Declutter Your Life For Better Health Challenge! Not what you expected for one of our last challenges??
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Healthy living is more then just consuming nutritious food! Another way to improve your health is Visit the Beach!
You might have seen a few posts on social media about cleaning up clutter. Do you know anyone that is going through their house and tidying up? They might not even know it, but it’s a task that will give them many many benefits.
It’s amazing that just by decluttering our life we can improve our mental and physical health. In the last ten years it’s become a hot topic! It’s one trend that is truly beneficial for everyone that takes the challenge!
What does “declutter” mean?
We will define it as “removing unnecessary items” from our life. Decluttering applies to an untidy living space, a well organized material possessions, and even a calendar that is overflowing with too many commitments.
Declutter Your Life For Better Health Challenge
- Establish the goal & purpose for decluttering.
- 18 Reasons to Declutter
- Areas to declutter
- Start decluttering with a plan
Simple Houseware Closet Underwear Organizer Drawer Divider 4 Set, Gray
Goal of decluttering
Clean, organized, reduced clutter living environment. As well as having a calendar that allows time and space for spending time with the people most important in your life.
Before you can begin decluttering, know your purpose! Do you see a need for decluttering areas of your life? If so, establish an application for yourself.
Next, once you’re willing to take on this challenge, what is your time frame? A couple weeks, months, or the entire year?
I prefer to declutter all year long. Please don’t interrupt that as decluttering every day of the year, whew! I go in spurts and declutter a closet one day, and then the following week I’ll tackle the kitchen drawers. A few months later I’ll look over the closets where we “store stuff for later.”
It’s important to not only know your purpose and time frame but also know the reasons behind decluttering and how they connect to better health.
18 Reasons to Declutter Your Home for Better Health
- Fewer decisions to store meaningless items.
- Les clutter equals less dust. Less dust = reduced allergies and illness
- No more pests; no hidden mice or insects.
- Easier to locate important everyday items.
- Increases value of your home.
- Teaches the next generation (our kids) to organize and declutter.
- Saves money. You won’t have to buy certain items repeatably.
- Boosts confidence. (So true!)
- Decluttering is energizing.
- Reduces anxiety.
- Creates optimistic view of life.
- Better concentration.
- Less to clean and easier to clean. (Love this benefit!)
- Reduces family stress. Family members can locate essentials.
- Fosters calmness.
- Desire less items.
- Satisfied with your current items.
- Sense of accomplishment.
Any other benefits you personally benefit from?? Share in the comments, it may be helpful to others reading this article. I personally find it rewarding, almost relieving of the burden of owning a lot of stuff.
It is surprising that we can benefit in so many ways by having a home and life that is free of excess.
Areas to Declutter
It’s always helpful to start with an obvious area (to you). Don’t worry about any one else, just dig in and enjoy the process. Soon you’ll see and feel immediate results!
Once you get one area done, it will empower you to tackle another area. Involve all those living with you!
- Kitchen countertops
- Kitchen drawers
- Bathroom countertops
- Bathroom drawers
- Personal closet
- Coat closet
- Storage closet
- Top of dressers
- Dresser drawers
- Home office or Desk area
- Floor space in Living room
- Linen closet
- Cleaning supplies
- Refrigerator & Freezer
- Pantry
- Laundry room
- Shoe area
- Basement (or crawl space)
- Attic
- Vehicle
- Garage shelves
- RV
- Calendar – Time
Packrat to Clutter-Free: How I Cleaned up My Life in Less than a Year
The above list doesn’t include every area of everyone’s life, but it gets you a basic checklist. Once you begin, you’ll be able to see more and more areas that need cleansing of items.
Great examples of Before and After Decluttering: How to Declutter Your Home to Reduce Anxiety and Stress.
Declutter with a Plan
Oh, where to begin! One shelf or countertop at a time!
You’ll have a few decisions to make as you begin this process. Think through your day and have a “place” for everything. It’s a fact we get our mail every day. We used to set it on our counter, until we had a dog that loved mail! Where do I put it now? I have a little mail bin for safely organizing the mail each day.
As you declutter; your items will fall into 4 categories:
- Garbage
- Recycling
- Donate (Salvation Army, homeless shelter, family, friends).
- Sell
I love using canvas and wooden storage containers to organize my drawers and shelves like these:
Collapsible Canvas Storage Bin Baskets with Rope Handles.
It’s fun to see the different approaches to decluttering. Becoming Minimalist gives 10 Creative Ways to Declutter Your Home.
Declutter Your Life for Better Health Challenge
It’s a fact of life that people are drawn to organization. (Think for a moment about parking lots, grocery store shelves, chairs in an auditorium, money drawers). Not everyone knows how to be organized, but we all appreciate organization!
Grab on to this challenge and see where it takes you this year! I would love to hear the benefits you experience as you declutter your living space and calendar.
Just a note: My household is a work in progress! My latest project was decluttering all our “dog totes”. We had three totes that held various items from each family dog for the past 20 years!! I threw out a lot, organized what we’ll save, and set aside a few items that I will sell. (Brand new items, I’ve been saving.)
Challenge: Create a decluttering plan for the next 3 months. Use the above list as a guideline and pick out the areas that mean the most to you..
Share your challenge one of 4 ways; by commenting below, commenting on my Facebook page, Instagram page or email me your acceptance. Use #accept21weekhealthchallenge on your social media comments.
Pursing Better Health Together,