We are flooded with clutter. Not many people know though how to remove it effectively. Discover the secret today.
There are many articles and books written about clutter and you may probably consider this article as another rehash. I can assure you, that the tools presented here will be holistic and they will be tested in my life for a long time.
I have already written two articles about what kinds of clutter you can encounter in your life and what is the price of keeping clutter. Now let's learn how to clear it.
How to Declutter Your Life
No goal can be achieved without a plan and action. There are some indiscreet steps you need to take to succeed.
1. Prepare
Before you start your work, prepare. Otherwise, your efforts will be chaotic and ineffective. So what to do?
1.1. Identify the Clutter That Needs Clearing
Take a notebook and list all that has to be done, even the smallest thing. Look at your house, each room, each part of the room, your wardrobes, garage, garden, and staircase. Then check your phone and computer. List all the phone calls you should make, and the letters to send.
Then you can mark each item from the easiest to the most difficult (on a scale from 1 to 10,) and which is the most and the least important (A to D or more). Next group the clutter according to difficulty and priority.
In the case of your body and relationships, do the same. What is not working? What is in excess there (e.g. too much fat in the body)?
Recommended reading: 7 Kinds of Price You Pay for Clutter
1.2. Make a Decision about What Kind of Clutter to Clear
Decide what kind of clutter you are going to clear in one go. I can assure you, it will be unworkable to clear everything within even 24 hours. To make it easier, answer these questions, in writing:
Which kind of clutter jars me the most?
What kind of clutter could I clear right now?
What will be the most time-consuming?
Will I need help with clearing the clutter?
1.3. Plan Your Work
Now you know what kind of clutter to clear. Do your best to spend some time every day clearing the clutter, even if it is only 25 minutes. Set weekly and monthly goals, with deadlines.
Recommended reading: 3 Things to Check Before Pursuing Any Goals
1.4. Prepare Tools
Whichever kind of clutter you start clearing, prepare your tools. They will be boxes or bags in the case of physical clutter, some cleaning detergents and rags. In the case of unfinished business or mental clutter, you may need a notebook, a pen to write down and later your mobile phone to make calls.
2. Methods of Clearing the Clutter
I will describe to you some useful techniques for clutter clearing if it is very hard to start the task.
The 30-second Rule
You can clear it in one go or by the 30-second rule, created by Sarah Felton of Messies Anonymous. If a job takes around 30 seconds or less to do, do it immediately. This applies to putting away your shoes, sorting mail, and other small jobs.
The 20/20 Rule
If you are on the fence about something and it costs less than €20 and would take under 20 minutes to replace, then go ahead and declutter it. Source: The Minimalists - Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus.
The 15-minute Rule
Take 15 minutes. You can put on some music and while listening to it take 15 minutes, a few times a day, to clean. You can get a lot done in 15 minutes and it doesn’t impact your schedule too much to do so.
Use These Simple Tips
Do a light cleaning at the end of every day.
Do a more thorough cleaning once a week. You can also hire someone to do it for you if it fits your budget.
Always remember: if you bring something in, get rid of something
The 90/90 Rule
This rule comes from Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus of The Minimalists. If you do not know what to do with the object, ask yourself if you’ve used that item in the past 90 days or going to use it in the next 90 days.
The Container Concept
It is a principle that helps you set boundaries for how much stuff you can own and need to store in your home. For example, the rest of the clothes when your dresser is filled up. It also concerns digital clutter.
The 5-by-5 Rule
Apply a saying that goes, “If it won’t matter in five years, don’t spend more than five minutes worrying about it.”
The One Touch Rule
It says that you must deal with an item as soon as you touch it. That means if something needs to be put away, you put it away then and there instead of leaving it out for later.
3. Examples of Clearing Clutter
Now let's check how to practise clearing the clutter in particular cases. Let's start from a drawer.
Drawer
The way to declutter a drawer is as follows: empty everything out, clean the drawer, sort through the pile of stuff from the drawer (discarding as much as possible) and organise the few things left. Do that with each closet, cupboard or wardrobe and with each shelf in these pieces of furniture. Do it with each corner in a given room.
Workplace
Check everything - documents, folders and files plus the content of your desk.
Then, make a plan to clear the clutter if there is much of it. Purge any item which is not needed anymore and that you do not like, anything that is broken and cannot be repaired.
Electronic Devises
Check how many computers, phones remote hard discs, and USB flashes you have got and if you do need them all.
Then look at each device and check the data: folders, files and decide if you still need them and if not - delete them. In the case of files/folders older than a month, prepare a good archiving system. Group the files according to their type and if they are personal or used for work.
In the case of your phone or tablet, remove unnecessary applications and files unused for more than a month.
Relationships
Make a list of all family members who you see or talk to more often than during Christmas or their birthday.
Then, make three lists of all the people with whom you keep regular contact - one for your friends and one for your co-workers/business partners/customers.
The third list will consist of the members of your community, e.g. your priest or shop assistant, postman, hairdresser/barber whom you meet regularly.
Once you have your lists ready, look at each person and answer, in writing, the following questions:
Who do I need to forgive anything?
Does this relationship contribute to my life and how?
How do I feel around this person?
Is there any unfinished business (broken promises, apologies to be made etc.?)
Once you have the answers, plan your work and take action: nourish the relationship, move on or cut contact.
Recommended reading:
Emotional Clutter
Firstly, you need to answer these questions in writing:
"What makes me happy?"
"What are my goals for this year/month?"
Once you have the answers, look at your activities during the last three days. Check each item and decide if it makes you happy/helps you to achieve your goals. If not, it is clutter to get rid of.
Secondly, make a plan to gradually change your habits - watching less TV, less Facebook or computer games. In case of time deciding what is productive and beneficial for your happiness could fill in the spare time that you have after clearing the clutter. Change your habits and you will change your life.
Recommended reading:
A short checklist:
Forgive yourself everything, stop feeling guilty, shameful or regretful.
List all your activities and their period during the last three days.
Estimate what contributes to your life - makes you happy, helps you to achieve your goals - and what sabotages it.
Make a to-do list of everything you think you have to do.
How To Declutter Your Head from Undone Tasks
Take your diary and make a list of everything that you have to do. Then look at the list and answer these questions:
Will this task help me to achieve my biggest goal - to be a happy person?
Why do I need to do this task and is it worth the trouble?
Which of these tasks do I hate doing?
Then cross out everything which will not help you to be happy now and/or makes you unhappy. No "I may be happy in the future doing x."
Check if you have got enough time to complete the to-do list. Then decide which of the remaining tasks to do now, which ones within next year and which put into the "frozen and we will see later" category. Each week analyse your progress.
Mental Patterns (Beliefs and Thoughts)
I have already mentioned unfinished business. This kind of clutter is one of the examples representing mental clutter. What is the rest? All your thoughts and beliefs, and those who disempower you in particular. So what can you do?
Exercise
Take a diary or a notebook, not loose sheets of paper. Write down five sentences with the stems starting with:
I can't ...
I should ...
I can't ... because I'm too...
I should have...
These are just some examples of your negative, sabotaging thoughts and beliefs. Now take each example and rewrite it in this way:
I am willing to release the belief "I can't..." and let it go. I choose ... (something opposite)
For example
I am willing to release the belief "I cannot make enough money to buy a new car" and let it go. I choose abundance in everything I do."
Further reading about changing thoughts and beliefs:
Do this exercise daily for 28 days.
Health
Check where the clutter is in your body and plan cleansing. In the case of our body, cleansing may last even a year to detoxify all the systems.
Read more about health
We need to check the five crucial organs of our body: the large intestine, your kidneys, liver, blood vessels and lungs. Even one of these listed below means that a given system is cluttered and needs cleansing.
In the case of the cluttered colon, symptoms include abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhoea, gas, bloating, cramping, and fatigue.
Now let's check the liver. You may exhibit jaundice, or yellowing of the skin and eyes, muscle aches, fatigue, itching, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain or mass, and poor appetite.
Kidneys can be cluttered with stones or sand when you notice puffy eyes, hands, and feet (called oedema), high blood pressure, fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, thirst, a bad taste in the mouth or bad breath.
Then we check our blood and lymph vessels. You may struggle with chest pain, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, weakness or dizziness, nausea, and sweating.
In the case of joints and bones, pain will be one of the most obvious symptoms, usually because of the uric acid sediments and the lack of collagen. Lungs are the last but not least system of toxin release.
A cough is an early symptom and develops over time with exposure to silica that is inhaled. In acute silicosis, you may experience fever and sharp chest pain along with breathing difficulty. These symptoms can come on suddenly.
Firstly, you need to get a shot of the toxins accumulated in your large intestine. Always start with this organ because if you start from the liver or kidneys, toxins from your colon will still poison the organs you have just cleansed.
How To Remove Clutter From Your Colon
There are hundreds of products at the chemists and health shops which cleanse your colon. However, they usually act as purgatives, not removing the actual sediments and faecal stones from the intestine. Some experts recommend enemas as the most efficient. I tried prunes and flaxseed treatment.
In the case of prunes, put ten of them in a mug and pour with boiling water. Then soak for at least an hour. Prepare the evening portion in the morning or afternoon and the morning one before going to bed. Eat the evening portion before going to bed and the morning one on an empty stomach. The treatment lasts for ten days.
The flaxseed treatment lasts 21 days. You need 3 spoons of flaxseed, 3 spoons of chia seeds, and some Himalayan salt. Put the ingredients in a mug. Pour them into boiling water and leave for at least one hour. Then add a bit of honey to sweeten it and eat it together with one apple. Drink one glass of tea or water additionally.
How To Cleanse Kidneys and Liver
In the case of kidneys, lemon treatment makes wonders. For seven days, after the Full Moon, take a spoonful of olive oil with an added spoonful of lemon juice on an empty stomach. Another version is to drink lemon juice with water 3 times per day, the first one on empty stomach. I daily drink a pint of water with squeezed juice from one lemon plus a bit of Himalayan salt, ginger and cinnamon.
The liver is more challenging. Oil treatment is very common, I have tried it several times. There are various variations of this treatment, e.g. doctor Clark's and Michail Tombak's (from the "Cure the Incurable" book).
In the shortest, you need to prepare your liver for 4 days by avoiding fat and proteins and eating plenty of apples. Then on the day of treatment, you fast since 2 pm. Then in the evening, you drink 2 glasses of Epsom salt dissolved in hot water (at 6 and 7 pm each).
Next, you have a hot bath, go to bed with a hot water bag and slowly drink olive oil with grapefruit or lemon juice. The next day at 6 and 7 am you drink another glass of water with Epsom salt.
The Wonderful Power Of Citrus Fruits
I have already mentioned lemons as a wonderful remedy for dirty liver and kidneys. Let's go further. You can do a ten-day treatment which not only cleanses your joints and other tissues from uric acid but also strengthens your immune system. You need from one to five lemons per day in the prophylactic treatment and five to twenty-five in the curing one.
Let me describe the prophylactic treatment here: you start with one lemon per day, then increase the number by one daily until Day 5. On Day 6 you still drink the juice from 5 lemons and then from Day 7 decrease by one lemon daily, i.e. 4, 3, 2 and 1 lemon on the tenth day
Of course, in the case of 5 lemons a day, you do not drink all the portion at one go. After the treatment eat less meat and dairy, and limit sugar and wheat.
These are only some examples of how you can get shot of the toxins and dirt from your body. I will publish more information in some of my next articles.
Credits to Mikail Tombak
Aura and Vibrations
I have written many articles about energy work, including work with aura and vibrations. Clearing the clutter here simply means removing all auric parasites negative thoughts, and words you have had. You can use prayers and meditation. Here are some examples of prayers:
You can also ask the Universe to reverse the consequences of your thoughts, words and deeds. Ask for forgiveness and declare that you will change your thinking, self-talk and behaviour. You can say.
Dear Universe, I am sorry for this thought/word/deed. Please forgive me and erase the consequences caused by this thought/word/deed. I promise to stay positive and live according to the values of light, starting a new chapter in my life.
Try Meditation
You can ask your Essence what needs to be thrashed in the case of doubts. Lay down, close your eyes and visualise a beautiful place, clutter-free. Then clear your mind from all negativity with Divine White Light. Ask your soul and Higher Beings what would be the best for you. Wait for a clue. More about how to meditate.
Let's Meditate Together
Connect by telepathy during meditation on Saturdays at 8 pm GMT. I will meditate with you and other people so that our collective energy can create miracles. Send your intention to the Universe. Transform your life and the world.
More about meditation
Decide What to Do With Clutter
In most cases, clearing means deletion. However, physical and digital clutter is different. You want to keep some things/files because they are used, loved and resonate with your body, mind and soul.
Hence, prepare cardboard boxes for the physical and virtual folders for the digital clutter with the following labels: "donate/share", "thrash/delete", "keep/save", and "temporary storage".
After filling up each box/bag, take an appropriate to the box, e.g. thrash unwanted clutter. In the case, you keep an item put it away in the right place and also organise some space for storing things from the last box.
In A Nutshell
There are many methods to work with clutter. Identify the clutter, plan your work and take action. You can use the 20/20, 90/90 or 5-by-5 rule, work for 15 minutes in one go or apply the container rule.
Remember to clear all kinds of clutter: physical, mental, emotional and digital. Good luck with clearing the clutter. With lots of love and light,
Vicky
About
Vicky is an experienced holistic writer and coach who inspires, motivates, and encourages everyone to become the best version of themselves - physically, mentally, and spiritually.
DISCLAIMER
The content of Awaken Happy Life is published for educational and informative purposes only. It does not substitute medical or any other professional advice. Please seek professional care if you believe you may have a condition. The author of Awaken Happy Life is not liable for any consequences of applying any advice published on this website by the reader.