stuff that reminds us of years gone by, or of someone who was or is important in our life. Although this may be a noble cause for allowing clutter to accumulate, if truth be told, as we continue to collect more and more stuff, we lose control of the physical space we live in and begin to feel anger toward the clutter that surrounded us. We know and understand that we must begin to declutter, but we are fearful that we will lose something important to us, or that we will make a mistake and toss something away that we may need in the future. Therefore, we make up excused not to declutter.
The fact is, if you truly want to gain control of your life there will come a time when you have to face the task of decluttering. Most people think of decluttering as simply organizing the physical space they live in; however, to truly declutter your life you must not only organize the space you live in, you must also declutter your mind.
To Declutter Your Mind You Must Begin By Decluttering The Physical Space Around You
According to Fung Shui experts, everything you own stores memories in the form of energy. By clearing physical clutter you will clear any negative energy of unpleasant experiences from the past. Letting go of things you have been holding onto allows you to release emotional memories clearing up space in your head, your heart, as well as your home.
There is a saying that “outer order creates inner calm.” Decluttering the physical space around you is the first step to declutter your mind which lead to creating your inner calm. The following are just a few of the benefits you will reap from organizing the space you live in.
- An organized home creates a feeling of spaciousness and freedom. Think back to just before you moved into your home. Your home was completely bare. There was an abundance of space everywhere. On the day you moved in you began filling your home with furniture and other belongings. As you unpacked boxes your home began to fill up with stuff. As the months and years went by you continued to accumulate more stuff and that spacious home you first moved into is now filled with clutter. There is only one way to regain that feeling of spaciousness and freedom…Declutter!
- A more organized home leads to a more organized life. As you declutter your home your life will become more organized. Car keys, glasses, important papers are just a few of the items that most people find continually disappearing. In an organized and clutter free home not only will items stop disappearing, you will save yourself time, trouble and effort by not having to spend time constantly searching to find items you are looking for.
- Decluttering the physical space around you creates a sense of achievement. Decluttering your home is an achievement you should be proud of. You have fought through the emotional rollercoaster of riding yourself of possessions that you have been hanging onto for many years. You have gained back hours, days and years worth of time. Studies show you have cut your cleaning time by 40% or more. Now is the time to take a few moments, look in the mirror and say to yourself, “I have gained control of my life and I will no longer allow clutter to control the space around me.”
Declutter Your Mind
It is easy to understand the concept of decluttering when it pertains to stuff around you; however, it is not as easy to understand the concept of how to declutter your mind from thoughts that distract you. Our minds become full of worries, thoughts of what is and what the future has to bring, thoughts of work, bills, kids and friends. When you declutter your mind you simply change your thought patterns to release the mental and emotional clutter that blocks you from achieving peak performance. It is not as difficult as you may think to declutter your mind. There are some basic steps you can follow that will make a big difference. A few of these steps are outlined below:
- Deep Breathing. Deep breathing is a great way to declutter your mind. All that is involved is that you take deep breaths and focus on your breathing. Concentrate on your breathing as you inhale and exhale. Breathe in through your nose and exhale through your lips. Deep breathing has many benefits. It reduces stress, increases your energy level, helps you turn off racing thoughts and releases endorphins into your system. By adding a few minutes of deep breathing into your daily routine you can increase your health, reduce your stress level, and clear your mind of clutter.
- Relax Your Mind. Relaxing your mind is vital in the decluttering process. At first you may find it difficult to relax your mind, but as you practice it will become easier. One very successful technique for relaxing your mind is to set aside 15 minutes where you will have no distractions. No TV, no radio, cell phone turned off, home phone turned off. Find a comfortable chair to sit in, put your feet flat on the floor and relax your arms. Once you are comfortable form a picture in your mind of a tranquil place that you can focus on. This place may be the top of a mountain looking out over the valley, or it may be in the middle of a forests looking up through the tree. Whatever your place is make it special to you. A place where you can retreat whenever your mind needs to escape. If you can’t think of a special place envision a white light or a star off in the distance and concentrate on that. To relax your mind begin by clearing your mind of all thoughts and envision your special place. Breathe deep and concentrate. If a thought enters your mind discard it. Your goal is to totally relax your mind from any outside thoughts. You may find this very difficult to do at first but with practice you will get to where you can totally relax and let your mind be free of all clutter. While you are relaxed and concentrating your subconscious mind will take over. Your subconscious mind is very powerful and without you even knowing it your subconscious mind will begin to provide solutions to the problems and issues you face. When you are back doing your daily chores the solutions developed by your subconscious mind will begin to surface and you will be able to put them into action.
- Write. Write things down that are on your mind. When you write down your thoughts and ideas you remove them from your mind. By writing your thoughts and ideas on a piece of paper you free your brain from unnecessary clutter by not having to remember everything.
- Identify What Is Important. To fully declutter your mind you must identify what is important and what you need to focus on in the near future. Make a list of things that are on your mind. From your original list make a short list. Everything that is not on the short list should be removed from your mind until it becomes a priority. Begin working on your short list to get tasks completed. Once you complete a task add another task to the list. Keep your list manageable and you will find that you get much more accomplished without the anxiety of feeling overwhelmed.
- Become Worry Free. Nothing constructive can come from worrying. Worrying will not change the outcome of any event, but it will destroy your ability to enjoy the present. When a worrying thought enters your mind discard it immediately and focus your energy on what you would like to happen. There is a belief that what you hold in your mind on a continual basis will come into your reality. If you hold negative thoughts in your mind you are inviting negatively into your life. Conversely if you hold positive thoughts in your mind, positive outcomes will come into your life.
- Let Go Of The Past And Be Quick To Forgive. We all must turn the page on the past and move forward. Anger is bad for your physical and emotional health. Forgive those who have done you wrong. Forgiving does not mean you have to bring these people back into your life or be friends with them. Forgiving them allows you to let go of the memory of what they have done to you so you can move on.
- Associate With People Who Will Benefit You. As you begin to declutter your mind you may find that there are people in your life that are negative and diminish the quality of your life. If you have any people like this in your life, you may realize the time has come to cut these people out as they are cluttering your mind with negative thoughts and bringing you down. You want to associate with positive people. Positive people will bring positive reward and benefits into your life.
Everyday you need to recharge yourself. Go for a walk. Sit and read a book with a cup of tea. Get a massage. Work out. You need to find time everyday to do something you enjoy. By developing clutter free habits in every aspect of your life, you will improve the quality of your life and each day will become much more rewarding.
