I recently just read an article about how clutter can cause stress and how it affects our brain. A great article from Psychology Today. (Below is a link to her article if you’re interested.) In this article, she talked about how clutter can cause our brain to be over stimulated and make us feel like we are never truly done for the day. We look around and all we see is this needs to be done or that and we end up not truly relaxing. Anyone else feel like she’s talking to them? Well not sure about you, but if there is a way to help relieve some of my stress I’m always open! Hence, spring cleaning. A time when you go around your home and get rid of things that don’t make you happy. Things you have multiple of. Things that you just don’t need. Start Somewhere: When it comes to spring cleaning it can feel overwhelming. Find a pile of papers or a closet and just start going through it! Keep. Donate. Sell: Make three piles. A keep pile, a donate pile, and a sell pile. When you grab hold of an item it has to go into a box. When the box is full put it off to the side and start another one. 5 Second Rule: If you grab onto an item and can’t remember when the last time you used it in 5 seconds it’s time to get rid of it! Don’t let items you haven’t used in forever weigh you down! Does it bring you joy?: Biggest question! If the item isn’t bringing you joy, why do you have it? Do you have multiples?: Look around, what do you have that is duplicated? 3 spatulas? Unless, you’re a wizard in the kitchen you probably don’t need 3 at once so why have them? Get rid of the multiples. Recycle. Recycle. Recycle: Often times we have items that are just lying around not getting used. For example, old cellphones and magazines. Go recycle them. Set Limits: When starting on a room or closet. Set a time limit. You’ll only go through the closet for 20 minutes. This makes sure you aren’t wasting too much time deciding if you need it or not. If the answer takes longer than 5 seconds get rid of it! Don’t let the boxes sit: You’ve made your boxes of Keep.Donate.Sell. Don’t let them sit in your house for 3 months. When the boxes are full, get them out of the house! Next time you’re feeling stressed go clean out a closet or a kitchen cabinet. I mean, we really don’t need two sets of wine glasses do we? Well…maybe 😉 Nevertheless, decluttering may just put you in a better mood! https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/high-octane-women/201203/why-mess-causes-stress-8-reasons-8-remedies