Joyful January #8: Clear Your Space

Clear Your Space 

My task today. 

Decluttering gives you freedom 

 

“Clutter is the physical manifestation of unmade decisions fueled by procrastination.” 

—Christina Scalise, “Organize Your Life and More“ 

If you want to find tips and inspiration to declutter your life there is a plethora of advice online, just be careful or you will end up in a rabbit hole of inspiration and nothing gets done! Trust me, I speak from experience. 

Not everyone needs to declutter but if you do today is as good a day as any to tackle one small space. Today's task was my desk, it is my dad's old desk and much loved but it doesn't look loved at the moment. 

There is a relationship between clutter free environments and a clutter free mind. Even just a few minutes a day decluttering some spaces in your home will free up head space. Last week I spent some time clearing old emails... I had thousands of emails and getting rid of them felt better than I expected. I also unsubscribed to some newsletters- so I figure that is decluttering in advance. And now, I have pleasure in deleting emails daily, after I read them or decide that I don't want to read them. 

How much do we really need? Well obviously you can't have too many books! (Yes, I do have a bit of a book problem) That being said, "how much do we really need?" is a really powerful question to ponder. I think that those of us who have gone through lockdowns have had the opportunity to consider this and maybe realise that more often than not many of us need a whole lot less than what we think we do. 

So what could we declutter in 15 minutes today?

• your wardrobe 
• a bedroom drawer 
• shoe rack
• the linen cupboard 
• a junk drawer 
• tool shed 
• your car 
• a space in the garage 
• a desk 
• the fridge 
• a bathroom cupboard/drawer 
• the cutlery drawer 
• a bookshelf 
• a handbag 
• a CD/DVD collection 
• emails 
• photos on your phone 
• the dinner table 
• a garden bed 

Tidier and clearer.

To be fair my time today was more an exercise in tidying than true decluttering (although I did get rid of a rubbish bin full of stuff and put several items in their rightful places as well as finding a few items that we can give away). When I look at the space now I feel satisfied and just a little calmer, it is an inviting place to work and honours my dad a little more too. That's a win in my book. And like the emails, now I have made a start I will be able to continue decluttering the space each time I visit it.   

A little bit of decluttering if needed can be a good thing, it might even start off a bigger decluttering project. Or it might just become one wee spot that brings you a little more joy. 

And I can shut the lid!

Click here for a link to the Joyful January Calendar

The Joyful January project is part of the Happy Healthy Teachers Matter Online Summit. This is an opportunity to start your year with tips, tools and techniques to ensure you have the health, energy and vitality to beat the end of term slump and fatigue, and be the best version of yourself all year long. For more information please follow this link: https://www.spectrumeducation.com/happy-healthy-teachers-matter-online-summit-home/