Do you love to collect things and have the tendency to fill every available space in your home?
This is a common problem in our modern society where we have seemingly unlimited options to accumulate excess, unwanted stuff we call clutter. We are firm believers that material possessions don’t equate to happiness and think it is worth exploring the idea of living a minimalist lifestyle. Decluttering is all the rage theses days. And we are not just talking about our homes and offices, it’s also important to declutter our relationships and emotional baggage.
The things we keep with us physically and mentally can have a huge impact on our lives. Clutter, whether that’s in our physical environments or in our relationships, can energetically block the flow of abundance and get in the way of reaching the success we are looking to achieve.
Feng shui is the concept that energy and vitality – also known as ‘chi’ or ‘qi’ – needs to move freely in space to promote happiness, health and abundance. Clutter creates an obstruction to this amazing flow of energy and can even stop it.
Clearing your clutter and getting rid off all the unwanted stuff in our lives will create the space to allow abundance, health and happiness into our lives. Just as it applies to our physical space, this is equally true for our emotional and mental environments. If we hold on to resentment and can’t forgive and forget, it will be challenging for us to be grateful and truly appreciate what really matters to us. We all have emotional clutter, it is natural. The important thing is to recognize it and declutter our emotional baggage. When we are able to release and let go of painful baggage, our life will transform.
While releasing emotional and mental clutter is detrimental to our well-being, in this blog we focus on the transformation that happens when we declutter our physical space. Clearing out clutter can be an emotional process for many of us, but there are profound benefits to decluttering that will motivate you to clear your space right now. Here are our TOP 8 reasons to clear your space.
#1 Increase Clarity and Focus
Your space is a reflection of your emotional state. Subconsciously we tend to create an environment that mirrors our inner state and having clutter in our space is a sign of an internal struggle. The more challenges we have in life, the more chaotic our environment becomes. So if you start to clear out your environment, your emotional state starts to magically clear up as well and your mind becomes clearer and your focus becomes sharper.
#2 Reduce Stress
There have been many studies that link high cortisol levels (the stress hormone) to the amount of clutter in your space. The more stuff you have, the more stress you will experience, because of the association of messiness with failure. So once you start to declutter, you will be a lot less stressed. You know where everything is and don’t need to waste your time to accomplished the task at hand. You no longer have to stress about trying to find something because you don’t have a mountain of clutter to go through. You also reduce emotional stress, because you aren’t ashamed when someone comes to your home or office since now your space is clear.
#3 Spark Creativity
Remember that energy or ‘chi’ we mentioned earlier. When you free yourself from the stuff you don’t need, you become more open to that energy and creativity is an expression of that energy when it can flow through us freely. We all speak of being ‘blocked’ sometimes – for example having a writer’s block – and our creativity can’t create. Decluttering is the tool that gets us ‘unblocked’.
#4 Open New Opportunities
Remember the last time you cleared your space? One great side effect of decluttering is finding money and great opportunities. Dig deep into decluttering your emails, files, voicemails and personal contacts and discover forgotten opportunities that can transform your life.
#5 Boost Self-Esteem
Clutter can assault our self-esteem because it is a constant reminder of things that we don’t want or need. The bad-memory stuff in our environment can drag us down in very subtle ways and we don’t even recognize what’s going on. Getting rid of the unwanted memories, will boost our self-esteem and lift us up.
#6 Increase Happiness
Clearing your space will get rid of all the obstructions that interfere with moving freely and you will feel greater energy and a lightness and exuberance that will only positively affect your mood and happiness. When the energy can flow freely, happiness is a great side effect.
#7 Improve Sleep
A recent study found that people who live in a cluttered home are a lot more exhausted because they have to invest a lot of energy to deal with the stress that is caused by your messy environment. Additionally you have a harder time to focus and process information and you have to spend more energy to complete even the simplest tasks. When you clear your space, you eliminate one level of stress in your life that will improve your sleep tremendously.
#8 Improve Decision-Making
Clutter wears you down on a mental level. Having the awareness that your space is cluttered, will make you annoyed and you most likely become frustrated. These negative emotions and feelings will cloud your judgment and your decisions will be influenced by this negative mental state. Clearing your space will give you a much clearer head space that will make it easier to make decisions that are aligned with your values, dreams and aspirations.
If you are serious about manifesting and welcoming health, happiness and abundance into your life, start to declutter and ditch the odds and ends that are making your life unorganized. Get rid of the stuff of your past that’s wearing you down and enjoy the freedom that comes with it, it will open up an array of new possibilities and experiences.
EMBRACE MINIMALISM AND CREATE YOUR SPACE TODAY
Joschi & Monika
#BoldNaked