At first, it might not seem like decluttering your house has much to do with self-care. But I’ve realized that not only is decluttering your home a way to practice self-care. But decluttering is important for self-care. Really important in fact!
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Today I’m sharing why clearing the clutter and choosingto own less can help you take better care of yourself – physically, mentallyand emotionally!
What is self-care?
Self-care is actions we take to protect and improve our own health, well-being and happiness.
While many of us think of bubble baths, manicures andmassages as acts of self-care, it actually involves much more than that.
In fact, self-care isn’t just fun things like bubble baths and manicures (although those are definitely ways you can care for yourself!). Self-care also includes doing things (sometimes hard things or things you don’t really want to do) that improve your life, well-being, health and/or happiness.
For example, self-care can also mean getting an annualcheck up with your doctor. Or flossing your teeth every night, exercising evenon the days you don’t feel like it, or going to bed instead of staying up towatch one more episode.
And sometimes self-care involves things you don’t eventhink of as self-care at all, like decluttering! But not only is decluttering away to practice self-care, but decluttering is important for self-care.
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The negative impact clutter has on your life
While we may not always realize it when we’re in the midst of it, clutter can have a really negative impact on your life.
How much is the clutter in your home stealing from you? Definitely your time, space and energy. But it can also steal your peace as well.
Clutter and stress
Too much “stuff” and clutter can cause a significantamount of stress in your life in a variety of ways. Here are a few examples:
Keeping up with housework takes much more time, work and effort in a cluttered home
More stuff means more stuff to make a mess with and more time and energy required to tidy those messes up
It’s hard to keep track of what you own, causing you to spend a lot of time looking for things, or even rebuying items because you can’t find them!
Feeling discontent with the state of your home can make hosting guests stressful and even embarrassing
Clutter and your well-being
Not only that but too much clutter can also change theway you feel in your home and the effect your home has on your well-being.
Clutter can often cause you to feel discontent and generally unhappy with your home.
Most of us want our home to be a sanctuary we can retreat to and relax in. But a cluttered home makes rest and relaxation difficult.
Not only are you bombarded by visual clutter, distractions and “stuff” all the time. Which never gives your mind and your eyes white spaces to rest on.
But too much stuff to deal with can also make you feellike your to-do list is never-ending. Or as though there’s always more to do tomaintain your home, and you can’t keep up or catch up.
When a space is full of clutter and “stuff” it often doesn’t feel calm, relaxing or peaceful. And can even go as far as to add significant amounts of anxiety to your life.
Decluttering is important for self-care
On the other hand, clearing the clutter and removing the excess and the distractions from your home can have a really positive impact on your life and your well-being.
Decluttering is freeing in so many ways. Letting go ofthe excess “stuff” that fills your home often feels like a weight is liftedfrom your life.
Sometimes we don’t even realize how heavy and burdened our stuff makes us feel until we start letting it go! And once you start letting go, it can feel like such a big relief as you feel lighter and happier and begin experiencing the benefits of less.
There many practical benefits of decluttering. For example, you’ll spend less time and energy cleaning and maintaining a tidy home. And you’ll likely lose your keys less!
But decluttering is important for self-care because thereare many intangible benefits as well. Clearing the clutter can have such apositive impact on your overall health, happiness and well-being.
Self-care benefits of decluttering
Here are a few examples of the ways decluttering is important for self-care by improving your overall well-being and quality of life:
More space
Clearing the clutter means you literally give yourself more space in your home. And more space means you create breathing room and white space in your home. Making rest and relaxation easier.
Not to mention, more space in your home can make you happier with your home.
Instead of feeling discontent with your home and wishing you had a bigger home, owning less may make you realize you don’t need a bigger home, just less stuff in it!
More time
When you own less, you have less “stuff” to manage. Youspend less time cleaning, tidying and taking care of the things you own, simplybecause there’s less of it.
Then as a result, you have more time for what matters most to you. It could be spending more time with the people you love. Having more time for an activity you love. Or more time for anything that’s important to you!
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Whatever it is, once your home and the things you ownrequire less of your time to maintain them, you have more time to spend on whatyou value most.
More energy
Just like less stuff means less time spent managing it. Less stuff also means less energy is required to manage it. Then you have more energy and attention to devote to what matters most to you.
More presence
When you have less stuff stealing your time, energy and attention, it’s easier to be more present and less distracted.
More money
When you work hard to declutter your home, the last thing you want to do is fill it back up with more stuff. Choosing to own less often leads to choosing to buy less, which can save you money!
Magnet pro 2 4 5 cylinder. And anything we can do to alleviate stress around moneyis a great thing for our self-care.
More focus
Clearing the clutter means less of your mental capacityis taken up managing the “stuff” you own. You have less decision fatigue, simplybecause you own fewer things and have fewer things to decide about.
When your brain isn’t constantly being distracted by allof the “stuff” and clutter surrounding you, you have more ability to focus andconcentrate.
Removing the physical clutter from your home can helpclear the mental clutter as well, as your to-do list shrinks and thedistractions lessen.
More peace
When your home requires less of your time and energy, maintainingyour home is less stressful. Not only that, but your home is easier to keeptidy so you can rest, relax and enjoy your home more.
All of this leads to more feelings of happiness and peace. Along with feeling more content with your home.
More freedom
Runecsv 2 4. When you have more time, space and energy, you giveyourself the freedom to build a life you love.
You are no longer weighed down and burdened by so much “stuff”.Instead, you have the opportunity to fill your life with what matters most toyou.
Owning less is not about deprivation
We often buy things to make life easier or moreenjoyable. But too much of a good thing can become a bad thing.
Too much stuff stops making life easier and begins to adda burden to our lives. The more we own, the more we have to work to pay for,pick up, clean, maintain, organize, look for, repair, etc.
Decluttering and simplifying are not about depriving yourself of things you love or things that make life easier. Just the opposite in fact!
Decluttering and simplifying are about getting rid of theclutter, the excess and the distractions so you have more time, space, energyand freedom for what matters most to you in your life.
Do good moms have dirty floors?
Have you ever heard the saying “good moms have stickyfloors, dirty ovens and happy kids”?
It’s always bugged me, because for me, it’s just nottrue! I find it really hard to be fully present with my kids when the house isa mess. Being surrounded by mess and clutter makes me feel cranky anddistracted.
In order to be at my best, I need a tidy, clean home so Ican relax and be present with my family. It’s just the way I am – mess stressesme out!
But I don’t want to spend all my time and energy keepingmy home tidy and clean, then have nothing left for my family.
So the only option for me is to do what I can to make it easier to keep things (relatively) clean and tidy so I can spend more of my time and energy on what matters most to me.
By choosing to own less and developing a few simple habits to keep our home tidy and clutter-free, I don’t need to spend so much of my time and energy on housework and managing “stuff”. Instead, I can use that time and energy to connect with my family.
This is one example of how decluttering is important for self-care for me. Owning less gives me the time, space, energy and freedom to feel better in my home while still showing up for myself and my family in the ways I want to.
Take care of yourself to be at your best
This may not be the case for you. You may be able to ignore messes and clutter and stay present with your family.
But if clutter and messes cause you to feel stressed,cranky or unable to feel present, maybe decluttering is important for self-carefor you too!
The point is, how good of a mom you are, or how happy your kids are has nothing to do with how clean your floors and oven are or aren’t.
And everything to do with how well you take care of yourself as a person so you can be at your best for yourself and your family.
And it just so happens that decluttering is one way that I am able to simplify my life to take care of myself and be a better mom.
Decluttering for self-care
I hope this post has shown you that decluttering is aboutmore than just keeping your home tidy.
The benefits of decluttering go beyond just the tangible benefits of a clutter-free, tidy home.
Decluttering can become an important way to practiceself-care because it helps you take control of your home, your life and your “stuff”to improve your overall well-being.
These are a few of the reasons why decluttering is important for self-care. If you’re struggling to get motivated to declutter, try reminding yourself that clearing the clutter is about so much more than a clean home.
It’s also about creating a home to fill you up rather than deplete you. Creating a home that can give you the time, space, energy and clarity to improve your health, happiness and overall well-being!
Do you find decluttering is important for self-care for you? Have you ever thought of decluttering as self-care before? Let me know in the comments below!
How many clothes are in your wardrobe that you’ve been saving for “someday”? Someday I’ll wear that fancy dress, someday I’ll fit into my old jeans, someday I’ll find something that matches those shoes…
We all have those things we’ve been holding onto for way too long. They’re shoved in the back of a drawer or closet somewhere, taking up space and collecting dust until that “someday” comes. But you know what? Life’s too short to keep waiting for someday!
Your wardrobe shouldn’t be full of clothes that you hate or clothes that are just “meh”… It should be full of clothes that you LOVE!
PSST… DON’T FORGET TO PIN THIS FOR LATER SO YOU CAN EASILY REFER BACK TO IT!
You shouldn’t spend hours debating what to wear because you have so many clothes to weed through and none of the options are appealing. You shouldn’t waste time washing, drying, folding, and putting away clothes you don’t really like. All those clothes you’re keeping are just taking up valuable space and making you work for them.
Decluttering your wardrobe is one of the best possible gifts you can ever give yourself! Because decluttering your clothes is about so much more than just freeing up space!
When you declutter your wardrobe, you give yourself permission to be where you are in life right now. Not the person you were a year ago who was 20 lbs skinnier, or the person you think you will be 6 months from now who has a flatter belly… Just you, the way you are, right here and now.
We all have those clothes we’re holding onto hoping we’ll one day be able to wear them again. Today, I want to help you free yourself of them! I want to help you create a stress-free home and lessen the burden of having too much excess “stuff.” (And if you want to go a step further, you can declutter your entire house in one weekend for some serious decluttering progress!)
Why Should You Declutter Your Clothes?
Getting rid of all the clothes you no longer need or wear is key to creating a stress-free home! It’s an incredible time saver. Think about it! The less clothes you own, the less time you have to spend trying to figure out what to wear. No more spending hours trying to find something that fits and looks nice.
Because when you declutter your clothes, you get rid of all the things that don’t fit well and make you look great. You get rid of things that you can never find matching mates for. The things you keep are the outfits that you know will look great and fit nicely.
Another huge plus of wardrobe decluttering is less laundry! The less clothes you have in your home, the less washing, drying, folding, and putting away of clothes you’ll have to do! (Also check out my sanity-saving laundry routine for more ideas!)
No more trying to organize and fit all these clothes into your closet and drawers. Once you declutter your clothes and only keep what you actually need and use, you’ll find your dresser drawers are no longer overflowing with excess and you can actually see the things hanging in your closet!
How to Declutter Your Clothes
1. Gather all of your clothes together into one spot.
Pull them out of your closet, dresser, under the bed, and anywhere else you have them stashed. We want everything out in the open so we can give your wardrobe a thorough decluttering!
2. Go through each item and ask yourself these questions:
Do you LOVE it?
Do you feel confident about wearing it?
Do you wear it regularly?
Then keep it!
Is it too big, small, worn out, stretched out, stained, or full of holes?
Is it too hard to find something to match it?
Has it been months since you’ve touched it?
It’s time to say goodbye!
Have some items you’re unsure about whether to keep or toss? Try them on in front of a mirror right now!
Do they look nice?
Do they fit ok?
Do you feel good about wearing them?
Then they stay! If not, they need to go!
True, one day you might fit back into those skinny jeans. But when that day comes, you’ll probably find that those tired, old clothes just don’t fit the same anyways. They’re not worth holding on to! When that time comes, you’ll want to treat yourself to some better-fitting outfits anyways. (You deserve it!)
Keep the clothes that you need right now, for this season of life you’re in. I guarantee your body will thank you, and every time you look in the mirror, you’ll thank yourself!
3. Put the clothes that you’re keeping back where they belong.
You should have a lot more space now to organize the clothes that you’re actually keeping. Make sure to fold and hang everything neatly so the next time you pick out an outfit, you can easily see everything you have.
4. Sort the clothes you’re getting rid of into piles for selling, donating, and tossing/recycling.
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If you have clothes in good condition, you’ll probably be able to sell them for a decent price. You can always sell them locally using something like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. (Safety first when meeting someone in person!)
Websites like ThredUp are another great way to make some cash for used clothes. Just send them in and they take care of most of the work for you. eBay is another popular place to sell used clothes.
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Anything that’s in good condition that you can’t or don’t want to sell can be donated to a local charity like Goodwill or Salvation Army. Items that are too worn to donate can be tossed or recycled. Did you know Nike recycles old athletic shoes? And stores like H&M will accept old clothes for recycling.
5. Keep your wardrobe decluttered!
Now that you’ve decluttered all your clothes, don’t undo all your hard work! Trust me, it’s so easy to fill your closet back up. Make a rule that for every new clothing item you bring home, you must get rid of one in its place. This is an essential habit for creating a clutter-free home!
When you’re out shopping and see something on sale, try the item on and ask yourself if it’s something you actually love and can see yourself wearing on a regular basis. If you just love it because of the price tag, you probably want to seriously reconsider your purchase. (You’re not saving any money by buying something you’ll never wear!)
I highly recommend giving your wardrobe a thorough decluttering at least twice a year. That way you’ll have a chance to go through different seasons of clothes. I’m not gonna lie, decluttering your clothes isn’t always a fun process. But I will say that it is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your home.
Running a home is stressful, but it doesn’t have to be that way! It’s my goal to take the stress out of your home life and give you more time to spend doing the things you love. Decluttering your wardrobe is one of the ways you can begin to de-stress your home!
If you enjoyed this post, be sure to pin it for later so you can easily refer back to it! And don’t forget to share it with friends and family on Facebook who could use the help decluttering their clothes, too!