Month: June 2021

Secrets to get past the clean and declutter overwhelm

We’re all home. Even those in offices….they may or may not be “really” going back…people are quitting their jobs left and right if they cannot have the flexibility they now know they need and want.

Cool. Who wants to go to an office?

Well one nice thing about leaving (the house) is that when you return you see things differently. You SEE the clutter. Being home, trying to do (does this sound familiar?) WAY too many meals and dishes every.single.day is overwhelming…it’s like you are drowning in your LIFE.

Now that we can breathe again, spring (OK Summer) cleaning is here! So, what are the secrets to getting past the clean and declutter overwhelm?

1. Forget what everyone else is doing and focus on what YOU need – does the cleanliness of your house bother you? Or are you just comparing yourself and your home to those found on social media? Do you actually care? Often, the pictures uploaded to social media are merely just momentary – then kids, parents, pets, and partners arrive, and the sparkly home has suddenly turned into a scene from Wreck-it Ralph.
2. If you’re going to start – start small – With so many other things to contend with in our lives, decluttering your home is probably not top of your list. However, picking a small space per week, like a kitchen cupboard or clothes drawers is a really good way of starting without feeling overwhelmed. Make a list of all the drawers in all the rooms that you want to declutter and tackle them one by one each week.
3. Have a plan of action – If you’re going to have a clear out, make sure you know where you are taking the stuff that you are throwing out and do it as soon as you can. Having black bags of odd bits laying around the house will only make you feel more stressed and increase your already high workload.
4. Create a time-out oasis for yourself – pick one room and keep it your own, free of clutter and dust and think about adding a few things that you love. Candles, books or whatever you like and make this place your haven to have time out when you are feeling tired or stressed.
5. Start with the end in mind – imagine how the space would look and how efficient and calm you would feel. Close your eyes and try to imagine how you would feel. When you’re feeling overwhelmed or fed up, close your eyes and come back to that place, this will serve as motivation to keep going and achieve what you set out to do.
6. Go Marie Kondo style and ask yourself “does this spark you joy” – sometimes we forget that we are so privileged to be able to have cluttered homes and that with everything so readily available to purchase, we can sometimes forget to take a step back and ask ourselves if we REALLY need to buy that. When decluttering a space, you certainly do not need to throw everything out so asking yourself whether something sparks you joy is a great way of determining what to keep or what to toss. For example, yesterday I threw out my high school prom professional pics. I showed my kids. Then I let them go.
7. Don’t forget that tomorrow is another day – if you’re feeling tired, stressed, or overwhelmed, take time out, come back tomorrow and start the day afresh – it really doesn’t matter.

Although it seems difficult to know where to start, once you get started, you’ll be rolling, and you’ll have a system. Systems are everything because you can go back to the beginning (or middle) when things run off the rails. Stop comparing yourself to social media, we lead incredibly busy lives, and we do a fantastic job everyday – so be kind to yourself and prioritize and the overwhelm will quickly soothe.

When life gets hectic and you feel overwhelmed, take a moment to focus on the people and things you are most grateful for, when you have an attitude of gratitude, frustrating troubles will fall by the wayside.

Finally, know that the clutter comes back. It just does. And, it’s ok. I say, be at peace with your imperfection. It makes you the beautiful mosaic of who you are 🙂

Our open space leads to an open and clear mind. It seems obvious that productivity and organization can go hand in hand, but when life is feeling like a never-ending rollercoaster, how do you get organized and declutter your mind to make each day as productive as possible?

1. The Brain Dump – the first step to decluttering your mind and your life is by dumping everything that is on your mind, onto a piece of paper, a white board, onto notes on your phone – whatever system works for you. Write down everything, from how you’re feeling that day, to the things you have coming up that week, what you need to get done, emails that need to be sent – whatever is it, write it down, in no particular order. You’ll quickly see that half of the stress comes from trying to keep everything present in your brain when really, we just do not have the capacity to do that.
2. Categorize your thoughts – once your thoughts are out of your mind and onto paper, you’ll be able to categorize the tasks into priorities. Make three columns, urgent, priority and dump. This is a very useful system because it will allow you to see what you have to do and what can either go or wait. For example, getting the shopping in could be a priority as we need to eat but cleaning the oven can probably wait until next month or to another moment in time.
3. Delegate – from the initial brain dump, you may realize that YOU don’t need to do everything. Are there things on that list that don’t require your attention or that your partner, children, or coworker can take care of? We are all guilty of “taking the world on our shoulders’ but by delegating, you will quickly be able to how efficient you can become with your time.
4. Change your mindset – Be a doer and not a procrastinator. The secret to this is asking yourself what you really want and why is the procrastinating happening. Go deep and avoid the “quick tips”- deep answers provide true change.

• Zap time wasters – on your brain dump, you may have also written down some things that take up a lot of your time and perhaps energy as well. Take some time to evaluate whether you should eliminate these from your life, or at least reduce them down. Things like spending excessive amounts of time on Facebook or Instagram, working with a client who doesn’t value you or any other activities that may cause stress and mind clutter should be seriously considered during the decluttering process.

This is certainly not a “one time fix” but I’ve gotten into the habit of, every week, doing a brain dump on a Sunday, organizing my week, accounting for any “may happens” and being realistic with the time I have. Since doing this, my mind feels less cluttered, I enjoy social activities and time with my family much more than I ever have and I now realize that organization not only in my home, but also in my mind has been key to unlocking true happiness. You too, can achieve uncluttered happiness with these simple steps – what are you waiting for?