Clutter! When I say clutter, you say… clothes falling out of the closet, overstuffed junk drawers, and countertops that you don’t even know what would look like if they were cleared! But, is that all there is to clutter?
What about clutter of the day, clutter of the mind, and clutter of your life?!
Yep, clutter can come in various forms, in fact, clutter can be invisible!
The over piling of it in our lives whether in sock form or soul form all need to be dealt with though or we risk suffering from overwhelm, exhaustion, stress, depression, and even weight gain (as in I can’t deal with this today, I’m going to have donuts!)!
Fellow clutter-is-in-my-life-somewhere-and-I-need-to-get-rid-of-it, let’s dive into these types of clutter that aren’t as easy to spot as the mess under the bed (I see you seasonal decor that hasn’t been put away yet!) but are in some ways more detrimental!
Shredding Stress Without Piling On Guilt: 10 Types Of Clutter We Don’t Need
The pressure is on. You feel the thoughts hammering their way in, and the to-do lists are growing longer by the second.
Is it possible to get things done and not feel undone in the process?
Can your stress level stay down, your emotions stay in the calm zone, and your productivity still soar?
We often have an urge to purge that closet or organize the garage or clear out that back patio.
All of these places are extensions of our lives for sure; yet how about our real-self being spruced up a bit?
Yes, our souls can sometimes feel cluttered no matter the state of our counters and cabinets.
If you are like me and a freshly cleaned anything makes your world instantly better, just imagine if your feel-good-clean-out is a result of a new mindset and emotional state?
Here are some steps anyone can do to get themselves all sparkly and shiny from the inside out!
Get ready for that inner ah-ha followed by a nice aw.
#1
Clutter We Don’t Need: Inner Clutter
Do you have a way to give your mental-emotional state a rest?
Really, do you have a method of chill time for your thoughts and feelings?
Just like our bodies need rest, so do our ideas and emotions so that we can give our minds and hearts rejuvenation and space for new ideas and emotions.
Writing in a journal can often be the pillow of your heart that your inner state needs to find comfort and respite.
Counselors will often suggest to their patients to write down their emotions, experiences, thoughts, reactions, hopes, and fears.
Getting what is lodged inside us to find its way out on paper can allow the writer to see which problems need work for resolving or that a solution is already becoming clear with the writing out of true feelings.
You don’t have to have a physical journal, especially if you are concerned about someone reading your inner secrets and struggles, there are downloadable apps like Simple Diary or Journey.
You could also do things like write down your feelings on an electronic document that has a name nobody would ever care to open and then as extra protection you could white out the entire doc with a white font on white background, and to the casual observer the doc will look blank.
Instead of forcing your mind to work overtime to handle all the issues your heart is struggling with, unload them on paper and start to see some go away or suddenly seem solvable.
If writing a journal is not your thing, you could also make a mindmap or compose songs or just soak in bubble baths.
Clutter Solution For Inner Clutter:
Let it out, solve it if you can, and at the very least resolve to give yourself times of worry-free mental space and full-of-love heart space.
If there are some things going on inside you can’t turn off, like a concern about an upcoming move or a struggle your child is having, decide to only think and pray on those things certain times of day, so you know you aren’t forgetting them completely, but you also aren’t being consumed by them.
[bctt tweet=”Clutter comes in various forms! If you’re ready to tackle the invisible clutter in your life, start with this list of 10! #declutter #playingperfect #clutter #feelbetter” username=”perfectplaying”]
#2
Clutter We Don’t Need: Time Clutter
Wow, our schedules can get packed fast and what gets filled up quicker than a Google calendar can be the ongoing calendar in your mind that never seems to have empty slots.
Can you relate to my often experienced dilemma of time clutter: even if I have five things written down in a planner or to-do list my mind holds a hopeful twenty that I’m really aiming for.
No matter what time of year it is, early January or late March, all we have is today so we must use it well!
Decide you will be intentional about your time and how your thoughts frame it.
Think about how you are thinking about your time commitments and time in general.
Do you honestly feel rushed all the time?
Others might not know it by looking at you but inside you are on a stopwatch that always feels it’s about to ding with a “time’s up, move on to the next task.”
Be serious about your time.
Make your daily life reflect what matters to you most and have your schedule show evidence of what you’ll wish you spent time doing twenty years from now, and not just twenty minutes from now.
Clutter Solution For Time Clutter:
Honestly look at your schedule and see if something has to depart or arrive:
- Do you have too many volunteer activities trying to land on your mental tarmac? Take them off, let someone else pilot this week’s fundraiser or next month’s field trip.
- Do you have no time for playing games with your kids and it has been slowing eroding your mommy heart? You gotta make it happen. Tell the two-hour dinner prep times to take a hike because slow cooker meals are making their arrival in your kitchen and game time has just found a new destination: every Monday at 7:00 p.m. let the games begin!
Make a commitment this week to delete one thing from your schedule that is draining and add one thing that is fueling!
#3
Clutter We Don’t Need: Communication Clutter
Relationships matter! The basis of any relationship is communication whether it be a relationship with a spouse, a child, a teacher, a co-worker, a client or a doctor.
There are reasons communication is a major in college: we may have been talking since we were two years old but honest, helpful, transformational communication is not a natural trait, and it certainly isn’t acquired easily.
We have to work on expressing our thoughts and feelings in truth while also not hurting others in the process if possible.
Do you have some communication clutter in your life?
If you do, it will look something like this, “Yeah, I really need to talk with my __, but I have been avoiding it.”
Or communication clutter can appear as, “Yes, I just never seem able to get my point across about __” and “Gosh, I have such a hard time putting my feelings into words when I’m feeling attacked.”
Don’t just think about this and realize you need a communication clean; plan to clear out your communication clutter and execute that clutter cleaning plan.
For me, I realized my cell phone use was getting in the way of my listening to people speak.
I made a pledge to myself that if someone is talking to me, my eyes will be on them and my hands will be free.
By intentionally turning my phone off and putting it down I can get rid of the temptation to split my attention between the person speaking to me and my phone’s happenings.
This has been so helpful in my conversations. I have literally noticed that I now rarely have to ask someone to repeat themselves because I heard them the first time.
Clutter Solution For Communication Clutter:
Focus on one communication area in your life you know would make a difference for your mental-emotional state and decide to tackle it.
For instance, if you struggle talking to a certain person start by journaling your issues about that dynamic to see if your inner struggles come out on paper pointing you toward the pain that needs to be worked on.
If you discover in your journaling that you feel constantly interrupted by this person and you wonder if she really cares, maybe you could be on the lookout for an opportunity to talk to her privately about how you want to hear what she says and you also hope she hears what you say because sometimes it doesn’t feel like it.
If the relationship is worth it, the work to have more mutual understanding is worth it too.
#4
Clutter We Don’t Need: Past Clutter
Is that argument from two decades ago still making you shake your head in disbelief it happened?
Are you finding it hard to see that in-law at the annual holiday dinner because of what she said that one time?
Let’s clear out the past and make room for the present.
That person who did that thing could have been having a really bad day, month, or year.
Maybe that person you are mad at has no idea what she said was understood the way you understood it.
If you spend any more of your time on this matter, will it help, will your thoughts of upset set things right?
So far all your thinking has done is bring you more pain most likely.
Make a commitment to move on, move past, forgive, and not let that thing or that person get in the way of your mental peace anymore.
Clutter Solution For Past Clutter:
In some cases, you will need to seek professional help to get rid of the pain from your past and if so, make that your goal this week.
Find a professional and set up an appointment to make your present more fulfilling and free from the past.
If it is a more of a minor situation you can deal with on your own do what you know you need to do to make your past no longer a holder of your present.
In some cases, you need to be constantly praying that God will give you forgiveness in your heart for that situation.
Or you may have to choose when you see that person to be nice, to ask questions, to brush away the thoughts of what the person said that one time and be open to them saying kind, generous things today.
Sometimes we have to choose to be kind. Sometimes we have to choose to move on. Choice is powerful and can even be the tool to mend our feelings of powerless hurt.
#5
Clutter We Don’t Need: Worry Clutter
Are your worries bringing you down?
It can be so hard to get off the worry train once it starts down the track of your mind.
The worry train can start by glancing in the mirror and seeing something that you want to fix about your face, and before you know it you are wanting to fix your face, then your hair, and the bathroom sink, and then there’s that messy closet, oh and that mess of a situation at church that hasn’t quite fixed itself yet and then you get a text from your sister that has your stomach in knots about her issue you want to help solve.
Worry can dump a landfill’s worth of junk in your mind if you let it.
If you know worrisome thoughts have taken hold of your mind and you need to give them the good ol’ heave-ho before you are feeling completely derailed, make a decision to reclaim your worrisome mind for a mind of calm, of hope, of faith and of trust.
Clutter Solution For Worry Clutter:
Set aside an allotted time to work on your worry clutter every day or every week.
By way of illustration, let’s say you have been quite worried about finances lately. You may then decide to devote 20 minutes every Thursday afternoon to doing financial tasks, making monetary decisions, and budgeting your money.
Then for every other time your mind starts to worry about something financial, remind yourself that unless it is Thursday at 3:00 pm you are not allowed to think about this right now.
If you want, you can have a list going on your phone or elsewhere of topic ideas to tend to once the next Thursday rolls around so that every Thursday you have a list to consult full of ideas that you had acquired during the week.
So, if on Monday morning you remember that you need to budget for car insurance that month, as soon as you can, write down “car insurance” on your money list and then don’t think about the car insurance again until the appointed money day.
For some people, once a week for 20 minutes would not be enough time to deal with all their money issues and tasks so determine the appropriate amount of time and then commit to it. Spending ten minutes six days a week dealing with money-related problems is a lot better than worrying about money for an accumulated five hours on any given day.
Minutes of worry quickly add up to a life of worry.
Decide today to reclaim your mental space for more valuable assets.
#6
Clutter We Don’t Need: Bored Clutter
Maybe your mind is taking on too much because you need to fill it with new things.
Sometimes our day-to-day routines of make sure the house is just so and figure out dinner by a certain time and ending our days with making sure tomorrow’s is ready first, while it can vary in color or taste from day to day, the mundaneness of it can feel stifling to your soul.
Maybe you need to challenge yourself a bit.
Instead of Taco Tuesdays try Tostada Tuesdays or Meatless Mondays.
Rather than doing the laundry again enlist the help of another person in your household who could spare 15 minutes of their not-as-busy week doing the laundry.
If your Friday night has turned into something you dread, plan a special date night one Friday a month or make every Friday into Friday Fun wherein you and the kids play a new game or take a walk somewhere new or try a new place to eat.
Clutter Solution For Bored Clutter:
Think about little tweaks you could make in your daily living that would add new excitement and provide fodder for new special memories instead of thinking about how your days and weeks are all blending together in a bland blend.
Life can be enjoyable; make sure you are finding ways to amp up that fun dial every once in awhile!
[bctt tweet=”Clear your life of clutter: inner clutter, relationship clutter, and time clutter! That’s right; clutter cleanup time is here! #clutter #playingperfect #declutter #feelbettersoon” username=”perfectplaying”]
#7
Clutter We Don’t Need: Stuck Clutter
Going, going, and going mentally and emotionally even when you are trying to sleep is a sure way to get burned out and a fast track to feeling like your life is stuck on a never-ending hamster wheel to nowhere.
Are you doing things to recharge or are you letting the day take charge of you?
Chiseling out moments to start your day with clarity or end it with gratitude can turn your mind into a haven of ideas and your heart full of love.
Instead of spending every waking moment trying to do something or get someone somewhere or figure out how to solve this and fix that, choose to take a few minutes every day dedicated to time away from it all.
Take time to pray, or be grateful, or exercise, or medicate, or sit outside on your porch and be in nature.
Apps like Daily Yoga and Calm might be helpful or try using a gratitude journal or using a prayer journal.
If you feel like your heart is full of ache and your mind embedded with have-to-do’s, take it upon yourself to take time each day giving your woes to God, or focusing what you do have instead of don’t, or moving your body so that all day long you feel like you did at least one good thing for yourself.
Clutter Solution For Stuck Clutter:
In order to put the time in for others, you need to take time out for yourself.
Even just one minute of Navy Seal breathing can make everything else in your life more conquerable.
Hey, if the Navy Seals see the importance of taking a minute to chill before saving people’s lives, I think the rest of us can try it too!
#8
Clutter We Don’t Need: Complaint Clutter
Have you complained today? Maybe you complained about something within the last half hour?
Be honest, does that complaining about the food, the room, the person on TV or the temperature of the shower actually help much?
Actions against a complaint might help, but the actual complaint can often cause problems both inner and outer.
Always not having enough and feeling like you are less and what you have is less than what should be is a danger zone and isn’t adding much to your life, I bet.
Sometimes we just need to move the bad stuff out to make way for the good.
Clear out your negative thoughts and make room for thoughts of gratitude, let your ruminations take a hike as you go for a hike exercising and allowing those endorphins to do their magical thing which will probably result in less complaining and more contemplating.
The funny thing about complaining is that it’s related to that “C” word again: choice. Yep, we can choose to complain or choose to forget it, or focus on something else, or look for the good no matter how messy the situation is.
If your soul is feeling cluttered by complaint, try to schedule a cleanup.
Clutter Solution For Complaint Clutter:
You know how people make habit trackers all the time these days and track everything from their eating to their smiling?
Well, make a no-complaint habit tracker! Yep, mark down every day that you go without complaining (or every hour if this is a really hard one for you!).
Don’t forget to have a reward for yourself after you track your habit successfully for a given amount of time!
#9
Clutter We Don’t Need: Goal Clutter
You know how every year people make goals and break goals and then everyone talks about why they shouldn’t set goals in January but then do it again anyway and the entire cycle repeats?
Goals are totally awesome, if they get done!
One of the top ways to have a feeling of clutter in your life that you just can’t shake loose from in your spirit is goal clutter.
The problem with goal clutter is that goals sound good, right?!
Goals seem awesome until you don’t meet them.
If you have a lot of goals but can’t remember the last time you actually completed a goal, there’s a high likelihood you have some goal clutter that should be removed.
Maybe just have one big goal instead of a million tiny ones. Maybe have two tiny goals instead of one big one.
Instead of going around all the time feeling like a loser because you feel like you don’t accomplish stuff, maybe you should shift what you’re trying to accomplish.
Clutter Solution For Goal Clutter:
One of the best ways to get better at goal-setting is reading from people (AKA setting yourself up to be mentored via a book) who have mastered goal-setting in their lives.
For every goal you have that you want to do, read a goal-setting/productivity book and see if it helps see you through!
#10
Clutter We Don’t Need: Undone Clutter
I bet you have a lot of undone to-do lists.
I bet you have a lot of Pinterest pins saved for projects to do that honestly, you don’t know how you’ll find time to do.
I bet there are few good-intended-projects sitting in your garage that would be awesome to tackle if you didn’t… well you know work, and take care of a family and have to sleep.
We can’t do it all; we just can’t.
Our minds and hearts can be so great at coming up with ideas for people’s birthdays and ideas for new careers, and ideas for how to improve the house!
The thing is, it takes seconds to have an idea and can take years to make that same idea happen.
You might have a lot of decades to live, but you can only fit so much stuff in the allotted time of those decades.
What will you fill your life with?
In the last week, month, and year have you started a lot of things but stopped even more?
Maybe you’ve planned for trips that didn’t pan out, perhaps you started writing a book that is nowhere near finished, and maybe you began redecorating your guest room, but it’s kinda a disaster now.
Instead of adding more to-dos on your list that will become never-dones, maybe you can clear out your schedule of everything you at one time thought was a good idea but realize now that you don’t have the same passion, you lost your interest, and you just would rather spend your time doing other things.
It’s okay to leave the once-upon-a-time-to-dos for a better list, a shorter list, a list that excites you and leaves you feeling more clutter-free!
Clutter Solution For Undone Clutter:
Ask yourself simple questions during the day such as:
- What do I not have to do today?
- Why do I feel like I have to finish that project?
- How would my life improve if I just decided to not pursue that idea anymore?
Be honest with your answers and depending on your answers, decide if the undone projects you once loved but now hate can be taken permanently off of your to-do list.
Take those undones and say, “See ya later; you seemed like a good idea at the time, but there’s just not enough time for you in my day so off with yourself, poof, go away!”
[bctt tweet=”Clearing out clutter can be hard, but oh so worth it! Here are some great declutter tips! #declutter #cluttertips #playingperfect #clutter #cleanitup” username=”perfectplaying”]
There you go future-clutter-free friends!
The thing about clutter, in all forms, is that it is never completely gone.
Clearing our lives of clutter from our socks to our relationships takes time, dedication, and constant effort and evaluation.
Like most things in life though, you get more done with time, so hopefully, before we know it, we can all get to a great point of mostly-maintenance-mode when it comes to clutter in our lives!
Happy decluttering! 🙂
Loving these inspiring declutter ideas? *Pin* this post for later when you need a dose of encouragement for those times of clutter overwhelm! If you want more helpful finds, follow Playing Perfect’s Pinterest Page!
Looking for more practical solutions to real life problems?!
Check out these tips on how to deal with a messy spouse when you love your home spotless!
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