How To De-Clutter Your Life

Written by: Jola Pypno-Crapanzano, Executive Contributor

Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.

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“De-clutter your mind, your heart, your home. Let go of the heaviness that is weighing you down, make your life simple but significant”. – Unknown

If you are reading this article, chances are that it is not a coincidence. Most of us could use some de-cluttering in our lives. And I don’t mean just spring cleaning, I mean a serious de-cluttering in all areas of our lives.

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself when in doubt if you should keep something or get rid of it:

1. Do you use it regularly?

2. Does it have sentimental value?

3. Are you saving it “just in case”?

4. Do you have more than one?

5. Can something else replace it?

6. Do you love it?

7. Is it useful or beautiful?

8. Did you choose to bring it into your life?

9. Would it be hard to replace it?

10. Do you need to save it for tax or legal reasons?

11. If you were free from guilt, would you still keep it?

12. Have you used it in the last year, past 5 years?

13. Does it fit your vision for the life you want to live?

Answer these questions and get to work on de-cluttering both physical and mental debris from your life. Today is your day to let go of things that no longer serve you, try to keep nothing in the house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful. Your home is your haven. You should feel relaxed the minute that you walk through your door. If you aren’t feeling it, you need to make changes. How much time are you worrying about your clutter instead of living? Free yourself and get on with your life.

“Clutter is not just the stuff on the floor, it’s anything that stands between you and the life you want to be living”– Peter Walsh

We must look at the de-cluttering in all areas of our lives: physical clutter, mental clutter, digital clutter, and finally daily life clutter.

Physical clutter “The more things you own the more they own you” – Unknown. Potentially it is possible to de-clutter your physical belongings in just 31 days, but I would take this estimate very consciously, some of the categories listed below, depending on the size of your house, closets, possessions, can take you days, weeks, and even months. Here are the areas that we can focus on one by one when trying to eliminate things that no longer serve us:

1. Fridge

2. Pantry (Get rid of anything expired)

3. Kitchen appliances/cookbooks

4. Tupperware/kitchen storage

5. Jewelry

6. Movies and CDs

7. Linen closet

8. Kids closets

9. Bathrooms

10. Medicine cabinet

11. Paperwork (Old receipts, bills, invoices)

12. Toys

13. Christmas stuff

14. Stuffed animals

15. Books and games

16. Clothes (separate by season, keep, toss or donate))

17. Shoes

18. Accessories (Scarves, gloves, purses, belts)

19. Outside/winter clothing

20. Makeup/personal hygiene

21. Apps on the phone

22. Storage on computer

23. Camera roll on the phone

24. Photographs and memorabilia

25. Attic

26. Garage

27. Car

28. Home office and desk space (files, pens, organizers)

29. Your purse

30. Gadgets

31. Souvenirs and chachkas

Mental clutter “Clutter isn’t just in your home, attic, garage, or office. Clutter is also in your mind and distracts you ". Here are 8 ways to de-clutter your mind:

1. Accept what is

2. Be kind to yourself

3. Release your guilt and fears

4. Let go of control

5. Visualize what‘s important

6. Focus on your energy

7. Allow yourself to be vulnerable

8. Find what doesn’t serve or interest you and let it go

Digital Clutter “Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions” ‒ Unknown. This clutter is sneaky because is less visible, and we know that what’s out of sight it’s out of mind. But if our electronic devices: phones, computers are cluttered, it not only slows our productivity, makes our communication inefficient but also drains our precious energy. So, here are a few ideas on how to declutter your digital devices:

1. Make an audit and organize and get rid of duplicate files

2. Back up everything stored digitally (cloud storage)

3. Delete old programs and apps

4. Clean up your mailbox ‒ delete old emails

5. Delete old text threads

6. Go digital when possible (Autopay, paperless bills, e-statements)

Daily Life Clutter “Outer order contributes to inner calm” –Gretchen Robin. Our habits, routines, relationships, and social commitments also can be decluttered. Keep in mind if something is adding stress, not contributing to your well-being it can potentially be eliminated. Here are a few ideas:

1. Conduct your calendar audit ‒ say no more often

2. Get a planner and create a planning system that works for you.

3. Be clear on your short-term and long-term goals, prioritize and set SMART goals and action items.

And finally, for extra credit, you can take the Minimalist route, here are some ideas:

1. Stop buying the unnecessary

2. Toss half of your stuff

3. Learn contentedness

4. Reduce half again

5. List 4 essential things in your life, do these first, stop doing the non-essential

6. Clear distractions focus on each moment

7. Let go of attachment to doing, having more

8. Fall in love with less.

To conclude I will leave you with this thought by Peter Walsh: “What I know for sure is that when you de-clutter, whether it’s your home, your head, or your heart. It is astounding what will flow into that space that will enrich you, your life, and your family”

For more info, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and visit my website! Read more from Jola!

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Jola Pypno-Crapanzano, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jola Pypno-Crapanzano is a Certified High-Performance Coach™️, NLP and TLT®️ Practitioner, founder and CEO of Coaching Journey with Jola, two times International Bestselling Author of “One” - Your wellness guide to body, mind, and soul and “Stay home” – When you can’t go outside, what happens inside? She carries Masters Degree in Scientific-Technical Information from Silesian University in Poland. She has over 30 years of combined experience working with thousands of unique individuals and groups of people serving them in many different capacities. First, as a tour guide traveling worldwide (almost 70 countries visited so far) and translating into 4 languages, then working in the entertainment and hospitality industry as part of operational management in a large publicly traded company in NYC. Finally, coaching people initially as fitness, wellness, and lifestyle coach and most recently more holistically as Certified High-Performance Coach™️, NLP and Time Line Therapy®️ Practitioner. She also helps her clients with positive intelligence, specializing in strengthening their Mental Fitness and supporting them through various strategic interventions. Her mission is to help one million people live their lives to the fullest, reach heightened and sustained levels of clarity, energy, courage, productivity, and influence and show them that it is possible to live lives of their dreams, on their terms, without regrets, be fully engaged, joyful and confident and build an incredible lasting legacy.