Can cleaning your clutter give you more head space?

ARE YOU A HOARDER?

Apparently the state of your car and home reflect the state of your mind. Most of us have trouble getting rid of something. My vice is books, I hoard books, instead of getting rid of them I just keep buying more book cases!  What’s yours?

Try putting a weekend aside and start throwing out, clearing up and cleaning your living space to within an inch of it’s life, then sit back and notice the peaceful sense of satisfaction and (maybe just a tad of smugness) that permeates your mind and being.

If you need a system to clear the clutter, have a look at Japanese clutter clearing consultant Marie Kondo who has taken the world by storm with her best selling book  The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up.  It teaches how to systematically go through your entire home (in one hit) and get rid of all the excess. She has perfected the art of folding items and creating space and you can see her clips on Youtube.

If you feel weighed down by your stuff, follow these 5 tips to lighten the load and create more space:

1. Use Marie K’s tip, look around your living space, allow your eye to settle on each item and ask yourself, does it brings you pleasure? Do you love it? If not put it on the pile for the charity shop. Someone else might love it!
2. If it’s clothing, have you worn it in the past 2 years? If not definitely get rid of it, unless it’s a special evening dress or suit.
3. When you look in the cupboard, how many of the cutlery, glasses, cups, or plates, do you regularly use? If they’re taking up space and you only use them once a year, get rid and make space, if you have that party you can always, hire or borrow extra.
4. Going through your toiletries and make-up, use a system. If you haven’t used it in the last year get rid of it and make way for something new.
5. If you’re constantly having to negotiate furniture to get around your home, have you got too much of it? Take an inventory of your furniture and perhaps the table that you constantly sport bruises from, needs to go!

My understanding of Feng Shui the Chinese art of placing objects, means that chi (energy) should be able to flow effortlessly around a space. When there are too many items to clean, too much stuff to move, we create a build-up of negative energy (dust for example) and this prevents the flow of energy which supposedly creates stagnation. This can be likened to a mind that’s too busy, or a body that’s slothful, the negative energy builds up. 

We’ve all been in a space that we admire and feel calm in and the chances are it’s because it has lots of space in it. Have you ever noticed how you feel when you have space between thoughts? Peaceful! Less is definitely more in this respect.

If you can’t get around your home and give it a pretty thorough clean from top to bottom in a couple of hours, maybe you’ve got too much stuff! Clearing some of it will leave you with a nice sense of freedom and peace and even more time but don’t take my word for it try it yourself and let me know how you did.

If the thought of decluttering fills you with horror, forget it and have a real good five minute minute belly laugh watch comedian George Carlin Talk About”Stuff” which is both funny and poignant.

Enjoy and thanks for reading.